For the first time in history, the NASCAR Cup Series will race at the Iowa Speedway this Sunday. The Xfinity Series will join the premier tier in what will be a doubleheader weekend and both the fields are set to enjoy huge financial rewards for putting up good performances. In a recent post on social media, veteran reporter Bob Pockrass revealed what the purse sizes for the race are.
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The Cup Series race comes with a prize pool of $8,881,630. This figure includes all the payouts including those for final positions, historical performance, year-end points contribution, etc. The Xfinity Series race on the other hand comes with a purse of $1,408,568. While attractive, these rewards will not be easy to obtain for the drivers.
Purses for Iowa weekend (came from Fontana) includes all payouts, all positions, contingency awards, season-ending points fund and for Cup, all charter payouts for competing and historical performance.
Cup: $8,881,630
Xfinity: $1,408,568
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) June 12, 2024
The track comes with a lot of unknown factors, particularly for Cup Series drivers. Moreover, it was recently repaved through its corners, drawing a lot of irk from people. NASCAR maintains that the part repave was absolutely necessary and that it will not interfere with the racing experience. Only when drivers get into their cars and turn a few laps on it will they know how well a job NASCAR has done.
The Xfinity Series has run 20 races on the track thus far. Ford has emerged as the clear leader of the pack in these showings by winning nine races. Toyota follows with seven wins and Chevrolet has the remaining four. The Blue Oval brigade also has an advantage with Joey Logano being an inaugural track ace. He won at the debut Cup races of the WWTR, the Bristol Dirt track, and the L.A. Coliseum.
Why was the Iowa Speedway repaved with such urgency?
Many premier tier drivers, who were once Xfinity Series stars, will recognize the short track this Sunday. But not as how they once knew it. The four turns of the track which were built in 2006 had never had new asphalt put on them. But they have now and NASCAR points the finger at the winters in the Hawkeye State. Elton Sawyer, the VP of Competition, explained on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
He said, “The one thing that over time with this facility — obviously the winters are hard in Iowa. It took a toll on the surface. Our goal all along, as we announced this race back in October of last year, was to not repave.” Continuing, he added that the tire test in late May and a closer look at the track revealed areas where fresh repaves were completely necessary.
