Racing fans often like to spend their money on merchandise, but increasing costs are one of their biggest frustrations. Amidst this, Brad Keselowski has weighed in on the subject. 

The RFK driver and co-owner was replying to a post on X, which said that high fees charged to park merchandise haulers at tracks may have contributed to the number of team merchandise trailers going down.

While highlighting that tracks have actually made improvements in recent years, the brunt of increasing costs of owning and operating equipment has been felt by fans.

“In fairness to the tracks, they have become significantly more accommodating to merchandise trailers, teams and drivers in the midway over the last 3-5 years. Unfortunately, the cost to own and operate the equipment has gone up 2-4x in the last 15 years for various reasons," Keselowski said.

"Most fans don’t want to pay $100 for a T-shirt that used to cost $25 and I don’t blame them. The only solve for this we’ve come up with is massive consolidation that nobody really likes. We are open to quality ideas from someone to fix this for everyone. Feel free to respond below,” he added. 

Merchandise has long been one of the most visible ways for fans to support their favorite drivers, but steep prices have increasingly made purchases difficult for families attending races. Rather than placing blame solely on tracks or teams, Keselowski described the problem as an industry-wide challenge driven by rising operational expenses. 

His willingness to openly discuss the issue reflects a broader concern across the sport: how to keep the at-track experience affordable while ensuring teams can continue operating sustainable merchandise programs.

The driver’s comments sparked further discussion about the economics of NASCAR merchandising, with many fans pointing to manufacturing costs, transportation expenses and event logistics as factors that have changed dramatically over the past decade. 

This has also affected the state of in-person attendance at NASCAR races. 

Why are some iconic racetracks mostly empty? 

The Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway was in the news sometime back, and not for good reasons. The event was noted for a lot of empty seats in the stadium, something that sources like Frontstretch reported, which ignited yet another debate on social media. 

A fan suggested lowering the ticket prices for certain races. The argument was that tracks should prioritize getting more people through the gates, since the earnings from broadcast revenue are quite substantial. The tweet claimed that many fans were unwilling to pay upwards of USD 80 for tickets. 

While some felt that the USD 80 figure was modest, many others pointed towards the broader costs of logistics and travel around venues, and also the increased planning it takes for families driving down for the weekend. 

One of the users wrote, “It’s not the price of the tickets. It’s the price of lodging, the food costs, and the transportation costs. All to go to one event out in the middle of nowhere. If I’m loading up my family for the weekend, I want other things in proximity to justify the cost and time, etc.”

Echoing the same sentiment, another user added, “It's not even that. I attend multiple races a year. My threshold for a good cup ticket is about $100 each; that's sitting high enough up that I can see most, if not all, of the race track. I can go to Talladega for BOTH DAYS for 100-120 with free camping and a concert w/a decent name.”

Do you have any suggestions for what NASCAR should be doing to overcome these issues? 

Read more at RFK Racing Digest

Written by

Aaradhya Singh

Edited by

Suyashdeep Sason