After Chase Briscoe’s commanding drive at Darlington Raceway that delivered his second Southern 500 win and secured a Round of 12 berth, the playoff battle now shifts to World Wide Technology Raceway, the 1.25-mile oval better known as Gateway.
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With elimination looming after a week and a half, the race carries big stakes for drivers clawing to advance, and NASCAR has sweetened the pot to raise the intensity even further.
According to a recent update from NASCAR journalist Bob Pockrass, the Gateway Cup winner will pocket $9,797,935, a figure that folds in payouts for performance, all finishing positions, contingency awards, year-end points fund contributions, and charter distributions.
The payday reflects a sharp increase from previous seasons. In 2024, the purse for Gateway stood at $7,776,907, and in 2023, it came in at $7,425,976, indicating the significant escalation in purse for this year’s playoff race.
Purses for WWTR Gateway weekend, all payouts, all positions incl all contingency awards, contribution to year-end points fund plus all charter payouts for Cup:
Cup: $9,797,935
Xfinity: $1,651,939
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) September 3, 2025
Gateway’s weekend schedule also features the Xfinity Series under the lights on Saturday, September 6, at 7:30 p.m. ET, with a purse of $1,651,939. The series last raced at the track in 2010, when Carl Edwards took the checkered flag.
The Truck Series, meanwhile, sits out this round and will rejoin the fray at Bristol on September 11, 2025.
Drivers to look out for at Gateway
Hendrick Motorsports heads into Gateway with plenty on the line after a rough outing at Darlington, where none of its drivers cracked the top-15. Gateway has not been kind to the organization either, as HMS has only three top-10 finishes across 12 combined starts, its leanest return at any venue with at least a dozen appearances.
Kyle Larson could be the only one to offer hope. He took part in Goodyear’s summer tire test at Gateway and owns Hendrick’s lone top-five there, a fourth-place run in 2023. Last year, he added a 10th-place finish, giving him an average of 8.7 in three starts, which leaves fans expecting him to carry the banner this weekend.
Austin Cindric, on the other hand, rolls in as the defending winner and 12 points above the elimination line. If he can come close to replicating last year’s dominance, when he piled up 56 points, he will be well fortified before entering Bristol’s cutoff chaos the following week.
Based on the averages, Joey Logano stands tall. He carries a 3.0 finish across three Gateway starts, with a win and two additional top-five runs.
Christopher Bell will also need to keep an eye on. Despite stumbling at Darlington with a 29th-place finish that left him clinging to 10th in the standings and just 11 points clear of elimination, his Gateway record shows promise. He has averaged a 9.0 finish in three races. If he can keep the gremlins at bay, Bell has the pace to rebound in style.
