Only the $1,000,000 payment made to Donnie Moran after his win at Eldora Speedway back in 2001 has exceeded the $202,940 received by Earl Pearson, Jr. for a Dirt Late Model race victory. The Jacksonville, Florida native took the lead with only eight laps remaining last Saturday night then held off a hard charging Bobby Pierce to earn the big payday in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series sanctioned Dirt Million held at Ohio’s Mansfield Motor Speedway.
Now that the race that had been highly anticipated for months is in the rear view mirror and we have had time to digest the event, we are left to ask one seemingly simple question- What becomes of the sport of Dirt Late Model racing going forward?
Cody Sommer(Photo from @codysommer on Twitter)
Dirt Million promoter Cody Sommer opted to use a unique form of financing to garner the money to pay out the large purse for the Dirt Million. Fans could contribute to the overall purse by purchasing tickets and other items from the race’s website and have some of the proceeds from those purchases added to the event’s payout. And with four guaranteed starting spots in the feature race for the drivers who received the most fan support, racers assisted in the promotion of sales as well as the race by taking to social media to encourage their followers to buy from the website. Ultimately, the total payout wound up being just over $400,000.
Sommer has shown himself to be an innovator who is willing to think outside the proverbial box. Aside from this past Saturday night, he has demonstrated this over the past two Decembers as promoter of the Gateway Dirt Nationals held inside The Dome at America’s Center which once served as the home of the NFL’s St. Louis Rams.
So are there more big races such as this in the offing from Sommer or any other promoter?
As was pointed out in a piece on this website a few weeks ago, Dirt Late Model racing is currently in the midst of a major streak of big money races. The Dirt Million is sandwiched in between a total of seven consecutive weekends that feature an event that pays $40,000 or more to win.
With so much focus now being placed on the shows offering major payouts, one has to wonder if a day will come in which Dirt Late Model racing will see fewer total races on the schedule but those races will pay more money and garner more attention. The current formula creates a situation in which the biggest stars in the sport race many times each year for purses that award $10,000 or $12,000 to the victor rather than events such as those within this seven-race stretch that make bigger payments.
In a sense, the Dirt Late Model purse structure has seen little change since the 1990’s in terms of the more frequent feature races. At the same time, the costs of racing competitively on a series have risen. But one has to keep in mind that there are only so many facilities out there capable of hosting an event that could pay significantly more in purse money. So relying solely on ticket sales would be difficult to fund bigger races.
Dirt Million payout
Now, however, a new way of doing business has been demonstrated. Obviously, this type of crowd funded scenario can’t be employed on a weekly, or even monthly, basis. But, Sommer has shown that thinking outside the box can pay dividends so one has to wonder what the next big idea will be and who will come up with it.
The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series has nine events that pay $25,000 or more on its schedule. The World of Outlaws Late Model Series has five races that pay at least that same amount. Additionally, there are races such as the Dirt Late Model Dream and the World 100 at Eldora Speedway as well as the previously mentioned Gateway Dirt Nationals that deliver hefty payouts but do not fall under the sanction of either national tour.
Would those circuits ever consider reducing their schedules in favor of contesting fewer races that pay bigger purses? Or, will the sport continue staging $10,000 and $12,000 purses that call for a greater frequency of trips to the track.
The system calling for fewer races would most assuredly be more cost effective for teams as the amount of travel and the amount of wear and tear on equipment would be reduced. But at the same time, fewer fans in fewer regions of the country would get to see their favorites. That could, in turn, lead to a scenario such as NASCAR is currently facing in which many of its core fans feel alienated and have ceased paying attention.
In a story previously posted on this website, fans indicated that they would be willing to pay more to see bigger races. Almost certainly, at least some of the more heavily financed drivers and teams would also favor a revised system. At the same time, a number of track that rely on having a national touring series show at their facility once each year to help balance the books would be hurt if their date was stripped in favor of a reduced schedule.
It’s impossible to say what the future holds but the recent running of the Dirt Million showed us that races paying huge purses can succeed. But will there be more of them in the future?
