Insurances are usually bought on the off-chance of getting into a serious accident. But what kind of policy is available to someone who drives at over 200 miles per hour for a career? How much would they have to spend on insurance? Former NASCAR driver Kenny Wallace was asked the same on social media recently and he gave a rather detailed answer from personal experience.
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Mentioning the insurances that he availed, he noted that the expenditure on them was directly relatable to the expenses that the driver made for his NASCAR stint.
To drive the race car in @NASCAR . I had Disability Insurance and workman’s comp.
Plus my normal family health insurance and auto insurance and golf cart insurance (Required by the race tracks) .
There were times I spent as much as $150 THOUSAND a year or more on racing… https://t.co/LK3behkpbx
— Kenny Wallace (@Kenny_Wallace) December 22, 2023
Wallace’s words that he spent as much as $150,000 on insurance are backed by the fact that NASCAR does not provide insurance coverage for its drivers. The reason behind this is that drivers aren’t employees of the promotion but independent contractors.
Unlike the rest of the crew that draws many benefits from the teams, drivers are solely responsible for their healthcare, life, disability, and retirement insurance. Jim Hunter, NASCAR’s VP of communications in 2007, affirmed this saying, “We are not like other sports. The drivers are not employees of NASCAR. They’re independent contractors.”
Many insurance heavy-weights like Nationwide and Geico vie for insurance deals with top drivers for the publicity that it would garner them. Many factors such as the driver’s age, past, and potential for serious accidents come into play when the cost of insurance is determined.
The more races a professional racer in NASCAR drives in and completes successfully, the lower his premium gets.
How are NASCAR cars insured and who does it?
Unlike with drivers, racing teams or their sponsors come forward to insure the cars used. This is typically done via specialized insurance agencies, such as K&K and Chizmark Larson. The cost of insurance for cars is considerably high owing to the value of the equipment.
Racing cars in this level of motorsports expand the boundaries of automobile engineering and the cost of insuring these technologies reflects the same. In addition to the cars, garage tools, and accessories are insured as well.
The insurance costs also depend on the number of races that the cars take part in. Being one of the most dangerous sports in the world, auto-racing demands that both drivers and their cars are protected through insurance despite the cost.
