How rewards are calculated in NASCAR
They say NASCAR racing is lucrative business. Compared to other sports, NASCAR is said to bring in quite a bit of the dough for the sponsors, racers, technicians…etc. but how does it work and where does the money come from? As the winners takes to the podium, congratulate each other and whoops around, who's passing whom the cash?
With all that cash changing hands after every race, you'd be surprised to know that some podium winners get rewarded less than people who finish behind them. You're probably asking why – just like we did. A good example would be the time when a sixth got $49,550 while the person who took a place beyond the thirtieth took home more than $90,000. Tell me, where's the logic in that?
The reason for this was because of the way the bonus programs are calculated – and each of the teams have their own bonus programs resulting in the disparity in earnings. The earnings are always regulated by the NASCAR Competition Department where the posted awards are determined prior to the race itself. The awards include racing purse, television awards, car owner special award plans…and a number of other rewards.
Recently, there is a new Bonus for racers to look forward to which is the Nextel Leader Bonus. This means that if the winner of that particular race is also leading in the Nextel Cup after the event, the NASCAR racer will be given the bonus. This is similar to the Studebaker Money. The Gatorade Front Runner Award is also pretty lucrative whereby $10,000 is given to the driver who leads most laps, regardless of starting and finishing position. Other awards are given when the racer or manufacturer decides to use the sponsor's products, using uniform patches and also pacing decals on the NASCAR racecars.
And that explains why even if a NASCAR racer does not end up on the podium or even the top 10, he could go home a pretty happy man, anyway.