There are also other monetary awards, some given to charities, that the sponsors award their drivers. Whether the driver keeps it, or gives it away, it still adds to their total winnings.
I wanna drive the Tide ride!
Interesting interview with Ricky Rudd on Nascar today.
Ricky Rudd...this is just an excerpt:
Your thoughts on the Chase format?
It's not bad. It's different. All attention and media is put toward that effort after the first 26 races, where the rest of the guys don't exist. If I'm a sponsor spending money for 36 races, I'd feel cheated.
I'd say we'll sponsor you for 26 races, and if you make the cut we'll pay the for the other 10. If not we'll stop funding at 26 races. That's some of the potential negative consequences I see coming. There are positives, too, though. It keeps fan interest right up to the end.
There are a lot of things right about the sport. One of the things that's wrong now is it seems that with the tremendous money from TV, NASCAR no longer controls the sport like they once did. It's like a TV series, like a Desperate Housewives or whatever. That's not all bad, but what happens if it's not working anymore? TV creates the stars now.
More>>>>
http://www.nascar.com/2005/news/opinion/11/23/rrudd.smith.column/index.html