After Ryan Blaney replicated last year’s performance at Martinsville, securing his spot in Championship 4 this season, all eyes are now on the NASCAR Cup Series finale at Phoenix. For the season’s climax, drivers will be handsomely rewarded for their efforts all year long, with an extra $2,708,726 to the pot beyond what was awarded at Martinsville.
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FOX Sports’ Bob Pockrass highlighted the figures on Twitter, revealing that the upcoming event will boast a total prize pool of $11,700,064. Additionally, the Xfinity Series and the Truck Series will see purses of $1,772,722 and $822,570, respectively.
Compared to last year’s Cup race at the same venue, where the prize money was $11,143,232, this year’s increase adds up to $556,832. However, in the Xfinity Series, the prize money has modestly increased by $65,356 from last year’s $1,707,366, while the Truck Series has seen a rise of $27,804 from the previous $794,766.
The amounts cover a range of financial awards, including payments for all finishing positions, contingency awards, and charter payouts that consider weekly performance and historical achievements.
Purses for Phoenix championship weekend, including all payouts, all positions, year-end points fund contribution, contingency awards, all charter payouts for competing and historical performance:
Cup: $11,700,064
Xfinity: $1,772,722
Truck: $822,570
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) November 6, 2024
From its inception in 1948 until 2015, NASCAR openly disclosed “the purse” in race summaries. Drivers typically negotiated deals with team owners that might include a salary and possibly a portion of each week’s race purse, which varied from race to race.
However, the introduction of the New Charter System in 2016 brought about 36 ownership charters, each valued based on the team’s history and recent performances. Today, the compensation for chartered teams is a combination of guaranteed revenue, performance incentives over the last three seasons, a cash-paying points fund, and the traditional race purse determined by the driver’s finish.
Despite hints from NASCAR that it would be transparent about its new financial structure, the specifics of how the prize money is distributed amongst the governing body and the teams remain closely guarded. Also, the money is directed to the teams instead of being awarded directly to the drivers.
Previewing the showdown at Phoenix Raceway
Among the final contenders for the championship, Blaney will be the one to look out for, given he is not only last year’s champion but also the expected frontrunner.
His counterparts, Tyler Reddick, Joey Logano, and William Byron, were perhaps less expected to make it this far, especially with high-caliber drivers like Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, and Denny Hamlin being knocked out earlier in the season despite their strong starts in 2024.
The #12 Ford Mustang driver won the title last year and will be looking to carve his name in history by securing back-to-back championship trophies to his name. The feat was last achieved by Jimmie Johnson in 2010. Tyler Reddick, on the other hand, the consecutive NASCAR Xfinity Series Champion for 2018 and 2019, is poised to translate that success to NASCAR’s premier level.
Joey Logano will enter the fray with a track record of 31 starts at Phoenix, managing an average finish of 13.5 and bagging three wins. William Byron, on the other hand, brings a slightly better track average of 11.8 over 13 starts, including one victory.
Yet, of all four, Blaney boasts the most impressive stats at Phoenix with an average finish of 10.9 across 17 starts, which sharpens to a 4.1 over his last seven visits, despite not having secured a win on the venue yet. It remains to be seen how the finale pans out this weekend as the race kicks off on Sunday, November 10, 2024, at 3:00 pm ET.
