Did You Notice? … The wide range of NASCAR items that have become more expensive with American tariffs?
Both fans and race teams alike are grappling with the cost increases that have already become a reality in just the last 48 hours.
If you’re a race fan, what are you going to need extra money for? The first thing that comes to mind is diecast cars. Lionel Racing, the licensed NASCAR producer of these products for 15 years, already sent out an email to its customers detailing a 5% tariff surcharge going into effect for all orders received after March 7.
In the email obtained by Frontstretch, Lionel makes clear they’re facing a 20% tariff on any products they’re importing from China. But keep in mind that was last week. Since then, things have only gotten worse; cost increases have ballooned with news Tuesday (April 8) President Donald Trump’s administration is looking to raise those tariff numbers to as high as 104%.
A more recent email, first reported on by Adam Stern of the Sports Business Journal, had Lionel warning about the rising prices. Their larger 1:24-scale cars will rise a minimum of 18% for their “Race Win” diecasts, from $85 to $99.95. And if you want the “Elite” version, you’ll pay 29% more, with the price rising from $120 to $155.
Those are true collector’s items, now much more difficult for fans to get their hands on. But the trickle-down effect will happen on all products, even what’s typically the least expensive: 1:64 diecast models the size of Matchbox cars. This Austin Dillon Bass Pro Shops model, for example, is now going for $14.99 online at Target as of April 8. These cars typically have had prices anywhere from $5.99 to $9.99 as recently as a year or two ago.
So if your five-year-old loves Dillon and you want to get him or her a toy car to play with, be prepared to spend practically double the cost. Keep in mind that, as these tariffs get implemented, Lionel has practically a monopoly on the space. That means no other competitor is out there to counterbalance pricing and potentially keep increases down.
For fans, the costs won’t stop there. Fanatics hasn’t officially announced any increases for NASCAR clothing but, according to the Fair Labor Association, they source from 94 contracted facilities across a total of 17 countries. While there are three main facilities in the U.S., some products are outsourced, and that will lead to increased costs passed down to you, the race fan consumer.
Keeping with the Dillon example, as of April 8, a simple Bass Pro Shops T-Shirt featuring the No. 3 Chevrolet was being sold for $27.99 with a free shipping promotion. There’s no official word on increases from the company, but we’ll have to see where these prices are within a week or two.
On the race team side, fears surround not just a handful of parts imported from overseas (the United Kingdom, among other countries) but the very marketing and sponsorship dollars themselves that make this sport keep functioning.
Just Tuesday evening, Haas Automation, run by longtime NASCAR Cup and Xfinity series owner Gene Haas, released a statement where it’s eliminated overtime and paused hiring at its manufacturing facility out in California.
Haas Automation Statement Regarding Tariffs pic.twitter.com/8Q9BuSOHHf
— Haas Automation, Inc (@Haas_Automation) April 8, 2025
“Haas Automation is particularly concerned,” the statement reads, “about the potential reduction in tariffs on machine tools from certain countries, such as Japan, Taiwan and Korea, without a corresponding reduction in tariff rates for imported raw materials and components into the U.S. Such a scenario would be catastrophic to the $5 billion U.S. machine tool industry, which is a key component of U.S. national security.”
We’ve seen sponsorships go belly up before during American recessions. Less than six months after the Sept. 11 attacks roiled the country, K-Mart’s bankruptcy and restructuring caused it to pull NASCAR sponsorship before the 2002 Daytona 500. It eventually caused the extinction of Travis Carter’s two-car operation, altering the careers of Joe Nemechek and Todd Bodine.
Then, of course, there was the 2008 recession that led to NASCAR’s start-and-park era — a handful of cars filling a then 43-car field with no intention of completing (or remaining competitive in) the race itself. There simply wasn’t enough money to go around, leaving gaps in the grid.
You would think those gaps wouldn’t reappear with the sport’s charter system in place, guaranteeing 36 spots on the grid to each car that has one. But each of these individual programs still needs a reasonable amount of outside sponsorship each week to make it to the track. What happens if those checks stop rolling in again? Will there even be buyers for charters that need to be sold?
What’s unique about this situation is how much the automotive industry itself could be affected. Stellantis has already announced layoffs of 900 people at five U.S. plants based on increased costs and a downturn in production. So many parts used to make even American cars are imported from overseas, and then there’s the 25% tariff on imported vehicles themselves. NASCAR has been looking to add additional manufacturers down the road; will foreign ones like Nissan and Volkswagen, for example, even have the bandwidth to consider branching out now?
Those are questions for down the road, hopefully ones that don’t ever have to be answered. But in the short-term, this much is clear: you’ll need more money to put your favorite driver’s diecast, collectible or memento on your shelf.
One can only hope those cost increases are short-lived.
Did You Notice? … Quick hits before taking off …
- Sixteen winners during the regular season? It doesn’t feel like it this year. Denny Hamlin became the second driver with two-plus wins this season with his win at Darlington Raceway, joining teammate Christopher Bell (three). So far, we’ve got five winners in eight races and not a plethora of drivers who should have won (Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano notwithstanding).
- Nobody talks about Darlington Xfinity Series winner Brandon Jones as a NXS lifer because he hasn’t had the same amount of success as, say, Justin Allgaier. But people like Jones are just as important to the long-term viability of the series. Not everyone is made out to be a full-time Cup driver. People like Jones, Jeremy Clements, Josh Williams and more help make Xfinity the well-rounded division it is. I’d argue it’s produced the best racing in NASCAR this year.
Follow Tom Bowles on X at @NASCARBowles
The author of Did You Notice? (Wednesdays) Tom spends his time overseeing Frontstretch’s 40+ staff members as its majority owner and Editor-in-Chief. Based outside Philadelphia, Bowles is a two-time Emmy winner in NASCAR television and has worked in racing production with FOX, TNT, and ESPN while appearing on-air for SIRIUS XM Radio and FOX Sports 1's former show, the Crowd Goes Wild. He most recently consulted with SRX Racing, helping manage cutting-edge technology and graphics that appeared on their CBS broadcasts during 2021 and 2022.
You can find Tom’s writing here, at CBSSports.com and Athlonsports.com, where he’s been an editorial consultant for the annual racing magazine for 15 years.