Puzzle Me This NASCAR Experts

9th April 2008

Puzzle Me This NASCAR Experts

posted in NASCAR, New Zealand V8 Supercars, V8 Super Cars |

First the premise:

Every V8 Supercar Championship Series and Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series driver will be required to have a minimum $500,000 (465,000 USD) insurance coverage in order to compete in either category.

The board of V8 Supercars Australia has made the insurance mandatory as of next week’s third round of the Championship – the Hamilton 400 in Hamilton, New Zealand. The insurance will also include drivers who compete in the two endurance races of the year, the L&H 500 at Phillip Island and the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000. (NOTE: the remainder of this news item can be read at my other “place of business“)

Now the question: Does NASCAR require its drivers to carry any type of insurance?

I know individual crew members get full benefits and 401(k) plans from their teams but drivers, to my best knowledge are responsible for purchasing their own life insurance. (along with health care and retirement but don’t get me started down that trail of woe - ed)

The assumption here is the drivers are on their own based on NASCAR’s extreme inability to take any responsibility and are quick to play the “drivers are independent contractors” card.

Not that I have any over-riding concern for people that own private jets and helicopters, arrive at races in million-dollar motorhomes and live in multi-million dollar McMansions at Lake Norman or, in at least one case, Manhattan.

Just curious is all, just curious.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 9th, 2008 at 5:09 am and is filed under NASCAR, New Zealand V8 Supercars, V8 Super Cars. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

1 On April 9th, 2008, Roadrunner said:#

Watch out there. Curtis Turner got kicked out of NASCAR, not for drunken, reckless driving, but for trying to form a drivers union that would insure coverage like that.

posted on April 9th, 2008 at 5:31 am

2 On April 9th, 2008, Marc said:#

Just asking the question is all.

posted on April 9th, 2008 at 7:03 am

3 On April 9th, 2008, Puzzle Me This, NASCAR Experts « NASCAR Bloggers FT Digest said:#

[...] a minimum $500,000 (465,000 USD) insurance coverage in order to compete in either category…read more [...]

posted on April 9th, 2008 at 7:22 am

4 On April 11th, 2008, S. Stubbs said:#

Auto racing insurance in the U.S. is two part…participant accident (think of your hospitalization plan) and liability, the latter including the track, sanction organization and the participants. The rest of the world generally doesn’t have this program…and are YEARS behind the U.S. in providing this very needed coverage for their competitive events. Give NastyCar down the road…much of which I agree with…but their insurance program is probably as good as any other currently in force for U.S. racing events. When you “sign into the pits” or “show your hard-card,” this insurance is activated at every event on the schedule. Fact: big time oval racing sanctions have traditionally had good insurance programs; big time road racing is usually a less comprehensive and less understandable program. Internationally, who knows? Weird people. Weird laws. Italian courts going after builder of A. Senna’s car. Nuff said.

posted on April 11th, 2008 at 7:09 pm

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