Pro Driver population

[Bob Baldwin jr]

Eric : In reference to your last paragraph that is the point I was making . Should Dyson , the fields , Lou G etc; be paying themselves a salary I do not have that answer that is why the original question is almost impossible to answer.
Also look at the deal ex-karter Patrick long has with Porsche ,From my understanding he is a Porsche Contract driver . If porsche supports say The Flying Lizards team and Patrick is one of the Drivers say at 12 hours of Sebring are the Lizards also paying him too There are more of these type scenario's around than you can shake a stick at .
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Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways totally worn out, shouting, "Holy **** what a ride!!!".

[Eric Franzen]

Yeah, I think we're kinda on the same page Bob and I just didn't explain myself very well in the beginning.

I brought up endurance racing because for the longer races a 3rd driver is brought on board who is not there for the entire season. It's possible that the 3rd driver brought some sponsorship, is another wealthy privateer, or maybe just a talented guy brought in for the one race and paid a few thousand dollars. Not enough to make a living on, and not much of a hit to the budget of a team at that level.

Then there are all of the past F1 drivers that come out of the woodwork for races like LeMans.

No matter how you look at it though, if you're making money racing instead of spending it, you're one very fortunate individual!