By Neha Dwivedi
Denny Hamlin put a sensationalizing number on NASCAR’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Series economy when he estimated that 80% of Saturday-series drivers bring some level of funding to secure their seats. The figure actually showed a big pressure inside the garage.
The Joe Gibbs Racing ace had raised the issue on the October 7 episode of Actions Detrimental while discussing Sheldon Creed’s move from Haas Factory Team to Sam Hunt Racing. He argued that drivers move between organizations as the money attached to available seats changes.
“They’re switching teams like musical chairs every year. The unfortunate truth is that 80% of those drivers in the Saturday races are paying some sum of money to the team owners to drive those cars.”
Denny Hamlin says 80% of Saturday drivers pay to drive. (via Actions Detrimental)
$40K to $45K a race buys a car running 25th or worse.
Up to $150K buys a Gibbs or JR Motorsports seat.We followed 10 of them. The article on what it buys and doesn’t:
https://t.co/t8fuY3zHds https://t.co/8GjKsAD0oj— PitByNumbers | NASCAR Data (@pitbynumbers) October 17, 2026
But it was actually Brad Perez, not Hamlin, who had first shared the price estimates that later spread with Hamlin’s comments. In a September 16 FanAmp interview, Perez estimated that one O’Reilly race in equipment likely to finish 25th or worse can cost around $40,000 to $45,000. He placed a top-level opportunity with a team such as Joe Gibbs Racing or JR Motorsports in the $100,000 to $150,000 range.
The O’Reilly driver also estimated $1.3 million to $1.4 million for a full season in a car around 25th place. In fact, Daytona can push a mid-tier race toward $60,000 to $70,000. Teams use incoming money to cover crews, tires, travel, parts, and other bills. And according to him, “The upfront money person wins every time.”
Parker Kligerman challenges Denny Hamlin’s claim
But not everyone agrees with Hamlin and Perez’s numbers. Parker Kligerman challenged the simplicity of Hamlin’s percentage without dismissing money’s role. Kligerman replied to a PitByNumbers post on X with “I’d say you’re maybe 50% correct and Denny is being a little harsh.”
I appreciate your use of Claude, although you can tell it drop the “clarifiers” haha.
I’d say you’re maybe 50% correct and Denny is being a little harsh.
There’s a lot more nuance to these deals which makes them hard to ever paint with a broad brush. So many deals are a diverse mix of funding. Like a dad may “pay” but what if the OEM is paying for the engine bill? Because they believe that kid has the talent Etc etc etc
Or what about when the car has a sponsor for 30 races but the team sold that for a quarter of the needed budget. So they then get the family (or drivers investors) to pay the rest but it looks from the outside like the car is self funded and the driver is “hired”
Also just so you know, motorsports has always been this way, always will be. Yes there’s moments where maybe there were more “hired” drivers but if you could get the facts – each time period it would look very similar to now just with more recognizable stickers on the cars. And just because it looks like it’s outside funded, that rarely is a true indicator of the situation.
Even current young cup drivers whose family spent 10s of millions to get them to be a “hired” driver in cup. Now making $1m a year means they will probably never make that money back. So are they ever truly hired?
This is a discussion that will last as long as racing exists and probably isn’t worth trying to decipher. At the end of the day, the drivers in the cars are the best that the economics, viewership, and talent any given series can support at that given time.
Enjoy that people even want to fund those cars going in circles for our entertainment.
— Parker Kligerman (@pkligerman) October 17, 2026
Factually, it works pretty differently and goes way beyond just an 80% mark. For example, a family can contribute to a budget while a sponsor pays another portion, and a manufacturer supports development because it sees long-term value in the driver.
Meanwhile, a driver may bring commercial partners without contributing personal money. Another may rely on family-linked sponsorship. A third driver could be receiving manufacturer assistance while still needing outside partners to complete the season.
Current programs show several of those layers in practice for different teams, with different layouts. Like Toyota lists Brent Crews as a Toyota Development Driver, while Young Life signed on for 12 races on his Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 this season.
At the same time, William Sawalich works with another model. NASCAR has documented that his father, Brandon Sawalich, leads Starkey, and Starkey and SoundGear appear among the No. 18’s partners.
Team economics deepen the problem even more. Alpha Prime Racing co-owner Tommy Joe Martins has put his organization’s annual budget around $2.5 million to $3 million and said front-running O’Reilly teams can spend more than $6 million. Sponsorship supplies a major share of a smaller team’s budget. When sponsors follow drivers from organization to organization, owners lose leverage and may need funded drivers simply to keep cars on track.
Hamlin argued that the strongest O’Reilly drivers should earn the strongest cars through performance, but the current market makes funding part of the seat negotiation.
He used Creed, the current points leader, as an example, as he will leave Haas for Sam Hunt after saying the business had to make sense.
NASCAR’s second tier still rewards talent, but talent often needs sponsors, family resources, manufacturer support, or some combination of all three before a driver ever reaches the grid.