Cory Hedgecock
There’s no two ways to look at it, racing at all levels is expensive. That’s why every driver and team, whether they compete in a Four Cylinder class or the Super Late Model division, have to make sure the decisions they are making and the dollars they are spending make sense or else their racing days may come to an abrupt halt.
For a regional racer such as Cory Hedgecock, making sense of the economics of racing is just as important as it is for any national team. And that is especially true when trying to decide when and where to race. Sometimes the best decision might be to go after a smaller purse that is closer to home rather than a larger purse that will require more travel, and thus, more expense. And sometimes, the best decision might be to not go at all.
With today’s economic situation, there are so many factors at work in the decision making process. Hedgecock and his family-owned team have to weigh every expense carefully before deciding when and where they will race.
“Man, right now it’s fuel, obviously, and tires,” Hedgecock told InsideDirtRacing.com regarding the difficulties racers currently face. “When we get to a track we have to decide how hard do we think the race track is going to be on tires. Everything is just so expensive right now- tires, motors, cars, sheet metal, noses, diesel fuel, race fuel, it don’t matter, it’s expensive now. It’s a multitude of things right now we’re having to do.”
That checklist of expenses when it comes to racing went into Hedgecock’s decision making process regarding whether or not to go to Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio this weekend to compete in the Eldora Million and the Dirt Late Model Dream.
“We’re talking about Eldora, it was obviously on our list and we still want to go and fuel wouldn’t be that bad because it’s only six hours away and you’re going to be up there for four days so you can make it work out,” the Loudon, Tennessee resident explained. “Tires, they changed the tire rule which is part of it, I guess. We had a bunch of (Hoosier)20’s and they threw this 30 deal on there so we’ve got to get a bunch of 30’s, which is one thing. But it’s the Dream and it’s the Million and we all want to go because we want to be a part of it.”
As of the time of this posting, Hedgecock did not have Eldora on his website schedule for this weekend.
The 29-year-old driver who has won numerous races in Super, Crate and Limited Late Model competition while, at the same time, working alongside grandfather Mike Hedgecock and father Chad Hedgecock at Eagle Racing Engines points out that sometimes not racing can be the best economic decision for his team.
“This stuff is paid for, dad owns it all,” Hedgecock stated. “We’re not making payments on any of it so it doesn’t cost us anything for it to sit there but it does cost us to move it. If it don’t work out, we treat our racing like a business, he don’t take any money out of his personal paycheck or mine and the engine shop don’t pay for none of it. It is fully driven off of it’s own deal and if the bottom line don’t work out, we just won’t go.”
Cory Hedgecock in his No. 23 Black Diamond Race Car
Hedgecock compares the way his team does business to that of another family operation. Shane McDowell Racing and driver Dale McDowell carefully consider every possible angle when determining when and where to race just as the Hedgecocks do.
“Dale and Shane are really good at it, and they get blasted for cherry picking, but there is no such thing as cherry picking anymore,” Hedgecock declared. “They’re very smart with their money and we’ve all got to be. You definitely can tell the ones who don’t pay for their fuel or pay for their own equipment because they’re running up and down the road every which way every day. We do(pay for our own fuel).”
Rising costs and shortages of components have been hot button issues throughout the 2022 racing season. Hedgecock doesn’t expect that to change any time soon as he and his team continue to monitor events in order to make the best possible decisions for their team.
“It’s a real touchy subject right now and you can piss a lot of people off about it anymore, but if it don’t work out, it don’t work out. We might just back up a little bit and run Crates, they are cheaper to run and there’s a bunch of good paying Crate races around here. That open motor costs 10, 12, 14 dollars to make a lap whether you run 24th or you’re leading.”
If it doesn’t make sense, Cory Hedgecock doesn’t make dollars. And that’s the ultimate decider.
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