Hendrick Motorsports (HMS) won their first Daytona 500 in ten years on Monday, as William Byron survived the late caution on the final laps to win the Great American Race. The last time HMS won a Daytona 500 before 2024 was in 2014 when Dale Earnhardt Jr. secured his last 500 wins in the No:88 Chevy.
Daytona 500 is the most prestigious race in the NASCAR schedule, and alongside the legacy a driver makes, he also gets a hefty payday from the Florida beachside track. The 2024 edition of the event made history as the biggest purse ever in Motorsports history, with a $28 million prize pool to reward all the teams involved.
NASCAR stopped revealing the details about the prize money winner gets in 2015. But with certain assumptions, the HMS’s cut from the pool after Byron’s win can be estimated. For winning the 2015 Daytona 500, Joey Logano and Team Penske Racing were awarded $1,586,503 out of a total purse of $18,133,235.
So, a payout of 8% of the total pool. Assuming NASCAR has been following an 8% to 10% formula over the last few years, the HMS payout can be estimated. As per this assumption, Rick Hendrick’s team would get a check of $2.4 to $2.8 million. This can also go up to $3 million, considering three times Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin gave a similar estimate about Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s earnings last year.
Hendrick Motorsports is the major winner after the Daytona 500
While the payout for the Daytona 500 win and the second-place finish of Alex Bowman will taste sweeter for Rick Hendrick and Jeff Gordon, it has more significance. First and foremost, they ended the 10-year drought.
The victory also helped HMS to launch its 40th season in style. Monday marked exactly four decades since the team’s launch, and Byron’s wins define the team’s journey from outsiders to the most decorated team in the sport’s history.
Byron’s victory is more special for Jeff Gordon, the four Cup champion turned HMS Vice-Chairman. This is because he made the No:24 one of the most iconic charters in NASCAR, and seeing it in the Daytona 500 victory lane for the first time since 2005 makes it an emotional experience.
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