After a rather exhausting race feature at COTA last weekend, NASCAR is now headed back to a short-track venue with the Toyota Owners 400 race at Richmond Raceway this weekend. So far, Cup Series races at short-track venues like Phoenix and Bristol have been a huge hit. Thus raising hopes and expectations for a similar display at the 0.7-mile venue.

The biggest trend this season has been to increase payouts for NASCAR events. Going into the 8th Cup Series race of the season, NASCAR is following suit with a bump in the winnings for the race in Richmond.

Prize purse for Richmond Race weekend revealed

NASCAR has been doing pretty well in raking up viewership on TV. Excluding the rain-affected Daytona 500 race, all the races have been able to average 4 million views per race on FOX. This uptick in ratings has also been backed by a more lucrative prize purse for the drivers to compete for, and this weekend’s race at Richmond will see an improved prize pool compared to last season.

According to prominent NASCAR journalist Bob Pockrass, this year’s Toyota Owners 400 race will shell out $7,886,627. Taking to X, he shared, “Purses for the Richmond weekend, incl all payouts, all positions, contribution to year-end points fund, etc. For charter teams, incl per-race payout for competing in event as well as charter previous history (past 3 yrs, championships, etc): Cup: $7,886,627; Xfinity: $1,456,191.”

Last year’s Toyota Owners 400 event at Richmond Raceway offered a payout of $7,565,800. Comparing last year’s numbers to this year’s purse, NASCAR has bumped up the winnings by $300,000, which is indeed a big leap. The same trend is followed for the Xfinity Series race, as the total purse value increases by $100,000 in comparison to last year’s event.

Now the big question is- Going into the race weekend, which Cup Series driver is the front runner to win the race at Richmond Raceway?

Top driver picks to win the NASCAR Cup race in Richmond

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If we are to go by last season’s results, the prime contender to win the Toyota Owners 400 race is JGR driver Denny Hamlin. Having already clinched a win at Bristol and doing well in terms of scoring points, he is very much in the topmost spot for yet another short-track win. During the last race at the racetrack, he finished second. Meanwhile, his last win at the venue came back in 2022.

Next, we have Tyler Reddick from 23X1 Racing. Although it might look like Bubba Wallace is the lead driver for the team, one cannot discredit how good Reddick has been this season when compared to his teammate. Last summer, he led 81 laps on the racetrack but was unable to finish inside the top 10. Given that he is growing confident every weekend, he will be backing himself to get his first win of the season this Sunday.

William Byron can also make his case as the serious challenger to win at Richmond. It just feels like everything is falling into place for the HMS driver, and he could very well repeat his achievement of consecutive wins as he did last season. Confidence is the key for the racecar driver, and for the time being, he is high on confidence, thus making him one of the favorites to win this weekend’s race.

The only Ford driver who can make a case for himself to be in the running for the win in Richmond is Ryan Blaney, who is currently sitting third in the drivers’ standings. A win would do wonders for the Penske driver while securing a playoff early in the season will be on his agenda.

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