Daytona 500 Purse Reaches Record-Setting Number

Happy Daytona 500 day – I'll be your tour guide for the afternoon! Let's have a day. 

Best day of the year, boys and girls. Seriously. Some say it's opening day of the NFL. Some say it's the opening day of hunting season. I hear Christmas morning ain't bad. 

But it all pales in comparison to the day of the Daytona 500. Even after all these years – I've covered nine of these bad boys now – I still love this day. It's the best. The pageantry. The build-up. The hype. The anticipation. (The inevitable rain delay). 

Obviously, the money ain't bad, either. Not a bad little chunk of change for … well, anyone who runs this race. True story. 

Daytona International Speedway president Frank Kelleher confirmed Sunday morning that the purse for this year's race is now the largest in motorsports history. 

That's right. Largest ever, boys and girls, to the tune of $30 million. 

"First to last, checks will be written for over 30 million dollars," he said just hours before the green flag. "It's the richest purse in motorsports history."

How does this year's Daytona 500 purse stack up?

Whoaaaaaa Nellie! Not a bad chunk of change, especially if you like eggs. You seen those bad boys lately? Yikes. 

Now, the obvious follow-up question, at least from me? How does that compare to past years? Well …

A quick Big J deep dive tells me the purse for this race back in 2012, for comparison's sake, was just over $19 million. In 2020 (great year), it was $23 million. This time last year, it was a shade over $28 million. 

So, yeah – we're trending in the right direction! 

Big day, boys and girls. Donald Trump is in town. The Busch Lights are FLOWING. The radar, unfortunately, doesn't look great – BUT, we'll race today. I promise. It may be under the lights, but it'll happen. Just be patient. 

Happy Daytona 500 day. Let's get it.