
In NASCAR, drivers are essentially free agents who sign with “teams” that have an owner. NASCAR is clearly gearing towards younger racers, while older drivers find themselves in the Craftsman Truck Series. And you don’t have to win at the Cup level to draw big bucks Casey Mears and Brian Vickers, were in high demand (sans a Cup win) when their contracts expired. With only one Nextel Cup win under his belt, Jamie McMurray reportedly signed a $10 million dollar, multi-year contract with the Roush Racing Team. Today, NASCAR drivers can take home big earnings in the beginning of their careers. Then they go out and win another $2 or $3 million dollars or whatever.” NASCAR Television Schedule These guys today start out with $2 or $3 million dollars in their hand before they ever get in the race car. It took me 15 years to win the first million. I drove 35 years and didn’t take in but $7.5 million dollars. Richard Petty, who started driving for NASCAR in the late ’60s, told, “When you go back to me and Allison and Pearson and all of them, we (were) just making a living. Believe it or not, back then, racecar drivers were insured for only $15,000. If we look back at the history of NASCAR, according to, there were 54 races were run by NASCAR in 1969, and the winners were often paid as little as $1,000. In the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s auto racing was a low draw with an occasional broadcast on ABC-TV’s Wide World of Sports. Today’s enormous NASCAR drivers salaries are mostly due to television coverage, but it wasn’t always so. died on the race track), the pay is still impressive.Ĭan your salary compete with NASCAR’s drivers salaries? Give it a spin with our salary calculator. While there are substantial risks to racing (Dale Sr. The second $25 million is really for his role as a business owner, not directly for Dale Jr.’s work as a race car driver. SI says his total take in ’05 would approach $50 million! merchandise and earnings from the racing company that he owns.

That number doesn’t include sales of Dale Earnhardt Jr. His endorsements earned $20,000,000, bringing his sub-total compensation to $25,761,830. SI says the highest-paid driver in 2005 was Dale Earnhardt Jr., whose annual salary and earnings totaled $5,761,830, but that’s not all. That said, we do have some info on NASCAR drivers salaries, thanks to. Unlike NFL salaries, however, NASCAR drivers salaries are closely-guarded secrets. With all this television coverage come the big money and high annual salaries. No longer just a heartland sport, NASCAR is broadcast in over 150 countries. Most people know that the National Football League (NFL) is the most popular sport on TV, but it may raise a few eyebrows to hear that the second highest-rated sport is NASCAR –the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing.
