Eight years ago, NASCAR made various changes to its operations and brand identity. From adopting a new logo to changing the charter system it ushered in a new era, adding to the playoff format only two years before that, in 2014. However, one thing that fans often miss is the details of prize money distributed among teams after each race.

Until 2015, NASCAR used to reveal every bit of their prize money distribution in race summaries. It kept things transparent and clear. But In 2016 sanctioning body stopped disclosing monetary benefits and left fans fuming over it. However, recently Joe Gibbs Racing president Dave Alpern revealed key details of NASCAR’s financial structure.

Does NASCAR pay teams per week?

In a latest Instagram post, Dave Alpern revealed how NASCAR pays teams and how it is distributed among drivers and others. Answering a fan question, Alpern said, “There’s a weekly purse that’s paid out based on our finish in each race. We get that paid monthly by NASCAR and so we pay our drivers and any bonuses out for those.” This incentivizes each driver to finish in a top position every race, even if playoff implications are existent or not. When you see two drivers, who are out of playoff contention, battling hard for the 10th spot to secure a ‘top-10’ finish, it is likely to get a better payout from the race.

It’s worth noting that weekly purse is determined by the popularity of the track. For example, in 2015, when prize details were last officially published, the Daytona 500 had a whopping $1,586,503 for the race winner – Joey Logano. On the other hand, races like the STP 500 at Martinsville had $166,760 for the race winner, Denny Hamlin. Currently, monetary benefits are not unveiled per week, but one can get a glimpse from yearly filings.

Joe Gibbs Racing president further explained other means by which NASCAR pays to teams. He said, “We also get a bonus at the end of the year based on our end-of-the-season finishing and on the other buckets which are historical and fixed. Those get paid out once a year and get distributed at the end of the season.” Fixed revenue is a consistent amount paid to every chartered team, regardless of their finish. Charters cost a lot and therefore teams need a guaranteed income source for participating in the race. Consistency is rewarded with historical payments that are based on a team’s past performance, primarily calculated over three years.

Besides these, media deals are one of the biggest sources of earnings for racetracks. According to the latest TV rights deal, NASCAR will make $1.1 billion every year. They will distribute its large part to tracks, then to teams. Notably, Fox, NBC, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Amazon will air 38 races each year for the next seven years after securing a whopping $7.7 billion deal with NASCAR.

With so much money flowing into the sport, it’s no surprise that the rich teams keep getting richer. Joe Gibbs Racing’s video succinctly summarized the financial situation of NASCAR drivers. With driver performance indicative of the end-of-season purse, let’s take a look at how JGR drivers fared in 2024.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s 2024 season recap

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In the 2024 season, Joe Gibbs Racing fielded four charters and earned some great performances. Drivers like Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell won multiple races and made a deep playoff run, while Ty Gibbs and Martin Truex Jr. failed to do so. Hamlin won three races and finished in the top 10 on 12 occasions. Despite having a great start to the season Veteran no.11 driver failed to get his hands on the championship. A string of poor performances in the second half of the season pushed him out of the race.

Meanwhile, Christopher Bell also won three races and finished strong fifth in the final standings. He was an absolute beast in terms of consistency with 23 top-10 finishes in the season. A poor move in season finale turned the table for Bell as he finished fifth and failed to grab the coveted title. The #20 JGR driver needed a last-lap overtake on Bubba Wallace to pip William Byron to the Championship 4. However, as Wallace controversially slowed down, Bell passed him but got stuck in the track and skidded into the wall, riding it in true Ross Chastain fashion. Despite it being accidental, Bell was penalized for a safety violation and docked positions as Byron went through.

Denny Hamlin’s playoff misery was on full display yet again in 2024. It all seemed set when the #11 was leading the race with two laps to go at Homestead-Miami Speedway. However, fate played its tricks with Hamlin and saw him get overtaken by Blaney with one lap to go and then Tyler Reddick overtook both of them to win the race. Hamlin went from championship 4 spot to p3 at Homestead in the blink of an eye. Yet another season without his elusive championship.

However, going ahead Bell and Hamlin will be keen to continue their dominant run. Hamlin will get a new crew chief as Chris Gayle will replace Hamlin’s long-time partner Chris Gabehart. This will make a lot of changes within the squad as Gayle was currently with Ty Gibbs who finished this season with zero wins and a 15th-place finish in the standings. How do you think JGR will fare in 2025?