• Nascar Salary Per Race
• Nascar Driver Earnings Per Race
• Nascar Driver Earnings Per Race

With new charter system in place changing the way money is distributed, practice of supplying earnings information from each race will end. NASCAR ends tradition of providing race winnings. Jan 2, 2019 - Germain Racing moves its race shop to the Richard Childress Racing campus. By comparison, here's how Tifft's brain looked six months after.

Nascar Salary Per Race

Then they go out and participate in one of the most dangerous professions in sports. MORE: They do it for the love of speed and competition.

And for the money. In most cases, a lot of money. A full-time can earn anywhere from $1 million to more than $20 million a year in salary, purse winnings and from other sources, depending on their contract. Like most sports, a large pay disparity exists between the top stars and unproven rookies or veterans stuck with struggling teams. But unlike most sports, no union contract dictates when and how drivers can sign new contracts or renegotiate new deals.

NASCAR drivers are considered subcontractors, so they can be involved in contract negotiations or potential new deals — or potential firings — at any time. Though their income typically pales in comparison to top athletes in other sports, those who play the game right can make millions, says agent Cary Agajanian, who has represented drivers for nearly 20 years. “The drivers are being fairly paid — I don’t think they’re overpaid; I don’t think they’re underpaid,” he says. “The system, because it’s such an entrepreneurial or capitalist system, a supply-and-demand system, it works. It completely works that guys negotiate and bargain and the teams have decided how much they can pay a driver and it fits in their budget.” Where the money comes from Drivers make their money in three primary areas — salary, percentage of race winnings and bonuses. Those at the top of the sport can significantly supplement their income with merchandise sales and personal endorsements. NASCAR’s highest paid driver is believed to be who, according to Sports Illustrated, made $28.1 million — $4.1 million in salary and earnings and $24 million in endorsements — in 2011.

Forbes estimated his earnings at $28.2 million for June 2011-July 2012 but had a very different split — $13.2 million in winnings and $15 million in endorsements. Insiders shake their heads at suggestions that any driver currently in the sport makes more than $10 million in endorsements. Rarely does any endorsement deal eclipse a half-million unless it’s a major endorsement for someone like Earnhardt, the sport’s most popular driver, sources in the sport say.

According to interviews with drivers, agents and a look at various NASCAR contracts, a driver who wins a NASCAR Cup championship likely makes between $12 million and $20 million that season. In 2012, Cup champion earned $6.23 million in race winnings, $150,000 in special awards and $5.73 million from the season-ending point fund for a total of $12.1 million. So if he received 40-50 percent of that, he likely earned $5-6 million in racing winnings, plus his salary (probably between $3-6 million) and maybe another million in other bonuses and merchandise sales to likely eclipse more than $10 million in his championship year. Free circuit board layout software. A driver who makes the Chase for the Sprint Cup and finishes in the top 10 in the points standings likely will earn around $10 million. Drivers who finish 11th-20th in the standings typically earn about $5-8 million, depending on their base salaries.

Nascar Driver Earnings Per Race

A driver near the back of the pack likely still will clear a few million. Compare that to the highest paid players in other sports, where salaries, not including endorsements, are known. Gets $30 million before endorsements. The top-paid hockey player, Brad Richards of the New York Rangers, earns $12 million, according to USA Today. Of the Los Angeles Lakers will make $27.8 million this season. NFL quarterback is set to make $40 million, according to The Associated Press. Just like ugly holdouts or disputable trades in other sports, NASCAR driver contracts can cause a stir and a driver’s livelihood occasionally hangs in the balance when their contract is up.

Nascar Driver Earnings Per Race

Carl Edwards was in the headlines throughout 2011 when he flirted with a move to Joe Gibbs Racing before re-signing with Roush Fenway Racing. This year, Roush teammate Matt Kenseth made the move, signing a contract with Gibbs that ended his 13-year tenure with Roush after the 2012 season. Earnhardt, arguably the sport’s biggest star, shocked the NASCAR world in 2007 when he decided to leave his family’s Dale Earnhardt Inc. Team — a move that led to the organization’s demise — and signed a long-term deal with Hendrick Motorsports, a deal he has since renegotiated. Such moves can be tricky and get ugly. Clint Bowyer had negotiated a sponsorship deal with 5-Hour Energy last year but couldn’t convince team owner Richard Childress to keep him at the salary he wanted. Instead, he took the sponsorship to Michael Waltrip Racing, a team that needed Bowyer’s star power more than Richard Childress Racing and was willing to make it work.