Friday, May 4, 2007

How much does a Cup driver make?

As a self proclaimed racing expert, people will ask, "How much does a cup driver make?"
Well here we go.
http://www.scenedaily.com/stories/2007/04/30/scene_daily329.html
Scott Wimmer is suing Bill Davis and we can see the figures in his contract.
Here is what we know.
His base salary was
2004 $600,000
2005 $900,000
2006 $1,200,000 (canned before the 06 season and that's why he is suing)
He received 45% of the race earnings
His earnings were:
http://racing-reference.info/driver?id=wimmesc01
2004 $3,675,879 45% is $1,654,145.50
2005 $3,682,979 45% is $1,657,340.50
So his total earnings were.
2004 $2,254145.50
2005 $2,557,340.50
My point?
Not too shabby for a driver with 105 career cup starts.
He has 1 top 5, and 3 top 1o's
If a tweener like Wimmer can make that kind of coin, guess what the boys like Gordon and Stewart make?
Remember Gordon's divorce?
It cost him half of his $84 million.
Oh, don't forget Wimmer also got 33.3% of all souvenir sales.
Which reminds me, I have yet to see ANYONE wearing a Scott Wimmer t-shirt.
My favorite Scott Wimmer story?
http://www.scenedaily.com/stories/2004/06/14/scene_circuit3.html?from_rss=1
Putz, don't hide under your bed.
At least Michael Waltrip learned from that mistake
http://www.thatsracin.com/107/story/3697.html

1 comment:

Doug Guthrie said...

Great math lesson. I saw that story and never connected the dots to the larger picture perspective on the value of a Cup contract. Makes me want to revist that topic myself.