2025 Daytona 500 prize money, purse: How much cash is on the line in the Great American Race this weekend​on February 16, 2025 at 3:00 pm

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The Daytona 500 is more than just the biggest and most prestigious race in NASCAR. It’s also the richest.

For as long as the Daytona 500 has been stock car racing’s pre-eminent event, it has also boasted a very rich purse throughout the field. And this year, the prize purse for The Great American Race is once again the richest it has ever been.

As shared by Fox Sports, the total purse for the 2025 Daytona 500 is a whopping $30,331,250, with that number encompassing the total prize pool available to the 40 car field. The number sets a new record, up from over $28 million a year ago, and brings the Daytona 500 purse past the $30 million mark for the very first time.

As an illustration of how impressive that number is, the two support races from NASCAR’s other two national touring series — the Xfinity Series and Craftsman Truck Series — are set to pay out just $3,762,952 and $1,262,900 respectively to their starting fields.

For perspective’s sake, the inaugural Daytona 500 in 1959, won by Lee Petty, paid out $53,050 to the field to establish the race as NASCAR’s biggest event. By the time CBS Sports carried the first live flag-to-flag broadcast of the Daytona 500 in 1979, the purse had grown to $538,330, crossing the million dollar mark for the first time in 1985. 

The driver in pole position to take home the lion’s share of that purse is Chase Briscoe after posting the fastest time on Wednesday.  It’s his first time on the pole of the Great American Race and the first pole for a Toyota at the Daytona 500.

“A great way to start our season. Unbelievable way to start off the year. Unbelievable way to start off with Toyota,” Briscoe said after winning the pole. “To be able to be the guy to deliver them the first anything when they’ve already accomplished so much is pretty cool. To think I’m going to start on the front row or on the pole of the Great American Race with ultimately the great American brand of [sponsor] Bass Pro Shops is unbelievable. Can’t thank Coach Gibbs enough, the entire Joe Gibbs Racing organization.”

So what are the top NASCAR Fantasy picks for the Daytona 500, and which value driver is a must-roster? Visit SportsLine now to see DFS millionaire Mike McClure’s complete Daytona 500 Fantasy rankings, for a chance to cash in big on NASCAR Fantasy.