[Marvin Robinson]

My two cents worth...

In the mid 70's quit racing for two years when I got married, and finally convinced my wife that my racing could pay for itself. It took (and still takes) a strategy to break even or earn a profit. Mine was to get rid of the BBC/4-speed combo, and go to a Z-28/SBC auto setup with electronic ignition, shift kit, headers and fuel pump and go bracket racing in 1975 - raced various cars with similar setups till my kids started College in the early 90's.

Long story short, made over 18K in 5 years, racing the car that was my daily driver, and listed racing as a business, and ran it that way to satisfy the IRS. Between deductions and winnings (which WERE more than my expenses). I made a profit 4 out of 5 years, and helped save for a down payment on a house. It takes a lot of winning, and extreme focus, but I managed both of those. It helped a lot to have an active bracket program less than 30min from home so 2-3 nights a week you could race for 200 dollars to win with a 25 - 35.00 entry fee in the 12 flat and slower brackets, run "King of the Mountain" races and race for 400+ when they ran them. No tow vehicle, trailer expenses, camping at the track and minimal maintenance put most of the winnings in my pocket.

5-6 big money races a year gave a chance to win 1000 or more, at tracks less than 3 hours travel. (Byron, Union Grove, Martin, US 30, etc.)

Having said all that, the sport has moved to a point where this is much more expensive and harder to do today, but I think a really good racer could keep from going broke, and maybe pick up a sponsor after enough winning was done, to compete at a higher level.