The Cost of Running a Speedway Racing Team

Everyone loves to go down on a weekend and watch the speedway but no one realises the cost of running a speedway race team until they are the ones forking out the money for it.

As discovered by Liam Heaton racing costs a large amount of money – especially in the start-up and getting the car race-ready (everything set up to go out onto the track – driver in the car, motor running.)  There is also a lot of money in fixing a speedway car if there are parts damaged or an engine is blown.

For the Liam Heaton Racing team, setting up the car and organising the team cost approximately $120’000.

This cost is broken down in the following table:

NOTE: The costs used are based on running a Late Model Sedan and come from the Liam Heaton Racing team.

There are also specific start of costs including licensing (and insurance) – $400 for the driver and $200 each for the crew – and safety gear for the driver adds up to $2,000.  This includes:

–          Helmet

–          Suit

–          Underwear

–          Boots

–          Gloves

–          Neck brace ($800 alone)

The Liam Heaton Racing team also encounters the cost of each meeting raced. In New South Wales, the Late Model Sedans hold fourteen meetings across the season – which starts in October and ends in May.  If every meeting is raced, the total cost would be approximately $12,684 for the season, meaning that each meeting costs approximately $906. This is not including if new tires need to be brought, or fixing any damage previously done to the car.  The $906 per meeting includes:

Throughout the three seasons that Liam Heaton has raced in the Late Model Sedan, there has been several thousands of dollars’ worth of damage done to the car. This damage includes, but is not limited to:

–          Blowing an engine

–          Broken shocks

–          Ripped or bent body panels and deck

–          Broken control arms

–          Broken Bars

–          Blown tires or ones with air leakages

–          Warped rims

In Late Model racing, there are several ways to damage the cars and there has not been one full meeting that Liam Heaton Racing has seen where someone has not damaged something on their car – even if it is minor.  Damage can occur by two cars connecting (usually either coming out of turn four for the start/restart or in the corners as the drivers cannot see the cars behind or beside them if they are further back), hitting the cushion (the build-up of dirt at the edge of the tracks) and build-up of mud in the rims. The engine can be blown by:

1. Not having enough oil
2. Stress on the engine due to high compression
3. Water from the methanol corroding internal parts
4. Revving too hard
5. Not changing the oil regularly

In the 2013/2014 racing season, Heaton blew an engine, leading to a large cost for buying and re-building another engine, and kept him out for the rest of the race season.

Some of the costs from damaging the car are:

Overall, the cost of running a speedway racing team – in the late model division – is highly expensive and can add up to well over $30’000 for each season.  You need to be prepared for the costs at the start of each season and well before you even consider starting to race and buy the appropriate parts in order to get the car ‘track ready’.

Heaton aims each meeting to bring the car back (relatively) straight and to do the best that he can.  It is not always about winning – sometimes you just have to bring the car back undamaged.

A word of advice if you are starting racing – save your money, be prepared for damage and excessive costs. It is part and parcel of racing!

Here is a link to one of the many Late Model Sedan crashes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIyY1-nhrKQ&feature=youtu.be