Joey Logano Exposè of NASCAR’s Financial Unfairness Goes Unheard as Phoenix’ Cup Series Purse Asserts Glaring Disparity

NASCAR over the years has had its share of controversies. From the introduction of the Next-Gen platform or the overall race management to the very recent charter woes, not heeding the teams’ plea and moving in the opposite direction, the Stock Car Racing behemoth always had a controversy or the other making rounds. Now with the Phoenix Cup Series purse being out in the open, the organization has ticked off an avalanche with its 2-time Cup Series champion Joey Logano coming out swinging against NASCAR’s increasingly one-sided affair, exposing the financial struggles drivers and teams are forced to endure in the lower divisions.

However, even though the Team Penske driver was very much vocal about the disparity, as we roll into another race week, NASCAR’s payout for the Cup Series has crossed the $7 million mark while fans take a jibe in, noting, “ARCA winner gets a 10 piece nuggets but sauces are 50 cents each.” 

According to current industry standards and norms, that is an unfeasible proposition with NASCAR allocating more funds to promote its top-tier division while racers and teams in their lower factions are walking on thin ice with the rising expense of running a professional race team. Despite the veteran uncovering the discrepancy, Bob Pockrass revealed the staggering contrast in payouts between the Cup and Xfinity Series. In fact, the Cup race winner will take away a total of $7,806,252, including all payouts, all positions, all contributions to points fund, etc. against a $1 million pay cheque ($1,448,204) in the second tier.

What sets apart Logano from many NASCAR drivers is his in-depth know-how of the system. Much like many drivers, Logano also climbed up the ranks by putting in the work, in the Xfinity Series during the 2008 season racing 19 races, which ultimately helped Joe Gibbs Racing’s decision to make him Tony Stewart’s replacement in 2009. While he is a solid presence in the elite faction, he still has a sweet tooth to race in Xfinity and Truck Series. But the question of money comes in. And he pointed out the gap in the different series. As he recently put it, “our sport, it’s crazy.”

Joey Logano’s honest take on NASCAR’s business model

In the last few years, NASCAR’s financial side has struck Xfinity and Truck Series teams. Reflecting on this very aspect, the #22 driver gave his critical assessment of the situation. Speaking on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Logano gave his honest take on the sport’s business model for the Xfinity and Truck Series in 2024.

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He said, “I’d like to run some [Truck Series] races or some [Xfinity Series] races, if I could, I’d like to race more than what I do. I’m telling you, our sport, it’s crazy. It’s crazy that, and I’ll be real with you here, I get paid to drive a [Cup Series] car. That’s great. I have to pay to drive an Xfinity car or a Truck. I have to show up with money on the doorstep to drive one.”

Stating the obvious, he further added, “If I wanna go down a series or two, I have to pay a significant amount of money to get in a car to drive. I just think that’s the craziest thing to think about. Unfortunately, that’s where our sport is, and that’s why it’s so hard for kids to make it these days. If a two-time NASCAR champion can’t drive an Xfinity car for free…how do you expect a kid that’s got no experience to come up with the money from a sponsor to pay to go do something like that? I hate that part of our sport, and I don’t have the fix.”

With the champion driver pointing out a major flaw in the system, will NASCAR take the necessary steps and fill the void? It remains to be seen. But with the latest news, the winner of the Phoenix race will be 7 million richer.