What Are a NASCAR Team’s Biggest Expenses Throughout a Season?

Running a NASCAR team is no ordinary task. Especially financially. Team owners are always chasing after sponsors to procure money that will fund their operations. It is also why the teams demanded a better share of the TV revenue from NASCAR and why 23XI Racing/Front Row Motorsports is currently involved in an antitrust lawsuit with the sanctioning body.

But what expenses cause such implications? Joe Gibbs Racing’s team president, Dave Alpern, explained this recently on YouTube:

“People and parts. Those two would be our top two [expenses] by a good bit. Obviously, people are our most valuable asset. Coach [Gibbs] says at all times that you win with people. We got great people. We got a lot of people, and that includes drivers as well.”

He continued about parts, “Second would be parts, which include really everything we have to buy or build to put a car together and send our cars to the race track. So, we have eight teams in two different series. Obviously, there’s travel and there’s our facility. But there’s quite a bit that goes into those.” Altogether, the teams are presented with a hefty bill.

Some key financial information surrounding NASCAR and its teams was released in court as part of the ongoing antitrust lawsuit. Chartered teams can make anywhere from $7 million to $18 million a year before sponsorships. Notably, this money is extremely crucial for their survival since their accounting says that they lose $2.2 million per car fielded on average.

NASCAR reportedly paid out $670 million to tracks and teams in 2023-2024, and turned an average profit of $340 million. The body’s financial statements from the last 10 years and its charter agreement with the teams have all been made public.

An interesting facet from the revelations is that only three teams made money in 2024, and only one made more than $150,000 per car. 

One team even stated that it lost $10 million per car. This is a concerning number. The revenue per car ranged from $8.2 million to $43 million. On a weighted average, teams claim that each car on the track lost $2.203 million in 2024.