Dale Earnhardt Jr. claims he took big pay cuts in his final years at HMS while explaining NASCAR’s sponsorship problem

Dale Earnhardt Jr. highlighted that the new sponsorship model is more monetarily rewarding for the drivers.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. claims he took big pay cuts in his final years at HMS while explaining NASCAR’s sponsorship problem

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson (Via IMAGO)

NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. has delved into the harsh reality of the sponsorship crisis the sport is going through and how it is affecting the drivers. Junior, who drove in NASCAR at its peak, has experienced the rise and stagnation of the sport’s growth firsthand. The aspect that affected the sport the most was, without a doubt, the business model.

Money has become the king over talent at a significant percentage of teams in NASCAR, and sponsorship deals have become the way to survive, even for the legacy teams. The one primary sponsor model has been broken, and teams are now relying on different sponsors every week. This severely affects the brand growth as well. The only positive thing about the new model for the teams is that it is lucrative for them.

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But the money comes at a cost for drivers. They have to dedicate more time and effort to representing the brand and making appearances at events. This messes up the work-life balance. Dale Jr., while discussing the same, admitted that he took massive pay cuts in his final years at Hendrick Motorsports to reduce the sponsor commitments.

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The drivers today. Well, they got 6 or 7 partners that want dozens of appearances. When you look at the calendar year, your time just goes away… The money is way better, but there is a cost for that because you are putting in a lot more time. In the back five years of my career, [started] taking a big pay cut to get more days off my calendar that were free days.
Earnhardt said via Dale Jr. Download.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. explains how the sponsorship commitments change at every level of the sport

The JR Motorsports co-owner, in the same interview, broke down how drivers’ commitments change as they go up the NACAR ladder. He pointed out that in the late-model racing series, ’ nothing really changes, as the drivers have limited off-track responsibilities.

Josh Berry and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Josh Berry and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Via IMAGO)

But once he or she gets promoted to the Xfinity series, there will be some slight changes, including adding new responsibilities. But still, it gives them enough space to spend time with their loved ones. But at the top of the Cup series, there are too many commitments that they are forced to sacrifice precious time.

But creeping into the picture were new responsibilities. You are gonna have to do X amount of appearances for this partner…Gotta do XYZ. You know you’ve got this thing planned with your family and friends...Those things are fun, but they start to litter the calendar year. And then you get into the Cup Series, and all of that multiplies by 3, 4, 5 times.

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