Optional Onboard Camera Rental Program Created
TL;DR Version
Top Row Racing Media adds an OPTIONAL onboard camera rental program
$20 per night, per camera, per track (industry average $40-$55 per camera)
Free editing (many in the industry charge $80-$120 to cover the time spent editing and publishing the footage)
Drivers who rent receive priority editing (races uploaded first before others) and lock-in their camera number of choice
To duplicate our set-up, it would cost a driver $450-$550 per camera
$20 per night x 13 race nights=$260
Rental Program is for tracks on our schedule on nights we’re present-we will not be offering rentals outside of our tracks or nights allowing us to assist with mounting and turning the camera on and off
Cash/Venmo accepted
Cameras available: 1-16; 19-20. We will reserve at least five cameras per night for free use dependent on rental demand.
Email onboards@toprowracingmedia.com to request a rental camera with specific dates/tracks/desired camera number(s)
After feedback from many drivers and research across the Onboard Camera service industry, Top Row Racing Media is adding an OPTIONAL rental program for drivers to take advantage of which will guarantee them a camera for a race night.
Onboard Cameras will continue to be free to request and use for all drivers. However, as many drivers know, our camera sign-up fills up fast most nights. In 2023, Top Row Racing Media originally offered 10 cameras for access, and for most of 2025, we offered 18-19 cameras per night and quickly filled up every race night. Where drivers used to be able to ask day/night of, now, many of our cameras are requested weeks in advance often with a waitlist created on most nights. This means that drivers may have to wait for a week or more, and rainouts certainly impact the timeline as we experienced last year. For 2025, some drivers requested a camera in May and did not get to use one until July after we worked through our waitlist.
Drivers who would like to guarantee that they have a camera for a race night, we will be charging a $20 per night/per track rental fee for the season. Drivers who rent a camera will also receive priority editing with their races available first, and they’ll be able to lock-in their camera number of choice. Editing and publishing of the footage will continue to remain free as it does for any other driver. The $20 rental fee is below the industry average of $40-$55 per camera, and many in the industry also charge for the editing of the footage with several in the $80-$120 range on top of the rental fee.
Some may think, “If I am going to rent a camera, I might as well buy my own.” We have helped several drivers purchase a camera set-up by offering advice and guidance, and we know purchasing a camera is costly for many. We will continue to help drivers any time they ask us as they consider purchasing their own.
For a driver to duplicate our exact set-up, a brand new camera through GoPro will cost $476.97 which includes a GoPro Hero 12, the camera mount, and SD Card. The Hero 12 was brand new on the market in late 2023 making it a few years old, and GoPro’s newest camera is a Hero 13 which costs $429.99 without a mount or SD Card. Add those to the cart, and a driver is paying at least $540.97 to duplicate our set-up with a Hero 13. GoPro does offer discounts from time-to-time, so there are opportunities to capture some savings throughout the year. Add the $59.99 GoPro storage cloud for unlimited storing, and that’s one more cost Top Row Racing Media saves a driver. Our GoPro Cloud storage is up to 51.58 TB.
Drivers who opt to rent a camera for the season, at $20 per night at one track, the camera cost for 13 events would be $260, significantly less than the $476.97, and a driver saves time editing the footage which allows for more time in the garage as we take care of the editing ourselves. Many drivers who edit their own footage will easily share that it takes time to do, and it’s no extra charge for us to edit the footage as we have in the past.
The rental program will be for race nights we are at the track so that we can mount the camera, turn it on, turn it off, collect it, download, edit, and publish the footage. We will reserve at least five cameras per night, based on rental demand/interest, for free use.
The first race event where the rental program will be available is April 11th at the Russell’s M-40 Speedway. Email onboards@toprowracingmedia.com to request a rental camera and specific dates/tracks. Include up to five camera numbers (in order of preference) in case another driver has requested a desired camera number first. The most popular numbers are Camera #3, #4, #5, #7, #9, #10, #11, and #14.
