Getty Images Las Vegas native Kyle Busch enjoys In-n-Out when he's back home.
When Kyle Busch lands in Las Vegas, he does what many of us do. No, not head for the slots. Busch gets him an In-N-Out burger. But here’s an unbelievable truth: The average driver in NASCAR makes less than an In-N-Out store manager.
The average In-N-Out manager earns about $180,000 a year. By contrast, Fan Arch estimates the average NASCAR driver earns far less, about $112,000 a year. How is this possible?
NASCAR Driver vs. UPS Driver
Before this Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Vegas native Kyle Busch will probably get him a double-double at In-N-Out. As he told the Las Vegas Review-Journal, “that’s the secret. When you get off the plane, you go to In-N-Out.”
In-N-Out is an extremely popular hamburger chain, based in California, and with hundreds of locations west of the Mississippi. The chain has an almost cult-like following. Given that, maybe it should be no surprise that the average In-N-Out manager earns about $180,000 a year.
Indeed, the company makes it a point to pay its people well. As owner Lynsi Snyder writes, “offering the highest wages in the industry is one way we attract the best people to care for our customers.”
Does NASCAR believe the same?
Consider that with their new contract, a UPS driver can make up to $170,000 a year — nearly $60,000 more.
The 38-year-old Kyle Busch, who’s currently leading in the points, can obviously afford to buy the team In-N-Out. Salary Sport pegs Busch’s earnings at about $16.9 million a year. Busch, Hamlin, Logano, and most of the drivers you watch on a Sunday NASCAR Cup Series race are earning millions.
Yet, several sources place the average NASCAR driver’s salary at just $112,000. Note, this includes developmental drivers, who may make as little as $50,000 a year.
Consider that in 2023, before he signed his new contract, Corey LaJoie, driving in the NASCAR Cup Series, was earning $200,000.
NASCAR Is A Money Game
Kyle Busch has an estimated net worth of $80 million. Dale Earnhardt, Jr., is worth closer to $400 million. Their wealth did not come just from racing, or winning, but also from endorsement deals, media and sponsorship monies, and business ventures. This is not the case for most NASCAR drivers — and especially the hopefuls.
Yes, there are lots of opportunities to make it into one of the three NASCAR series, the NASCAR Cup, Xfinity Series, or the Craftsman Truck Series. And many would no doubt gladly race in either series for $112,000 a year.
Low pay isn’t the big issue. Rather, it’s the cost to the young (youngish) driver hopeful to actually get a seat. It’s not just about talent. Though mega-wealthy now, Kyle Busch knows this all too well.
As Heavy reported last year, Busch remarked that making it in NASCAR these days isn’t a “success game anymore. It’s a money game.” Busch noted that a driver needs “millions” of dollars backing him to land a seat with a team in NASCAR Cup.
Owners simply do not generate enough money themselves to invest in talent, according to Busch. That means that a promising driver, including one that has success in both the Xfinity Series and the Truck Series, needs to have the cash — the millions — or find someone who does who’s willing to back him.
This isn’t just an issue for the driver hopeful. As Busch says, forcing talented drivers to find the millions to make it means that the level of competition in NASCAR isn’t as high as it should be. That’s a loss for fans.
As Busch said, “sometimes when you’re here in Cup or Xfinity or whatever, the talent isn’t quite as grand as maybe it could be. If you had all of those types of guys here (talented but without the backing), it would be a lot tougher.”