After a dominant Hendrick Motorsport 1-2-3 finish at Martinsville Speedway last weekend, NASCAR is now headed to its first intermediate track race at Texas Motor Speedway. Given how stale and straightforward last weekend’s race was, the fans will now be expecting a different style of racing, and the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive race can deliver on those expectations.

While multiple teams and drivers will be in the hunt for points, there are additional benefits to delivering a good performance for this weekend’s race. NASCAR has initiated a trend of buffing the prize purse for its Cup Series events, and the same will be the case for Sunday’s race in Fort Worth, Texas.

Here’s the purse for the Texas Motor Speedway race weekend

The 2024 Cup Series has been raking in good viewership on FOX TV broadcasts, and the Netflix docuseries has brought in new audiences and race fans to the sport. Adding to the positive effects and changes in the sport, NASCAR, on their part, is contributing with better purse value for each race, and once again, the prize purse for the race at Texas Motor Speedway will see a significant increase from last year’s event.

Bob Pockrass shared the details for Texas race weekend: “Purses for Texas weekend (includes all payouts, all positions, contingency awards, year-end pts fund contributions, etc.; for Cup, includes all charter team payouts per race and for historical performance) Cup: $9,397,736; Xfinity: $1,541,418 Truck: $794,039.”

Last season’s September race at the 1.5-mile quad-oval track saw NASCAR shell out $8,955,060. Going by this weekend’s prize purse, it’s a bump of more than $400,000, edging closer to the $10 million mark. Moreover, the Xfinity Series race will also see an increase in its payout. However, compared to the two events, the Truck Series race prize money couldn’t even cross the million-dollar mark.

Given that both Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing drivers have been dominating the races so far, it will be interesting to see who comes out on top this weekend.

Front runners to win the NASCAR Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway

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Without a doubt, the first pick has to be in form and a three-race winner, William Byron. In an era of Next Gen racing, Byron seems to be the exception of a race car driver who always manages to churn out winning results. With Superspeedway, road course racing, and short track wins under his belt, the driver of the #24 car will be eyeing the opportunity to repeat his winning heroics this weekend.

Kyle Larson is another HMS driver joining the list, having started in the pole position for back-to-back races but hasn’t converted them into wins. Texas Motorsports Speedway hasn’t been one of his favorite hunting grounds, but given his early momentum in the season, he will be backing himself to get his second win in 2024.

If there’s one driver who cannot miss being a part of this conversation, it is Denny Hamlin. The veteran driver has reigned supreme in short-track races with two wins. He could have finished inside the top-5 position at Martinsville, but a late gamble cost him dearly. His strong suit is finishing the race on a high and having the cushion of securing the playoff spot. Hamlin will go all out with experimenting, and who knows, maybe he will churn out another win.

Read More: NASCAR Takes the Blame for Martinsville Backlash With an Honest Confession