NASCAR Cup Series

NASCAR race purses decreasing in '10

Published Jan. 29, 2010 12:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

NASCAR's prize pool is decreasing in 2010.

Race purses in NASCAR's three national series — Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Truck — will be lower than last season, according to a report on SceneDaily.com.

The Sprint Cup Series prize purses will fall by about 10 percent, falling in line with what was reported by FOXSports.com's senior NASCAR writer Lee Spencer about the decrease in the Budweiser Shootout prize pool on Jan. 28.

The cuts will benefit race tracks, which pay the winnings for each race. Although tracks will get an increase in how much television money they receive, most venues expect ticket revenues to drop.

With that in mind, the sanctioning body lowered the fee it charges to hold NASCAR races, and the trickle down affects nearly every aspect of events. The reduction should allow track owners to reduce ticket prices and lower various fees associated with holding a race.

"Last year we launched an industry wide effort to help the sport manage budgets in this economy. NASCAR did the right thing to work with the tracks to reduce their costs in order to manage the economic realities," NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston said in an e-mail response. "In return, the tracks have done a great job reducing ticket prices and enhancing the fan experience. Likewise, we worked with the teams to contain costs such as elimination of testing and other steps. This is consistent with how virtually every sport and business has adjusted to the economy over the past year."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.