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I just wish they would let them do this. It’s crazy when I go to a national Late Model/Sprint Car race, just about every driver in the top 20 has a small enclosed trailer that follows them to all the races just stocked full of T shirts, diecasts, etc. Hell, even sometimes you can score Race Used body panels at the trailer if you catch them at the right time.
The last big Late model race I went to cost me only $35 to get in the pits and get as close as I wanted to all the cars, crews, and rigs. I spent double what my ticket for Tampa SX cost me during intermission buying T shirts from all my favorite drivers.
That T shirt money helps gets these guys driving $100k race cars to the next show, I couldn’t imagine what half that revenue would do for some of these guys going race to race in a van with a 450 with 100 hours on it.
Could the privateers, or even the teams, pursue restraint of trade legal action against Feld?
What legal ground do you think they have to stand on?
Restraint of trade possibly? Other than that not sure, maybe one of our legal experts will see the comment and weigh in 🙂
I just think there is something there from a legal action standpoint that could be pursued, as the privateers are neither employees of Feld, or contractors for Feld.
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Chiz? No. He is a full time rider for his team. He test most of their stuff.
In the off season he’s a real estate guy and flips and rents houses, and has done very well with it.
I know its not a sanctioned event, but i saw that Glen Helen Raceway is putting up a $100,000 cash pro purse at something called Motofest in May the weekend in between Supercross and outdoors. These privateers should be all over this since most of the top pros probably won't be there. https://www.glenhelen.com/motofest
Here's a summary. Thanks Grok.
holy shit
it is like a whole new world has opened up....................
maybe we should not fear AI
Vital's own Voynich manuscript, deciphered by AI.....
If you haven't, everyone should listen to the Phil interview on Pulp this week. Someone who actually did this and had a long career in moto chimes in about Hicks because of social posts, but privateers in general.
Bottom line if you're too lazy to listen......nobody owes them shit and they should ride faster or add value another way so someone decides to pay them. Basically like any other job.
Feld can afford to pay more narrative is lame. We all could afford to pay more. More to our doctors, plumbers, dentists, lawyers, car dealers, carpenters, plumbers, colleges, our kid's allowance on and on. None of us get a bill from someone and states it is not enough and volunteers more. I love how so many in this nation spew platitudes about somebody wealthier than them not being "fair", and at the same time many never exceed the old 15% tip for the single mom that brings them lunch at the diner. Everyone on here is riding $10K dirt bikes and not starving. If you make $30K a year, you are in the top 1% of wage earners in the world. Feld pays as much as they do because that is what they have to pay, just like nobody is giving the kid who serves them a McDonalds an extra $20. Feld doesn't have to, so they don't.
Thank you kind sir
Here's a photo from 2021, the season ender of (then) Hoosier Tire Arenacross (now GT Arenacross) inside the halls of the Tunica Expo center before opening ceremonies.
At left, 682 Izaih Clark, 68 Branden Walther, myself on 37, and Hicks at right on 1.
This was the first year I competed in the full Hoosier series, and I kept track of the top guys income every week. Because this was on the heels of covid, and the industry was at an all time high, sponsorship money was really easy to find. I say this because as a guy coming back to AX with guaranteed midpack results, I generated about $12k in sponsorship cash before the season started-- by committing to being the best marketing agent in our series. I also worked off my entry fees by managing the series social media, did pre-race trackside reporting, wrote weekly recaps and emails for the series, and a litany of other tasks. Though I never finished high enough to get contingency, with sponsorship cash I made a hair under $20,000 racing a regional Arenacross series with minimal expenses.
The other riders in this photo made this much cash in the same season:
Clark - $5,350
Walther - $5,050
Hicks - $14,725
After it was over on Saturday night and we're all collecting our end of season bonuses and nightly cash, it was obvious amongst the racers who was the big swinging dick in the room- and it was not the guy who just clinched the series for a 3rd time in a row.
Is this post about me? No. It's about privateers who lean on racing for their money vs. those who brand for their money. Hicks, who is a friend of mine and I will forever be a fan of, is one of the most naturally talented motorcycle riders I've ever seen. I expect him to go the way of Durham, Brown, etc and leave Supercross behind and be an exhibition racer in a global market and stick to the hills and the pit bikes during the week.
Racing is gnarly, it's nasty, it takes insane dedication. But at the end of the day, it's a form of entertainment. In our current cycle - the top entertainers are not racers, but are content creators/vloggers etc, it's highly fragmented from authority, and they're absolutely murdering with income.
Hicks post, I believe, is not a complaint, but is a pull-the-curtain insight for what it's like to be a pro racer in the midfield of an SX main event. While being a guy that can make 5-10x doing other racing-- has every right to scratch his head and think "well, isn't this odd?"
It are more arenacross like tracks. But this is a link.
After reading about Jerry Robins weekend I can't help but think that the privateers don't make enough. They are laying it all on the line every weekend and for what....... One small mistake away from career ending and life ending injury.
I pray Jerry makes a full recovery but its a small reminder of what these guys put on the line so someone other than them can make big money.
You want to down vote me but you won't put your career on the line for such crappy pay. Jerry and the privateers deserve more, Feld can help these guys who put their lives on the line. Again I pray Jerry makes a full recovery but its not worth what they pay!!!
Pit Row
he brings as much value as all the other non factory riders without them there wouldnt be any races its hard to only have 12 riders at any race ..so i would say they all have value at a supercross race..try selling tickets to a 12 rider per class show no matter who the riders are it wouldnt work
If they don't pay something for the spot the next generation's Michael hicks will be slower, not faster than current Michael hicks. Before you know it, we've got India-level supercross on our hands because all the talented people are doing something else with their time. They have to keep raising the level. Ktm and yamaha can't field 2/3rds of the gate forever. Energy drinks can't fund half the sport forever.
The upper levels of the stadiums are pretty bare at most races these days. Riders need to create more demand for fans to pay to put their butts in those seats if they want the promoter to pay more money. Does it suck? Maybe. But if we take our blinders off, I think most could reasonably agree that the riders purse is in line with the market.
This is a niche sport. 90% of the american population doesn't even know about it. About 2% even cares about it. You can't compare it to any other professional sport because the market is smaller, and as a result, so is the revenue.
The top dudes make millions and are paid in such by the manufacturers to put their brands on the box. Everyone else gets the leftovers. It's no different from any other career path.
It's a bummer that the riders don't get paid enough.
In the 1980's (in South Africa) I'd make enough money from a 3rd place finish at National level to cover hotel, food, travel etc for the weekend and still have a little change.
In the 1990's they got cheap on us and started handing out plastic trophies.
Nowadays in SA a win at National level 450 gets you $250.00. (R5000.00) It's a fucking shame.
Risking your neck on a SX track is no effing joke and it's a sin what the guys get as payout.
I really hope this changes.
PS. FELD or whowever it is should at least cover the cost of ALL INJURIES that happen during a SX event.
With that said, I pray for Jerry and all the other guys that have been hurt. Some of these guys face a life long challenge health and monetary wise.
The guy funds his SX habit by racing for a paycheck in other series.
You can’t decide based on what FELD is worth- they have many things making them money.
You need to look at what SX/MX is worth.
FELD won’t make money from one thing to go subsidise another that’s not making enough to cover itself.
Post a reply to: Rider Payout is Terrible - I know beating a deadhorse