NASCAR reducing purses to lessen burden on tracks

Purses in each of NASCAR's three national series are going down roughly 10 percent as the sanctioning body attempts to reduce the financial burden on race tracks struggling with empty seats.

For each event, tracks typically pay a sanctioning fee to NASCAR, purse money and money that goes into the year-end points fund for that particular series. A number of tracks have lost sponsorship in the recession, and most have reduced ticket prices in an attempt to lure back fans saddled by the current economic environment. In a financial report issued this week, track company International Speedway Corp. said it had reduced price on half a million Sprint Cup Series tickets across its eight member venues.

Not surprisingly, ISC's total revenues in 2009 were down $94 million from the year before, according to the company's fourth quarter financial report, released Thursday. Other speedway companies also experienced decreases in revenues last year, and NASCAR sees the purse reductions as a way to help offset those losses. The sanctioning body also lowered the fee it charges to hold NASCAR races.

"Last year we launched an industry-wide effort to help the sport manage budgets in this economy," series spokesman Ramsey Poston said in a statement. "NASCAR did the right thing to work with the tracks to reduce their costs in order to manage the economic realities. In return, the tracks have done a great job reducing ticket prices and enhancing the fan experience.

"Likewise, we worked with the teams to contain costs such as elimination of testing and other steps. This is consistent with how virtually every sport and business has adjusted to the economy over the past year."

While the move will certainly be celebrated by race tracks, which receive 65 percent of the money from NASCAR's television contracts, the impact the reduction will have on race teams is yet to be determined. It's unlikely to have much of an effect on larger Cup Series organizations, multi-million-dollar operations funded by sponsorship for whom a winner's check is often pocket change. Top drivers also typically make hefty salaries and keep only a percentage of their winnings.

Where cuts could be felt the most is on the Nationwide and Camping World Truck circuits, especially for smaller teams unaffiliated with Sprint Cup programs and for whom sponsorship is often fleeting. NASCAR controls how money is divided between finishing positions, and it's not yet known how the sanctioning body will divvy up cash for each event. The possibility exists that NASCAR could arrange the reductions so they're weighted more toward the top of the finishing order than the bottom, theoretically minimizing any losses that lower-rung teams might feel.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.