Racing teams face the challenge of fielding competitive racers at every stop through the season. It requires millions of dollars to operate a team. The minimum expenses of the 1996 season are as follows:
Racing teams face the challenge of fielding competitive racers at every
stop through the season. It requires millions of dollars to operate a team.
The minimum expenses of the 1996 season are as follows:
* The "rolling-chassis" starts at $420,000. To be competitive, an Indy car team will own at least three cars per season.
* The engine, which must be leased from the manufacturer costs between $80,000 and $140,000 and each engine must be rebuilt after each 500 miles for $34,000.
* At a cost of $1,200 per set of tires, a team may spend more than $150,000 per season on rubber.
* Spare parts are a necessary component to competition. The expenses are broken down into $500,000 for disposable parts and $175,000 for gearbox parts.
* Team costs must include: salaries for the teams drivers, engineers, fabricators, crew, office employees and truck drivers; cost of travel, lodging, rental cars and per diems during the season and throughout the off-season when development and testing is conducted. Teams may have 50 full time staff members as well as 20 additional employees during the season.
* Teams often budget up to $500,000 for their transportation costs. The transporters can be used for more than one season.
In order to be competitive, teams must allow for plenty of resources for testing and research and development. Therefore, while it may take a minimum $2.5 million to get a team into the PPG Cup Series, teams often spend between $5.0-$15.0 million annually to field a competitive Indy car team.
