The NASCAR Cup Series championship is decided by what happens on the racetrack. But as the sport prepares to crown its 2026 champion at Homestead-Miami Speedway, another enormous number has entered the conversation.
$13,855,063.
That’s the total purse for Sunday’s championship race, a staggering sum attached to the final 267 laps of the Cup Series season.
And the money doesn’t stop there.
With NASCAR’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and Craftsman Truck Series also deciding their championships in South Florida, the combined purses for all three races exceed $17 million.
The figures, shared Wednesday, Nov. 4, by FOX Sports reporter Bob Pockrass, provide a look at the financial scale of NASCAR’s biggest weekend of the year.
Cup: $13,855,063
OReilly: $2,161,806
Truck: $1,130,600
There is, however, an important distinction between the money available for a race and the amount its winner actually collects.
NASCAR’s $13.8 Million Championship Figure Explained
Sunday’s Cup Series championship race carries an official purse of $13,855,063, making it by far the largest of the three championship events at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
But that doesn’t mean the driver celebrating in Victory Lane will walk away with nearly $14 million.
As Pockrass explained, the figures include payouts for every finishing position, charter payments, contingency awards and contributions to the year-end points fund.
In other words, the published total represents a much broader financial package than a traditional winner’s prize.
That distinction is especially important in the modern Cup Series, where NASCAR’s charter system plays a significant role in how teams receive revenue. The publicly reported purse does not provide a straightforward breakdown of what each driver or organization will earn Sunday.
It also shouldn’t be confused with a separate championship bonus.
What the figure does reveal is just how much money is tied to a single Cup Series race weekend, even before considering sponsorships, television revenue and the long-term commercial value of winning a championship.
For the organizations competing at NASCAR’s highest level, those financial considerations are part of a much bigger business than the trophy presented after 267 laps.
NASCAR’s Three Championship Races Carry More Than $17 Million
The Cup Series isn’t the only division with substantial money attached to its season finale.
Saturday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Series championship race has a reported purse of $2,161,806. Friday’s Craftsman Truck Series championship race carries another $1,130,600.
Here is the complete breakdown:
| NASCAR series | Championship race purse |
| Cup Series | $13,855,063 |
| O’Reilly Auto Parts Series | $2,161,806 |
| Craftsman Truck Series | $1,130,600 |
| Total | $17,147,469 |
That puts the combined championship weekend figure at $17,147,469, with the Cup Series accounting for roughly 81% of the total.
The disparity reflects the different financial structures and commercial scales of NASCAR’s three national series. All three will crown champions at the same venue, but the money attached to each event is far from equal.
The weekend begins Friday, Nov. 6, with the Craftsman Truck Series championship race at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1.
The O’Reilly Auto Parts Series follows Saturday at 5 p.m. ET on The CW, before the Cup Series takes center stage Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.
For the drivers, the championship remains the prize that matters most. A title can change the trajectory of a career and become part of a driver’s legacy long after the final checkered flag.
For NASCAR’s teams and the sport’s business, however, the newly disclosed figures tell another part of the story.
Homestead-Miami isn’t simply hosting three championship races this weekend. It’s hosting more than $17 million in reported race purses, with nearly $14 million attached to Sunday’s Cup Series finale alone.
NASCAR Drops Massive $13.8 Million News Ahead of Homestead Championship Race