NASCAR Cup stars call out stagnant All-Star purse with bold $3M proposal: Reports

Several top NASCAR Cup Series drivers have called for an increase in the All-Star Race prize money. This year’s total purse for the exhibition event is $2,421,400, but only $1 million goes to the winner. The rest is quietly distributed across the field, with payouts spelled out in confidential charter agreements.

So, the current $1 million winner’s prize for winners has remained unchanged since 2003 and Cup drivers believe it should account for the rising inflation. Adam Stern pointed out a recent report by Autoweek in a post on X and quoted an excerpt:

"Several NASCAR Cup drivers believe inflation should be taken into consideration when determining the first-place prize for the All-Star race, which has been $1 million since 2003. The figure that keeps getting mentioned is $3 million."

According to Autoweek, Bubba Wallace also mentioned that he would wreck long-time friend Ryan Blaney if the prize were increased to $3 million.

Interestingly, the total purse for last year’s race was $3.78 million, over $1.3 million more than this year.

Three-time NASCAR Cup champion Joey Logano dominated that race by leading 199 of 200 laps, beating Denny Hamlin for his second All-Star Race victory. Kyle Larson took his third All-Star victory the year before, also at North Wilkesboro Speedway.

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"Doesn’t move the needle very much" - NASCAR drivers split on how far they’d go for an All-Star win

According to the same Autoweek article, Denny Hamlin said the prize money is not a big deal and he would not change how he drives, just because of the amount at stake.

"Doesn’t move the needle very much for me," Hamlin said (AutoWeek).

However, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver did mention that he would "rough up the leader" if he were close to winning. Ryan Blaney, on the other hand, added that while he wants to win, he would not hurt another driver for the victory.

Meanwhile, the 2025 All-Star Race returns to North Wilkesboro Speedway this Sunday. Brad Keselowski, who won the pole for the race with an average speed of 77.264 mph, will lead the first 75-lap heat. Shane van Gisbergen took pole for the All-Star Open with 76.112 mph. The top two finishers from the 100-lap Open and one Fan Vote winner will move on to the All-Star Race.

The main event of 250 laps (up from 200) with begin around 8 pm ET, on Sunday, May 18. A mandatory competition break will take place around Lap 100 and a promoter’s caution is also likely to be thrown before Lap 220.