One of the biggest points of interest for NASCAR fans is how much their favorite drivers earn in the sport.
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Uncovering what is often a hotly contested topic amongst groups of fans, Hendrick Motorsports regular Alex Bowman recently gave his thoughts on what the fans think drivers earn, and what they actually do in the current day and age.
The #48 Chevrolet driver touched on how followers of the sport often hark back to days as early as 10-15 years back when thinking of how much their favorite driver earns.
However, he clarified how the practices in stock car racing in the modern age have changed, especially concerning driver remuneration.
Elaborating during an interview with The Athletic, the Arizona native said, “The fans think the drivers all get paid a ton of crazy money, which largely went away in the last 10 or 15 years. This side of the sport is quite a bit different than what the fans think at times.”
With drivers now largely dependent on sponsorships to continue with their respective teams, a shift in focus for large brands somewhat away from NASCAR has led to drivers not being held up on the same pedestal as say Jeff Gordon or Dale Earnhardt were back in the day.
.@Alex_Bowman and the #Ally48 team are in Group B today at the #ROVAL pic.twitter.com/27H23UQ2FL
— Ally Racing (@allyracing) October 12, 2024
A perfect example of the same comes in the form of the Kyle Busch-Joe Gibbs Racing split, which was due to the 2-time champion driver’s primary sponsor M&Ms finally pulling out of the sport.
Despite the continued success the #18 team had with Busch during their tenure, making financial sense in stock car racing in the current age is more difficult than ever.
Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan along with Front Row Motorsports also seem to be fighting another aspect of profitability in the sport, albeit from a team’s point of view.
Hence, it is easy to see how and why driver salaries have decreased over the years.
Bowman on the difference in NASCAR driver-fan mentality
The HMS regular also touched on another topic during his recent chat with The Athletic mentioning how two different groups of people in the sport can have polar opposite opinions on the same subject.
Taking an example of this year’s spring Bristol race, the 31-year-old said, “What drivers want versus what fans want is so different. Fans want a bunch of overtimes and chaos and craziness all the time, and drivers don’t necessarily like that. A good example of that would be (the) Bristol spring race.”
He continued, “I thought when I got out (of the car) that the fans were going to be pissed that we rode around half-throttle down the straightaway and didn’t run hard at all to try to make the tires live. Because I thought the fans would just be like, ‘What the heck? They can’t even run hard.’ So I was shocked the fans liked that. The fans and drivers’ dislikes and likes get pretty disconnected at times.”
Despite giving his all during the playoffs this season, Alex Bowman seems to have the worst luck going into this weekend’s Round of 8 opener after being disqualified from the previous event on accounts of his car being underweight.
It remains to be seen how the Arizona native copes with what would have been a massive psychological blow to his confidence this weekend.
