NASCAR returns to hilly terrains this weekend for its 20th race weekend of the 2025 Cup Series season. The upcoming event at the 12-turn Sonoma Raceway is a crucial destination in the lead-up to the playoffs. In line with the event’s importance on the schedule, the promotion has declared a huge paycheck covering all positions and payouts.
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Based on finishing position, historical performance, charter payouts, contingency awards, and other such metrics, Cup Series teams will share $11,055,250, as reported by Bob Pockrass. This is a significant jump from the $8,426,274 given out in 2024. The increase is largely due to the new TV deal NASCAR has secured.
The Xfinity Series will visit the track on Saturday. Pockrass also reported that the purse for the second-tier race will be $1,651,939. Interestingly, this figure is smaller compared to the $1,747,861 given out in 2024. Why the promotion raised the Cup payout while reducing the Xfinity one remains a mystery.
Purses for all payouts, all positions for Cup and Xfinity at Sonoma. Includes contingency awards, year-end point fund contributions, all payouts for charter teams, etc.:
Cup: $11,055,250
Xfinity: $1,651,939
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) July 9, 2025
Regardless, what’s coming up is yet another road course race. Shane van Gisbergen has dominated the Cup Series field on road courses this year and is the obvious favorite heading into the weekend. Following his sweep of Chicago last weekend, he carries incredible momentum to the southern Sonoma Mountains.
The In-Season Tournament will raise the stakes at Sonoma
Away from the scheduled payouts, the chance to move closer to winning an additional $1 million will be up for grabs on Sunday. The third round of NASCAR’s In-Season Tournament will see eight drivers competing against each other. Four will remain at the end of the race, and they’ll battle each other at Dover the following Sunday.
Ty Dillon has been seeded to race against Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman. The Legacy Motor Club teammates John Hunter Nemechek and Erik Jones will race against each other. One of the toughest match-ups will be between Ryan Preece and Tyler Reddick. And finally, Ty Gibbs and Zane Smith close out the brackets.
Down in the Xfinity Series, the 2024 champion, Justin Allgaier, leads the standings with three wins in 18 starts. He is followed by the likes of Austin Hill and Sam Mayer. Notably, the young drivers, Jesse Love (20) and Connor Zilisch (18), are right up there fighting with the leaders for position in fourth and fifth place on the table, respectively. Sonoma will provide them a chance to move further up.
