NASCAR cutting all race purses

As part of its cost-cutting measures, NASCAR is decreasing the amount it will pay teams in race winnings by approximately 10 percent in 2010. Dover Motorsports Chief Executive Officer Denis McGlynn told financial analysts about the cut during a conference call Thursday, and NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston confirmed it Friday morning. Purses in all three national series Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Truck will decrease. The move will help the tracks, which pay purse fees and a separate sanction fee to NASCAR. Part of the purse fees include television money tracks get 90 percent of the television money allocated for a race (NASCAR keeps the other 10 percent), and the tracks then must put 25 percent of the total television money allocated for the race back into the purse. The tracks then also contribute additional purse fees, as computed by NASCAR, with other contingency awards also added to the final purse. International Speedway Corp. officials reported Thursday that they expect television money will increase by about 2.5 percent this year but ticket revenues and other motorsports-related revenues are expected to drop 4-9 percent.(Scene Daily)