On this week’s episode of the Dale Jr. Download, Josh Jones, the Vice President of Kevin Harvick Incorporated (KHI) Management was the guest. And it was during his conversation with Mike Davis and Kelley Earnhardt Miller on the show that Jones revealed an interesting and somewhat sad reality of NASCAR today, especially for the drivers.
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Jones opened up on how many teams these days will offer bonuses to the drivers in their contracts. But they aren’t what they seem, as he explained. The KHI insider also touched upon a bizarre but very real aspect of the sport in the modern era, and how it has changed from when Kevin Harvick was young and now that he is retiring.
Josh Jones explains what bonuses in driver contracts really mean in NASCAR
During the conversation on the show, Jones was asked by Mike Davis about the challenges drivers who are seeking good and fair deals have to face regarding their contracts. “I would say that the key to all driver contracts now is sponsorships,” Jones replied.
“There’s a number that the teams need to get to make sure the driver gets paid what he wants to get paid and what I’ve seen lately is when we see a contract and it is heavily based on bonus programs, they don’t have a lot of money for that car. That means they’re basically banking on you not making the playoffs, you not winning a race because they need that sponsorship fund to continue the car.”
While it sounds unfair, Jones claimed it’s fine. “That’s how the sport is,” he said.
“You have $20 million in that racecar? Your driver is making a pretty penny. You have $3 million in that racecar? Your driver is probably only making purse money. But that’s what the sport is. And this sport’s been around for a long time, so it works,” he explained.
Kevin Harvick then vs. now points to an extinct phenomenon in NASCAR
Josh Jones pointed to the now-extinct or almost extinct phenomenon in NASCAR, which is a driver running a full-time season with the same sponsor. “Doesn’t happen anymore,” he said, as he recalled his conversation with Tony Stewart, which left Jones baffled considering Smoke ran an Alpha Bravo paint scheme with Old Spice and Office Depot.
“I was like, Two sponsors on one car? How is this gonna work? But he made it work,” Jones said.
He then emphasized this some more as he revealed the state of the sport from when Kevin Harvick was a young driver to how it is today when he’s retiring. For the better part of his early career, Harvick only had two major sponsors, GM Goodwrench and Reece’s.
“Now he has 7. That’s the new norm,” Jones said as he claimed that it is sponsorships that drive NASCAR.
