CAPITAL REGION — Higher fuel prices have added financial pain to the physically risky business of local race car driving.

Modified big block engine race car driver Erik Nelson of Amsterdam said for the last nine years he’s put up about half of his regular annual salary toward the operation of his race team, which also includes a small block engine car.

“I don’t hunt, I don’t fish, I don’t play checkers or chess. I race. This is what I do,” Nelson said.

But doing what he does has gotten harder because of rising fuel prices, Nelson admits. He said special Sunoco fuel he uses for his engines costs about $8.75 per gallon, up about a dollar from last year. Cost to drive his car per race varies depending on length. The cost of diesel fuel used for the truck he uses to tow his cars to each race will determine whether he can maintain his typical season average of two races per week, 50 for the season.

“It dictates where we go, when we go. It costs about $40 to tow [a race car] from Amsterdam to Glen Ridge [Motorsports Park] and that’s just for the truck, you’ve got another $20 to run the generator for the trailer,” he said. “The best thing you do is just pray you have a good night, both nights, and make some money and try to put away as much as you can without having to put it back into the car.”

Ric Lucia, the promoter for the Fonda Speedway, said high gasoline prices haven’t hurt attendance at Fonda yet, partly because ticket prices have remained frozen for about five seasons at $10 for adults.

“What’s going on with fuel in this country right now is there just is not enough disposable income left for people to do much. I tend to think the racing [business] is going to hold up because people can’t travel much, so they need some form of entertainment,” he said.

Lucia said the price of fuel used for equipment needed to prepare the track each week has roughly tripled over the last five years. He said it now costs the Fonda Speedway between $1,000 and $2,500 to maintain its track weekly during the season, depending on weather conditions.

“You can’t pass it all on [to the customer] because then the people can’t afford to go,” he said.

Mike Romano, the promoter of Glen Ridge Motorsports Park in Fultonville, said he has cut back on track preparation activities because of the high cost of fuel. He said he’s also prepared to cancel more races.

“If it’s an ‘iffy’ night, and it looks like rain, we know the fans aren’t going to come out because they aren’t going to spend the money to drive here. We aren’t going to get any faraway fans. You have to take that into consideration when you decide if you’re going to cancel the show or stick it out,” he said.

Mark Kozolowski, general manager of Morris Ford in Burnt Hills, said his hobby, driving a race car, has become more expensive, but he’s decided to swallow the cost increase. He said not every race team has been able to.

“I think the car count is down. It’s because of costs,” he said. “The price of diesel fuel has gone up about 100 percent. In any kind of business you can only take so many increases like that and keep going.”

Nelson said he’s been able to get more funding from his longtime sponsors, Benjamin Moore & Co. and Riley Mortuary in Amsterdam. He said sponsors typically base the amount they will give a race team on a formula that looks at the costs of local television, print and radio advertisement and the potential benefit of having a logo on both sides of two race cars and the team’s trailer, seen by crowds at 50 races over the summer.

“Sponsorship dollars are very, very hard to come by. We start at a certain price and we try to negotiate from there. Even the big companies today don’t want to spend that much,” he said.

Lucia said one strategy he’s trying this season to keep racing teams coming back to the track is a five-race contest called the “Thunder Series,” where modified big block engine racers will compete for progressively bigger first-prize purses. He said the typical first prize for a 30-lap race might be $2,200, but during the Thunder Series the purse will increase with each race, starting at $4,000 and concluding with $9,500 in August.

“There is never enough prize money to completely support every race team,” he said. “Everybody is trying to look for a way to keep racers happy. You can’t reduce their costs so you try to entice it in other ways.

Nelson said with or without incentives he will continue racing, no matter what it costs him, as long as he can.

“The worst part is that the price of the fuel probably won’t dictate me doing it. I’m going to do it and unfortunately I’ll have to bite the bullet at the pump,” he said.