Festivities will peak over the coming weekend when NASCAR returns for its race at the Bristol Motor Speedway. The event will mark a return to the track’s paved surface after a ‘three-spring’ sabbatical during which it was covered in red Tennessee clay. The sanctioning body has made some upgrades to the race’s purse in alignment with this reversal.
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Veteran reporter Bob Pockrass has reported that the Cup Series race’s purse weighs $8,182,531 and the Truck Series race’s, $761,274. He wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that the purse includes all payouts including the ones for charter, past performances, and year-end fund contributions.
Bristol purse …. Includes all payouts, all positions and for Cup, charter payouts including payouts for past three years/historical performance of charters. Also includes contribution to points fund and other awards:
Cup: $8,182,531
Trucks: $761,274
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) March 13, 2024
The 2023 spring race at Bristol had a purse, as per Jayski of $7,808,640 for the Cup Series and $738,461 for the Truck Series. This year’s numbers present an increase from last year’s and stay on the trend of increasing payouts from NASCAR race-on-race. The fact that the grid returns to race at the concrete oval might have contributed to this added weight.
Notably, the payout is still lower than the $8.8 million that was affixed as per NASCAR for last year’s night race, which was run on concrete. Should figures stay on this current upward path, this year’s night race can expect a purse larger than ever before.
Who stands favorite to grab the biggest share of the $8.1 million purse?
Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson has been the Bristol Oval’s best driver in recent times. He has finished each of the last three races on the concrete surface inside the top five, winning the race in 2021. According to numbers from DraftKings Sportsbook, he holds a +450 odd of emerging victor on Sunday.
Following him are Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell with odds of +500 and +550, respectively. Bell won the latest race at Phoenix last Sunday and will hope to carry that momentum forward. Meanwhile, Hamlin won last year’s final race at the track. Without question, the coming race will bring some tough challenges to every driver on the grid.
Following Phoenix, the upcoming race will feature NASCAR’s upgraded short-track package. Drivers, fans, and the promotion will be looking forward to seeing if the racing experience improves and helps put the short-track horsepower issue to rest.
