The struggling economy has reached out and touched NASCAR in a new way: reduced purses.

In a cost-cutting measure, NASCAR is decreasing race purses - the amount it pay drivers and car owners in race winnings - by approximately 10 percent in 2010 for all three national series.

‬‪"Last year we launched an industry-wide effort to help the sport manage budgets in this economy," NASCAR 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."

The decrease will help track owners, who have been hit by falling revenues during the recession, but will come at the expense of drivers and team owners in NASCAR's Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Truck series.

International Speedway Corporation, owner of Daytona International Speedway and 11 other major tracks, reported Thursday that revenues fell 11.8 percent from 2008 to 2009. ISC reported revenue of about $693 million for the 12 months ending November 30, 2009 compared to $787 million for the same period in 2008, according to the company's fourth quarter financial report, which it released Thursday.

The ISC report said ticket sales alone were down $40.5 million, or a drop of 17.1 percent.

Speedway Motorsports, Inc., owner of Charlotte Motor Speedway and seven other major tracks, in November reported a drop in revenues of about $20 million for the first nine months of 2009 compared to the same period in 2008, or a drop from about $480 million to about $460 million.

Both companies managed to remain profitable, but their net income plummeted. ISC's net income dropped from $134.5 million in 2008 to only $6.8 million last year. Speedway Motorsports's income dropped from $84.9 million for the first nine months of 2008 to only $4.8 million for the same period last year.

 

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