After a rain-affected Chicago Street race, the NASCAR Cup Series is headed back to oval racing this weekend at Pocono Raceway. The Great American Getaway 400 race at the tri-oval racetrack is expected to see some fierce racing action. With just six races left in the regular season, the points leaders are eyeing those additional 15 bonus points. Whereas, some big names like Kyle Busch and Bubba Wallace are trying to secure the playoff spot.

While the points and race win are going to lure the driver to bring in their A-game, an additional buff in the prize money is also something that will bring the best out of them. Like most of the races this season, this Sunday’s event will be an increment compared to last year’s payout.

Sharing out the details about the payouts, NASCAR insider Bob Pockrass via his X account wrote, “Purses for Pocono weekend includes all payouts for all positions, year-end points fund, contingency awards and for Cup, payouts to charter teams based on participation and historical performance (past 3 yrs & championships): Cup: $7,776,907Xfinity: $1,439,558 Truck: $757,128.”

If we are to compare last year’s prize purse for the Cup Series race, this year’s race will hand out an extra $533,546. For the 2023 race, the payout was set at $7,243,361. Unfortunately, this positive trend hasn’t been carried forward on the Xfinity and Truck levels, these are the series that are expected to unearth new talents. But somehow they are not compensated as handsomely as the Cup races.

The Xfinity Series race’s prize purse is more or less the same as last year, with just a marginal increase of $28,000. On the other hand, the Truck Series race barely made it even and was far off from reaching the million-dollar mark. The disparity from the Cup level to Xfinity and then on to the Truck Series payout just doesn’t make sense. Time and again, fans have questioned this approach, but their complaints have fallen on deaf ears.

With that being said, the Cup Series race is expected to be a roller coaster ride, and picking outright favorites for this race is going to be tough. With 12 drivers already locking their spots in the final 16 with a win to their name, this just makes things difficult for those who are just on the cutline, banking on points to get through.

Front runners to win the Great American Getaway 400 race at Pocono

One thing is for sure, the Toyota is expected to run up front at the Tricky Triangle.

1. Denny Hamlin from JGR is expected to turn up on the 2.5-mile racetrack, as it is one of his favorite stomping grounds. He has seven wins at the venue and is the defending race winner coming into this weekend. After a strong start to his 2024 season, winning three races, he has hit a slump and failed to finish inside the top 10 in his last five races. So it’s about time he delivers the goods in the No. 11 Camry.
2. If there’s someone who could genuinely give Hamlin a run for his money at Pocono, it’s none other than his teammate Christopher Bell. The driver has just been in blistering form ever since he found his second win at Charlotte. And at the current pace, he’s set on making the championship 4 for the third consecutive season. In the Next Gen era, Bell has a consecutive P6 finish at the racetrack. If he manages to sneak out a win this Sunday, he will be in a commanding position to kickstart the playoffs.
3. Tyler Reddick is another driver who just wants a win. Even though he might have trouble during the entire race, he somehow manages to mount a late charge. This was recently evident in Nashville and Chicago. He’s come so close and missed out on winning the race, and that has been the case in his last two starts at Pocono. In the Next Gen era, he has two consecutive runner-up finishes, so he does have a point to prove and overcome his tag of finishing second.

The likes of Kyle Larson and Chris Buescher are also ones to watch out for. The HMS star will be looking to return Hamlin the favor of ruining his winning run last year. Whereas, Buescher desperately needs a win to secure his playoff spot.