NHRA Purse 2026 (7 Viewers)

[AJSMapleGrove]

Am I missing something? NHRA release there 2026 season purse at $27 million. I recall Marty Reid calling it the NHRA $50 million dollar Powerade Drag Racing Series........ that was back in 2002, How are they half of what it used to be? Scratching my head on this..... Also, gotta love the ESPN Speedworld intro music for TV. Brings back memories.

 

[J]

Id like to know how much the payouts have increased in each pro class.

 

[DixonFan]

@Kyle Wurtzel are the purse payouts emailed or are they posted somewhere?

 

[Topfuel386]

The past few years they have been emailed. Nothing so far.

 

[DixonFan]

The past few years they have been emailed. Nothing so far.

If you receive that email, would you mind sending me a DM here with the details? It would be much appreciated!

 

[sammi]

Remember the good ole days of reading through the National Dragster and seeing the full page ad for the upcoming national event with complete purse information for all classes?

 

[J. S.]

Remember the good ole days of reading through the National Dragster and seeing the full page ad for the upcoming national event with complete purse information for all classes?

The fact that NHRA has not published the purse info in a public forum for years tells us a lot. The purses are embarrassingly small for the expenses involved. But this is the reality as there just isn't much money in drag racing these days. We don't have any real TV deal which pays the freight for all the wealthy sports. Indycar purses are also quite small (except for the Indy 500, of course). But, in exchange, Indycar pays the top teams (is it 25 or so teams?) a decent flat sum each year to help their finances.

 

[mick]

...... But, in exchange, Indycar pays the top teams (is it 25 or so teams?) a decent flat sum each year to help their finances

yes. it helps a lot. they are actually now using a charter deal much like nascar. you have a group of owners and a set amount
of cars, and you have a series that earns individual teams additional money on top of their flat sum. you earn a set amount for the year
before even turning a tire. roger penske brought the series to this point. i've always thought nhra could operate in similar fashion, but
i don't think there's enough sponsor and tv interest to cashflow it.

 

[Nunz]

yes. it helps a lot. they are actually now using a charter deal much like nascar. you have a group of owners and a set amount
of cars, and you have a series that earns individual teams additional money on top of their flat sum. you earn a set amount for the year
before even turning a tire. roger penske brought the series to this point. i've always thought nhra could operate in similar fashion, but
i don't think there's enough sponsor and tv interest to cashflow it.

Where does the funding for Indycar come from? I don't know much about their financial model, but I don't believe they have a TV deal that pays them big money, and I don't think their ratings are too different from NHRA's.

 

[mick]

Where does the funding for Indycar come from? I don't know much about their financial model, but I don't believe they have a TV deal that pays them big money, and I don't think their ratings are too different from NHRA's.

don't know how it's funded. i agree, i think you're right about their tv deal/s and ratings, although i did a quick search on their
funding and discovered NBC has a deal with them where NBC pays indy car ...... and their main corporate sponsor NTT

 

[Under_Pressure]

Indycar is broadcast on Fox starting last year, and Fox bought 1/3 of Penske Entertainment (i.e. the Indycar series, the Indy 500, and IMS) over the summer. While ratings outside the 500 are generally not great, they have been on an upward trend, and open wheel formula cars have been "hot" culturally in recent years- I guess some figure there isn't enough room on the F1 bandwagon for everyone and series like Indycar are in a good position to pick up the stragglers. The amount paid to charter teams isn't going to pay for the season on its own, but it does help.

That being said, please please NHRA/IHRA/anyone else stay away from anything even vaguely like charters. They are awful and completely against the spirit of motorsports. They're terrible in F1, terrible in NASCAR, and terrible in indycar. The most fundamental tenet of racing is that anyone can show up with a legal car and take their shot. Be fast or go home, it doesn't matter who you are. Just like "playoffs," franchises are an aspect of stick and ball sports that has no place in racing.

 

[Topfuel386]

Mark if you drag out that old national dragster and take a look at the payouts they are within a few (1-3k) thousand dollars of today’s payouts.

 

[mick]

chris thurow. i like your post. i forgot about the big fox buy-in last summer. i buy your argument against charters/franchises for the reasons
you stated, but what are your thoughts about how to achieve consistent races over a series; it seems the charter system achieves
stable car counts event after event, in nascar, f1, and now indycar. i love an independent being able to show up and perform, but at
what point does your entertainment start to effect your bottom line if there are consistently not enough performers?