Before a crowd of hundreds (and about a bazillion visibly empty grandstand
seats), the Daytona 24 is now underway on the Speed Channel. Not a vintage
race, of course, but these ARE the vintage cars of the future :-)
Which brings me to my annual questions:
How do race teams turn a profit on events like this? Is the prize and
appearance money from Rolex that great? Are there really sponsors out there
who think their exposure to Speed Channel viewers and the walk-in race crowd
will justify the hideous expense of developing and running a prototype car?
Or are there dozens of modern-day Cunninghams and Casners willing to
bankroll the teams just for sport?
And am I the last man alive who thinks that real "sports cars" should be
open-cockpit cars -- with two seats and enough ground clearance that they
could (at least theoretically) be driven on public roads?
Jim Hill
Reprobate-at-Large
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