How Much Do NASCAR Teams Earn Per Race During a Season?

NASCAR is an expensive business, and at the same time, there is a big payout. There is always some money that goes to the teams at the end of each race, though the amounts may vary. Generally, the prize money is split between teams, with drivers keeping 50% of the profit. Normally though, NASCAR is very tight-lipped on the exact amounts earned by drivers and teams.

In a recent Instagram video, Joe Gibbs Racing president David Alpern spoke about getting paid after each race. He said, “As you would guess, the highest-paying purse of the season is our first race, the Daytona 500. It’s so disproportionately high that where your team finishes in the Daytona 500, can really make or break your season, financially. So that’s a very important race. You also have the non-points races, like the All-Star Race, which pays a $1 million bonus for winning. Also, have the end of the year purse, which is dictated by your finishing position, but you also have the weekly purse, which varies based on the race.”

Where does the revenue for the NASCAR teams come from?

Although the revenue comes from a variety of sources, most of it stems from media companies. Thanks to a massive media rights deal, media houses like Fox Sports and NBC Sports have to pay to broadcast races. That payment goes to the respective venues and organizers as a regular fee. Aside from that, the rest of the revenue comes from the sponsors of the various teams and the event.

Of course, everyone wants to see a profit from all these events. For this to happen, sponsors need to gain as much exposure as possible during the race. The trick for all the sponsors is to back the right car and driver and hope that they perform well on the track. If the drivers and teams perform exceptionally on the track, their performance will reflect well on the brand image. So the sponsors pay an extra fee each race to the teams that they are backing, as an extra incentive. This is kind of like a video game where players have to complete extra objectives to win bigger rewards.

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How is the revenue split among the Cup Series teams?

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Naturally, the race winner always receives the lion’s share of the spoils. Then, as we go lower and lower down the order, the prize money received is also less and less. However, with the help of sponsors, the amount of money received by teams can be given a bit of an injection.

According to reports, there is something known as the Winners’ Circle prize plan. This plan encompasses the top 10 teams from the previous season, along with two wildcard picks. Over here, any of the Top 10 and the two wildcard teams can claim bonus prize money in every race no matter where they finish.

As per Flow Racers, there is at least $4 million in total prize money up for grabs per race. Additionally, the offering ranges from $4 million to $6 million. Considering that there are 36 races in a season, it means that there is a lot of money on offer. It also helps that from 2025 onwards, prize money may increase, thanks to the new $7.7 billion media rights deal that NASCAR signed recently.

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