Daytona 500 Prize Money: How Much Money NASCAR Drivers Win at the Great American Race?

Traveling back in time to 1959, a happy Lee Petty walked away with $19,050 after winning the inaugural Daytona 500. The size of the purse for the Great American Race that year was $53,050. Fast forward to the 21st century and that number has catapulted to millions. Back in the 2018 Daytona 500, drivers competed for a share in the $15.466 million prize money pool. Richard Childress’s grandson, Austin Dillon won the event and took home the winner’s share which amounted to approximately 10% of the overall figure.

2019 saw an increase in the pool size with a reported figure of $19 million. The projected payout to race winner Denny Hamlin was once again around the $1.5 million mark.

2020 saw a substantial growth in numbers with a purse size of $23.6 million. Clinching the win for the second time, Hamlin took home an estimated $2.06 million. The 2020 number is the only one officially disclosed by NASCAR since 2015 when its charter agreement with teams prohibited it from doing so.

The earnings for the Daytona 500s in 2021 and 2022 are unknown but the winners Michael McDowell and Austin Cindric ought to have taken home a figure north of $2 million (Est. purse size: $20-25 million). In 2023, Bob Pockrass confirmed that the prize pool was a massive $26,934,357. Reports suggest that the winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr. received a paycheck of $2.3 million for his performance.

The progress of the Daytona 500 purse since 1959 and the importance of winning it

For the 1st of his 7 Daytona 500 wins, Richard Petty received $33,300 against a purse size of $100,750 in 1964. The payout was the first $100,000 purse in NASCAR. A decade later in 1974, he once again took the honor of being the winner and earned $39,650 against NASCAR’s first $250,000 purse.

He would continue to exert dominance in the 1979 race and retain glory with the biggest share ($73,900) in the first $500,000 purse. The sport saw a $1 million check for the first time in 1985 when NASCAR declared a pool of $1,097,925 for the field. Bill Elliott won the race and $185,500, earning the name “Million-Dollar Bill”. The first time a driver won a million dollars for himself was in 1998 when Dale Earnhardt earned $1,059,985 against a purse of $6,379,965.

The winnings have significantly grown since then and reach as far as $27 million today. Joe Gibbs Racing President Dave Alpern says of the importance of winning this money, “Where your team finishes in the Daytona 500 can really make or break your season financially.” The numbers for the 2024 Daytona 500 are hoped to be announced soon.