Marlin, Nemecheck Sue Ginn Racing

While perusing NASCAR blogs and sites I came across some news that shocked me.  Sterling Marlin and Joe Nemecheck’s lawsuit against Ginn racing gives some insight into the pay-scale of two of NASCAR’s veteran drivers, and suffice to say, these guys are making some serious cash.

From Jayski’s site: Both drivers joined the organization when it was MB2 Motorsports. Marlin began in 2006 with a base salary of $1.1 million, and that increased to $1.2 million for 2007. Nemechek started with MB2 in 2004 and received $900,000 for 2004, $1 million for 2005, $1.1 million for 2006 and $1.2 million for 2007. Both drivers got to keep 45% of their race winnings (Nemechek, who was 27th in points in 2006, had $4,099,914 million total in race winnings last year, while Marlin, 34th in points, had $3,248,034 million) and 33% of souvenir sales.

What really shouts out at me is that if middle-of-the-road drivers like Nemecheck and Marlin and making $1 million per year, imagine what Gordon, Johnson, and Stewart are making.    Now it becomes very clear as to why NASCAR is attracting open-wheel drivers.