Gordon's wins -
Daytona 500 - $1,497,150 (by far the richest purse of the year; Mike Wallace, the driver who received the least amount of money, got more than several winning drivers in other races)
Advance Auto Parts 500 - $186,051
Aaron's 499 - $365,116
Subway 500 - $194,926
Biffle's wins -
Auto Club 500 - $288,650
Samsung/RadioShack 500 - $540,250 (the third-richest race in Nextel Cup; the Brickyard 400 was the 2nd-richest race at $554,661 going to winner Tony Stewart)
Dodge Charget 500 - $300,575
Spring MBNA RacePoints 400 - $282,500
Batman Begins 400 - $171,075
Ford 400 - $308,675
Edwards' wins -
Golden Corral 500 - $165,450
Pocono 500 - $196,150
Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 - $314,700
Dickies 500 - $440,550 (the richest race in the Chase)
That being said, if you look at the week-to-week payoffs, there's some weird formula that NASCAR used to pay drivers. The vets, the "stars", and the past champs do get more money for comparably similar performances than do the rookies, no-names, and ne'er-do-wells. For example (totally off-the-cuff), if Tony Stewart finishes, say 12th in any race next year, he'll probably bring home as much as anybody in the top 5 if they're all 1st-3rd year drivers. I personally think it's part of rewarding the stars for the ticket sales, but I've NEVER heard about the practice being openly discussed.
Tony Stewart last night on Letterman!! "You have to remember, we have Nascar as a sanctioning body. The rules can change at any time for any or no reason"
Thanks for breaking it down for me like that. I didnt realize that each race had such a huge difference in prize money. Still seems odd to have one race worth so $ and others worth pretty much nothing.