Former NASCAR driver Matt Tifft highlights rookie drivers' financial hardships citing Sheldon Creed's 'literally not even making $1' remark

Former NASCAR driver Matt Tifft recently touched upon the financial hardships that young drivers, including Sheldon Creed, face in the current situation. Putting them in the "pay-to-play" category, Tifft explained how these prodigies need to earn their own salary if they want to continue racing.

Winning races often translate into heavy paychecks and lucrative bonuses. However, this is not always the case, especially for young drivers who are yet to make big marks in the racing fraternity. If a driver keeps on winning, it's all fine, but if the season turns out to be a turmoil, it's a whole different story.

Lewis Hamilton, a renowned Formula 1 driver, once called the sport a billionaire boys' club. This depicts how expensive motor racing has become and NASCAR is no different, as Sheldon Creed, a young NASCAR Xfinity Series driver, knows all too well.

Emphasizing Creed's "not even making a dollar" statement which created ripples across the sport, Tift described how financially tough it becomes to survive in motor racing, including NASCAR. Speaking about this, Tifft, the former Front Row Motorsport driver from his official Instagram account, said:

"If you're confused by this, this is actually, fairly common. If you have to bring two, three, or four million dollars to a team nowadays which is about what it takes, in order to get paid, you're gonna have to bring 2.1 million, 3.1 million, 4.2 million, whatever that is to get that extra unless the team has bonuses."

"But typically, you're kind of paying your own salary, so you got to work that into your deal. Very common, not to get paid for some of these pay-to-play drivers just the world of racing we're in nowadays," he added.

Not just in the case of Creed, numerous drivers often find it hard to continue racing and decide to give up because of weak financial backing.

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What did Sheldon Creed say about his payment?

NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Sheldon Creed (18) races during the Wawa 250 at Daytona International Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Mike Watters-Imagn Images Source: Imagn

Sheldon Creed, following the conclusion of the Darlington Xfinity Series race, opened up about the empty purse he managed during the course of the season. Creed told Skewcar,

"I took a chance on myself, and we brought all the money we could. I'm literally not even making a dollar this year, so it just hurts when they get away like that."

Fairly successful in the Truck Series, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver did not have any luck in the Xfinity as he finished his regular season without a victory. Creed had four second-place finishes, and 11 Top 5s, but unfortunately no win. At Darlington, he finished in third place, after which, he will compete in the playoffs.