NASCAR Doesn’t Need Sellouts When the Government Hands Them $70 Million

So you think it’s a big deal that numerous seats are empty at most tracks when NASCAR contests its races? Well, in an odd piece of news related to government officials in Washington playing political poker with the country’s budget, the Daytona Beach, Florida based stock car racing organization will receive $70 million as part of the “fiscal cliff" agreement.

According to a report from ABC News, the money comes as an extension of a “seven-year cost recovery period for certain motorsports racing track facilities."

The $70 million amount is an estimate of lost tax revenue if current tax credits, which are scheduled to expire, are extended for a year. In other words, had the deal not been reached, NASCAR tracks would have owed $70 million more in taxes. Now, they will essentially get a pass on paying those taxes.

According to this story, NASCAR needs the tax break to “maintain the current standard expected by our competitors and fans." Also, NASCAR’s lobby machine spent $1.1 million influencing legislators to give them the tax break.

Apparently, the “current standard" is worth a $70 million tax break?

Much is often made on this website and others about the fact that NASCAR races have seen declines in attendance over the past decade. And at the same time, television ratings have declined dramatically during that same period of time. Apparently, however, that isn’t as big of a concern as one might think. A government handout of $70 million can help cover a lot of losses.

While many American taxpayers were relieved to hear that a deal had been struck between Democrats and Republicans on Tuesday night, it’s highly unlikely that many “average folks" benefited nearly as much as multi-million dollar companies like International Speedway Corp. and Speedway Motorsports along with Brian France(France family is principle ower of ISC) and O. Bruton Smith did. And by the way, the government did not extend the Social Security payroll deduction relief which means most of us will see our paychecks decrease by a little bit in 2013. RacingWithRich