Lawsuit reveals pay for Cup crew member

A lawsuit against Roush Fenway Racing gives a look into the world of crew members and what they earn and what their contracts can be like.

To compare with what a Nationwide driver can make, check this out. Jason Myers, former car chief for Carl Edwards, has filed suit against Roush Fenway Racing for wrongful discharge (i.e. firing) and in violation of the Family Medical Leave Act. Myers, who joined Roush in 2002 and was Edwards' car chief (title just below crew chief) from 2006-08.

Court documents stated that Myers suffered from depression and attempted suicide three times. His first attempt was March 25, 2008, by taking an overdose of Tylenol. Court documents state that he "made a partially aborted suicide attempt'' in Oct. 2008. His third attempt came on Feb. 10, 2009, when he ingested 25-30 Tylenol and approximately 200 units of insulin. He was taken by ambulance to a local hospital. The third attempt came five days before this year's Daytona 500. The court document states that on Feb. 17, 2009, the team fired him "for allegedly not noifying anyone that he would miss work on Friday, Feb. 13.'' ... For more on Myers' battle with depression, check this story out.

The case has moved to federal court. Monday, Roush Fenway Racing filed a motion to dismiss Myers' wrongful discharge claim. Roush Fenway Racing claims in court documents that Myers was "not employed with Roush as an employee at-will as required to state a claim of wrongful discharge under North Carolina law. In this case, Myers was emplyed with Roush pursuant to an employment agreement dated January 11, 2008.''

Roush submitted Myers' contract as part of its court documents on Monday.

Just like driver contracts, crew contracts are kept confidential. Teams don't want other teams to know what they're paying or how they're compensating their employees.  Here's a look at the contract Roush had with Myers, giving you a behind-the-scenes look at the garage:

# Myers had a two-year contract with Roush. The contract went from Jan. 2, 2008 to Dec. 31, 2010.

# Myers earned a base salary of $110,472.96 as car chief for the 99 car of Carl Edwards. Myers was due to receive an annual salary increase of a minimum 4 percent (just over $4,400).  He also, at the time of signing the contract, was a rear tire changer on the 99 team (a position he stepped out of early in the 2008 season because of an injury). He was to be paid $625 a week as long as he was a rear tire changer. Multipy that by 38 total races and that's more than $23,000 to change tires. Carry that out to a 52-week pay period and that would be $32,500.

# He also was eligible  to receive money from Roush's "prize money'' bonus pool, the aggregate amount of which comes from prize money earnings received from NASCAR based upon on-track performance. The contract states that the the team determines how much goes into that bonus pool and how it is to be divided. Also, when Myers was on the pit crew, he was eligible for bonuses for that group also. Again, the team determined how much went into the pool and how it was to be paid.

# Myers also was to receive a company car, according to the contract, along with insurance coverage and payment for gasoline usage or he could receive an allowance of $725 a month to cover any and all costs of obtaining and operating a car.

# There's a claus that should Myers leave the team during the term of his employment and through the end of the first full fiscal year of Roush following termination that he cannot attempt to induce any employee of Roush to quit or alter employment with Roush; cannot interfere with or disrupt Roush's relationship with any of its employees; cannot solicit, entice, take away or employ any person employed by Roush; or cannot attempt to induce any employee of Roush to disclose confidential information.

# Yes, there's a confidentiality clause. A long one. Here it is:

"The Employee acknowledges that, during and by reason of the Employee's employment with Roush, the Employee will have access to trade secrets, business secrets, proprietary information and other confidential information relating to Roush or to one or more of the Teams. Such secrets and information include or relate to Roush's or a Team's inventions, products, processes, machinery, apparatus, prices, discounts, costs, business affairs, future plans, test data and other confidential or proprietary information (including compilations of information) relating to Roush's or one or more Team's businesses, products,  processes and modus operandi or used to design, develop manufacture, test or determine the optimum characteristics and performances of race cars (including aerodynamics), chassis, power trains, gears, suspension systems (including springs and bars), shock absorbers, engines, wheels and tires, operating systems, components, set-ups and combinations used in stock car racing competition. ... The Employee acknowledges and agrees that all of the confidential information is the sole and exclusive property of Roush, whether or not developed or acquired on Roush's time and, accordingly, no part of the confidential information is the property of the Employee.''

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