Following an exhilarating rainy race through the streets of Chicago, the NASCAR Cup Series field travels to the mountains of Pocono next. The 2.5-mile Pocono Raceway will facilitate a big step ahead towards the end of the regular season and play host to all three national tiers over the coming weekend. And the drivers and the teams will be well rewarded for their efforts to navigate the tricky triangle.
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Veteran reporter Bob Pockrass revealed on his X handle that the upcoming Cup Series race, The Great American Getaway 400, will carry a purse of $7,776,907. This figure includes the payouts for finishing positions, historic performance, year-end points-fund contribution, and so on. The purse for this race in 2023 was about half a million dollars short at $7,243,361.
A step below in the Xfinity Series, the purse has been declared to carry $1,439,558. This value doesn’t present much of a difference from last year when the prize was $1,411,027. The Craftsman Truck Series is where the rewards are the least attractive. The truck field will get to divide $757,128 amongst itself based on performance and other parameters.
Purses for Pocono weekend includes all payouts for all positions, year-end points fund, contingency awards and for Cup, payouts to charter teams based on participation and historical performance (past 3 yrs & championships):
Cup: $7,776,907
Xfinity: $1,439,558
Truck: $757,128
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) July 10, 2024
As shiny as the purses are, winning a share in them won’t be an easy task. The three-turn superspeedway is one of the most challenging tracks on the NASCAR schedule and extremely tricky to drive around. Each of its corners is completely distinct from each other with sharp turns and low banking degrees. It also has the longest straightaway, at 3,740 feet, among all tracks.
Who are the favorites to win the largest share of the $7 million pie?
Joe Gibbs Racing superstar Denny Hamlin is a seven-time winner at Pocono. As per numbers from DraftKings Sportsbook, he has opening odds of 4-1 to emerge as the winner.
Second to him is Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson with odds of 9-2. Third on the list is Hamlin’s teammate Christopher Bell with odds of 13-2. Interestingly, all these three drivers have secured three wins each so far.
23XI Racing hotshot Tyler Reddick stands as the fourth favorite with odds of 15-2. The 28-year-old missed narrow opportunities to secure victories at Chicago and Nashville over the past two weekends. He will hope to hit the mark this time around and close the points gap between him and table leader Larson.
