It should be no surprise to you that going racing is seriously expensive. It’s never really been clear just how expensive though, so Jalopnik asked to take a look at IMSA Prototype Challenge race team Performance Tech Motorsports’ books, and surprisingly, they obliged.
Let’s start with tires and fuel, since those are the most essential pieces to the racing puzzle. PTM spent $50,000 on tires for the 24 Hours of Daytona, and another $12,000 on fuel. For the entire season, the team will spend another $41,075 on fuel and $225,000 on 90 sets of fresh rubber.
Those costs are already astronomical, and we haven’t even got to the car yet. IMSA’s PC cars are powered by relatively inexpensive GM LS3 V8s, but the team will still spend $43,000 on them for one TUDOR season. Don’t forget gearbox expenses, either, which will ring in at $43,500, and the $65,000 they must set aside for chassis and brake components.
Then there’s the less obvious annual expenses race fans may not think about. These include $2,750 for the fancy branded polo shirts and other clothing you see race teams wear, $40,000 for hotels, $104,850 for race entry fees and more thousands for flights, food and other daily expenses.
So how does PTM pay for all of this? In addition to building the odd racecar or autocross machine for customers, the team hires on pay drivers that bring with them sponsorship money. The teams’ current drivers, James French and Conor Daly, brought seed money to the team, along with their immense driving talents.
Despite these expenses, PTM owner and founder Brent O’Neill says his team is not only debt-free, but profitable. Maybe the old saying “”The best way to make a small fortune in racing is to start with a big one,” isn’t true after all.
Creative Commons photo via Brad on Flickr!
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