NASCAR UPDATE: Purse for Atlanta Weekend Crosses a Million Dollars; Including Bonuses

The only attractive award besides a truckload of popularity in NASCAR is the buck. Fox journalist Bob Pockrass posted the purse update for the upcoming weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway. By the looks of it, racers are sure to get a motivation boost for all three racing series.

Last year the monetary rewards offered at Atlanta were as follows: $7,449,067 for Cup, $1,654,863 for Xfinity, and $671,050 for Truck. These amounts, as lucrative as they may seem, have been trumped by the 2024 prizes.

Rewards announced ahead of the coming weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway

Pockrass spilled the beans on what amount every racer can expect at Atlanta. He tweeted: “Purses for Atlanta weekend, includes all payouts, all positions, contribution to season-ending point fund, etc. … and for Cup, payouts to charter teams for participating, three-year performance history, etc.: Cup: $9,137,793 Xfinity: $1,328,978 Truck: $705,481.”

But who will take home the big prize? Fantasy pro and SportsLine predictive data engineer Mike McClure has developed a NASCAR prediction model that forecasts red-hot potential winners. For the Atlanta race, Kyle Busch is scoring high. Previously, he won the 2013 AdvoCare 500 and the 2008 Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Ironically, Joey Logano, who won last time at Ambetter 400, failed to crack the top five predicted winners.

Last year Logano scored his only win of the season at Atlanta. He said: “It means a lot to get this one in Victory Lane. It’s been a lot of years coming. Atlanta, this means so much to me to win here. So many memories of driving my Legends car right here where we’re standing when I was 9 years old. This is a really special one and a dream come true.”

This year his prospects are not looking so bright. Logano finished 17th in the Atlanta summer race in 2023. His overall NASCAR standing last year was a dismal 12th-place finish, the worst since missing the playoffs entirely in 2017. Logano is a 9-1 favorite in the winning odds at the 2024 Ambetter race. William Byron is 12-1, Brad Keselowski is 10-1, and Kyle Busch is 14-1.

While these drivers will be hoping for top spot in the upcoming race in a bid to make playoffs and take home the prize money, the amount is still nowhere near what players were offered at Daytona.

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Atlanta comes nowhere close to Daytona greens

The fat purses of the Atlanta weekend, however, do not hold a candle to the already transpired weekend purse at the Daytona 500. The Great American Race showered the champion, William Byron, in heaps of cash, quite literally. Their purse was as high as $28,035,991, the largest reward money in the history of NASCAR. The Xfinity opener offered $3,510,021, whereas the Truck Series at Daytona could not shell out more than $1,058,336.

Read More: How Much Do NASCAR Teams Earn Per Race During a Season?

Before that, the Busch Light Coliseum also did not disappoint in terms of the greens. Denny Hamlin claimed a glittering purse of $2,210,000 after displaying a smoke show upon grabbing the checkered flag. But NASCAR came under fire for this minimal award, especially in light of the charter protests sparked off by race teams.

The Ambetter Health 400 race at the Atlanta Motor Speedway seems promising in terms of monetary rewards. The hefty purses will hopefully bring out the best in all competing drivers and we will be treated to a spectacular racing weekend.