NASCAR mailbag: Are drivers underpaid?

Each week SB Nation’s NASCAR reporter Jordan Bianchi answers your questions about the latest news and happenings within the sport. If you have a future mailbag question, email jordanmbianchi@gmail.com.

So Denny Hamlin doesn’t think drivers are paid enough, yet wonders why teams are bleeding money. If he really wants teams to be more solvent then shouldn’t that include paying drivers less not more and not just taking money away from the tracks? I’m not sure how he thinks he can have it both ways.

--Mary

As Hamlin surmised, the headline of him publicly stating Wednesday that drivers should be paid like NBA and NFL players garnered most of the attention. But it’s important to take the entirety of what he said into context.

When he spoke out about driver salaries, he specifically said he wasn’t talking about himself -- a top-level talent who is well compensated for what he does. More so, he was referring to those drivers on the lower end of the totem pole, who expose themselves to the same risks as Hamlin but for a fraction of the pay.

Now of course, there has and forever will be a difference between the haves and have-nots, and there will always be drivers willing to forego a big paycheck in exchange for the opportunity to race in NASCAR’s premier division. What Hamlin would like to see is for teams to become sustainable without corporate sponsorship, therefore in a position to pay a higher salary and in some instances not have to choose less talented Driver A over a deserving Driver B merely because Driver A brings needed funding.

Hamlin’s objective is certainly idealistic, but it is something NASCAR and its teams should strive to achieve even if it will never come to complete fruition. As the recent downsizing of Roush Fenway Racing, Richard Petty Motorsports, and soon, Furniture Row Racing can attest, greater cost-saving measures are needed where teams could remain viable even without a big dollar sponsor footing the bill.

Helping on this front would be increasing the percentage teams receive of the $8.2 billion brought in from television rights, which is currently allocated at 25 percent. Hamlin was more than fair in questioning why tracks receive such a large sum (65 percent) when in many instances it doesn’t seem as if the money is being put to proper use, be it amenities for fans and teams or marketing and promotion. Some tracks go above and beyond and have done an excellent job in remaining viable in a tough marketplace, while several deserve scrutiny on how that money is being spent.

As with most things within NASCAR, reevaluation of the revenue distribution model is needed. Because while this is how things have historically been done, it doesn’t mean this how the system should exist going forward.

I heard Brian France talk about a potential fourth manufacturer coming in, something he’s said before. Is this wishful thinking on his part or do you think something will actually happen and who will it be?

--Dan

Two manufacturers have had discussions with NASCAR executives regarding participation in the Cup Series, France told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Wednesday. But of those carmakers only one can be classified as “seriously” contemplating entering NASCAR, multiple sources with direct knowledge of the situation confirmed to SB Nation.

That manufacturer is Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, which would compete under its Dodge nameplate. Any reentry into NASCAR couldn’t occur before 2019, though 2020 may be a more realistic timetable, SB Nation was told.

Dodge, then a separate entity not under the Fiat umbrella, raced in the Cup Series from 2001-2012, only withdrawing after Team Penske’s defection to Ford left the company without any flagship teams and without an engine maker. And it was the latter of these two voids that proved most problematic, with any Dodge-backed team needing to also build its own engines.

Although Dodge’s conundrum hasn’t changed, persistent industry speculation has the carmaker courting Richard Childress Racing. Such a union would then resolve Dodge’s two main hurdles: 1) Aligning with an established team, which helps ease the re-acclimation process, and 2) taking advantage of RCR’s existing engine program, which already constructs motors across NASCAR’s three national divisions.

What does it say that Kurt Busch, Austin Dillon, and Kasey Kahne won three of NASCAR’s biggest races but were each eliminated right away? Shouldn’t the guys who win the biggest races be among the best?

--Trevor

Good point about Busch, Dillon and Kahne, who won the Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600, and Brickyard 400, respectively. As for what it says regarding each of their seasons, there is no deeper takeaway than none of the three were good enough nor deserving to advance past the first round.

Busch lacked consistency throughout the regular season, going 13 races between winning Daytona and recording his next top-five finish. On the year, he’s led all of 13 laps, which represents a career-low.

And Dillon and Kahne weren’t any better, with both only qualifying for the playoffs because they were able to pull off surprise victories. Dillon scored his first career win by stretching his fuel to the absolute limit to take NASCAR’s longest race, while a wild set of circumstances aided Kahne claiming the checkered flag at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Nonetheless, the early playoff exits for Busch, Dillon, and Kahne doesn’t diminish the significance of NASCAR’s marquee events. Sometimes surprise and fluky winners occur — that has always and will continue to be an element of racing — no different than when upsets happen in other sports. It’s just now that win also includes a postseason berth.