The landscape is changing in racing. It’s been this way for a while now. But, now that these future Hall of Fame type drivers are nearing the end of their respective careers, how their rides are being filled or even how their final contracts to stay in the sport for the future are completely changing over to what they were before.
See, imagine being really good at your job. You show up to work every day. You put in the hours. Go above and beyond what’s asked. You win awards within the company and considered among the best in your profession. You’re doing so in the midst of a booming occupation for your standard. The money is flowing and you’re feeling really good about yourself.
Well, fast forward several years down the road and the once booming job market has now taken a hit. The money isn’t as free flowing as it once was. But, your performance doesn’t necessarily slip. It’s still there. You’re nearing retirement but still have a few good years left in you and you feel loyal to your company. After all, they have given you the tools for all of your success and you’ve rewarded that by making them a lot of money.
Your contract with that said company is coming up and you want to sign your next deal to remain in place until retirement sets in. You should be getting a raise right? After all, you’ve performed all these years and kept getting raises and your performance and work ethic remains intact. Instead, how would you feel if your boss calls you to their office and says sit down for a second. They say to you that not only can they not sign you until a desired retirement age, how about we just do this on a year by year basis from here on out?
That would hurt, right?
Well, imagine the next topic that they say to you is, I know you’ve been making millions upon millions over each year, how about I pay you half of that, if not more than half of what I’ve been paying you too as well.
I’ve been paying you $10 million a year for three year increments but how does $600k sound just for next year and we will revisit this say next October?
You’d feel pretty ticked off right? How can they treat you that way? Yes, the market isn’t what it was, but you’ve put in your work and are a champion at your level. Why take a pay cut to do the same job that you’ve been doing all these years? Why is the job security down to a year by year basis?
Welcome to NASCAR. That’s what’s happening right now in the sport. The Jimmie Johnson’s, Dale Earnhardt Jr’s, Jeff Gordon’s, Tony Stewart’s, Danica Patrick’s, Carl Edwards, Clint Bowyer’s, etc are stepping away from racing full time. Some are forced out. Some, like Brad Keselowski, if they want to stay, they’re being forced to take a significant pay cut.
“It’s totally different,” Clint Bowyer said last week of the silly season market now compared to when he first started. “It’s unfortunate. Kind of unfortunate for a lot of people involved. That’s the way it is.
“Unfortunately, it’s going to happen every year. That’s where we’re evolving to. The long term deals just not able to get done anymore.”
Bowyer, said that when he first started in this sport on the Cup level, his deals were typically three years in length and it was a pick what sponsor works best for you. They had notebooks of them available and you just had to sift through what works best for you to represent.
“I’ll never forget when we went to RCR, I went in and my first Cup sponsor was literally a stack of those sponsors begging to get into the sport,” Bowyer continued. “You really chose what worked best for your organization or your lifestyle. Which one possibly could last longer or have longer legs. That’s what made up your mind. Yeah it was a long term three year deal. You didn’t want anything longer than that because of selfish reasons.
“Now, it’s completely opposite. No partner needs to be a long term deal because that’s just the environment that they’re in. The demand. We owe it all to ourselves to work hard.”
Not only that, these younger drivers are coming in and willing to take your job and not just that, they’re willing to pay for your job too. That in turn as Keselowski said back in late July, hurts the job market value for these veteran drivers.
“It’s certainly been much different than years previous in my career,” said Keselowski of silly season. “Nobody likes it. There’s nobody really winning, I can tell you that. You try to keep perspective.
“I still have a great job. A lot of people don’t have a job at all. I don’t think what they want to do is hear me whine about mine.
“But then again, I do recognize if my contract had fallen differently, I would probably be in a much better place with respect to when it ran out time-wise. It’s part of it.
“The landscape is very strange, not just because of the virus, but I think one of the things that really stands out that’s changed the landscape is the threshold or the bar, so to speak, you have to pass as a driver to be eligible for the Cup Series. It’s been lowered significantly since I’ve been a part of the sport.
“That’s starting to bring a wave of kind of paid drivers, so to speak, drivers that pay for their ride. That really does a lot of damage to the contract market when there’s drivers out there that are willing to pay for your ride, let alone you getting paid. They’re willing to pay to take your ride. That really changes the marketplace pretty dramatically. So that’s been part of it, too.
“But all in all, again, I’m thankful to have a spot in the sport. Hoping it will last for a long time. If it doesn’t, I know I did all I could do.”
Keselowski, signed just a one year extension with Penske for 2021. He’s going to go all through this again next year. Bowyer, signed a one year deal last year for this one. He decided to just retire. Aric Almirola was in the same boat. He signed a one year deal for 2019. He signed another one for 2020. He signed another one for 2021. Erik Jones had the same thing happen. He signed a one year deal in Sept. 2019 to race in 2020. He went through it again this year but this time wasn’t retained. He’s a free agent still.
Jones, is a perfect example of this as well. He’s showing that he deserves to be in this sport for the long haul. He has a top eight finish in all but one race run during the postseason. The problem is, he’s not in the playoffs. But, he’s competitive nonetheless. Now, with these top rides drying up and Jones not having any financial backing to bring with him, he’s getting passed over.
Money outweighs talent in this sport.
Jones, is being replaced in the No. 20 Toyota by Christopher Bell. I have no doubt that Bell is going to do well in that car. Jones’ best path to stay in Cup is to potentially go to Richard Petty Motorsports or JTG Daugherty Racing should that ride in the 37 car open up. That’s going to force Jones into a performance deficit compared to now. In the end, people will lose focus on what’s really happening and say JGR made the right choice here. But, Jones could have had a storybook ending how Joey Logano is when JGR cut him loose and he’s been a championship level competitor ever since joining Team Penske.
But, the landscape from 2013 to now has changed so much that Penske has the capital to invest in Logano. No one with rides open right now has that to invest with Jones.
That’s where Silly Season has evolved to something that’s not really in the best interest of drivers.
Imagine if the New York Yankees fired their first basement for someone less skilled because the less skilled player will take less salary and give the Yankees a big check up front just to play. That’s what’s happening in NASCAR.
So, as these veterans’ deals are winding down, they’re having to make a decision, take less to stay put on a year to year basis, or explore free agency.
Keselowski, likely explored, which is why it took so long to get his deal done, but the market out there is filled with younger drivers that have deep pockets and will take less salary. Keselowski probably found that no one out there could pay him more than what he was making now at Penske and no one could pay him much more than what Penske was offering. So, he opted to stay put.
What’s going to happen with Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., etc? Kevin Harvick has a deal through 2023. He likely retires after that. Hamlin has started a new Cup team. When his contract is up with JGR, he probably focuses there. When Truex’s contract is up, he probably retires. Busch, may just opt to race in the Truck Series for his own team to win a championship there. Kurt Busch is likely going to have to take another pay cut or sign a single year deal with Ganassi if he wants to stay past his contract running out.
It’s going to force drivers into earlier and earlier retirements until all these younger drivers who entered with low bases are now the veterans.
I don’t see a way that contracts in NASCAR for drivers are going to pay anywhere close to what they used to. The game has changed and the old guard is changing as a result. It’s either conform or retire.
The security and big pay days are behind them unfortunately.
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