With the 2025 Cup Series season in full swing, drivers have no rest as they prepare for a trip to the Atlanta Motor Speedway for back-to-back weekends of superspeedway racing. After reaping rewards from the $30 million purse that the Daytona 500 offered, teams now stand to gain huge monetary benefits once again.
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Veteran reporter Bob Pockrass wrote on his X handle that the purse for the upcoming Ambetter Health 400 has been fixed at $11,055,250. This includes contingency awards, finishing position-based payouts, historical performance-based payouts, and more. Interestingly, this figure is nearly $2 million higher than the purse for this fixture in 2024 ($9,137,793).
Nobody can forget how Daniel Suarez edged past Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch in Atlanta last year to take home the largest share of the prize money. The three-wide narrow finish set the record books on fire. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to hope for the track’s sweeping lanes to produce a similarly exciting race this weekend.
The Xfinity Series and The Craftsman Truck Series will accompany the Cup Series field. The purse size for the Xfinity race has been fixed at $1,651,939. Down in Truck, the number further whittles down to $782,900. These figures represent marginal improvements over last year.
Chevrolet and Chase Elliott appear set to have a dominating weekend
The Bowtie brigade has been the most successful manufacturer in the Atlanta Motor Speedway with 45 Cup Series wins, 21 Xfinity Series wins, and 11 Truck Series wins. Even after the track’s reconfiguration in 2021, Chevrolet has managed to maintain its dominance and secured victories in all three divisions.
It was in his No. 99 Chevrolet Camaro that Suarez beat Blaney over 0.003 seconds last season. Also, the manufacturer boasts a 63% winning percentage on superspeedway-style race tracks in the Next Gen era. William Byron was the latest driver to contribute to this number by winning the Daytona 500 in his No. 24 Camaro.
The list of such impressive records by Chevrolet keeps going and makes a strong case for why it is the favorite to win on Sunday. But who could take it to Victory Lane this time? Chase Elliott is seeking his 20th Cup Series win to start this season on a good note. Atlanta, being his home track, would be a particularly favorable venue.
He recently won the Clash at the Bowman Gray Stadium and finished 15th in the Daytona 500. The locals would be thrilled to watch their favorite driver make use of the advantage he has.
