With Judge Kenneth Bell deeming the racing market in question around the NASCAR antitrust lawsuit as “Premier Stock Car Racing,” the sport’s governing body has been established as the one with monopolistic control over all the proceedings surrounding it. Following the ruling, the court made the charter agreement a public document, which highlighted just how little the Cup Series drivers actually make after each race.
To make matters worse for NASCAR, the Charlotte Court has since made several additional financial documents available to the public, which highlight the harsh reality behind NASCAR’s $340 million profit in 2023 and 2024.
Revealing the Brutal Money Divide in NASCAR by the Numbers
Since the 2025 campaign ended heartbreakingly for Denny Hamlin, the focus has been primarily on the charter lawsuit, with new developments emerging almost daily. Of late, much of the focus has been on the proposed deposition of Rick Hendrick and Roger Penske.
While the two titans of industry have agreed to being deposed, they want safety rails around the proceeding, asking the court to ascertain a limit to the questions thrown their way. However, the court has denied the request and stated that both men can refuse to testify; however, NASCAR will subsequently be required to permanently remove their names from the witness list in the jury trial.
While that is happening, the court has revealed NASCAR’s financial records, shedding light on the sport’s profits, losses, and charter payouts. According to Bob Pockrass’ report for Fox Sports, NASCAR paid out an average of $670 million to the tracks and teams across the 2023 & 2024 seasons, ultimately generating a $340 million profit.
Getting into the details of things, NASCAR’s comprehensive income in 2024 was $103 million, while in 2023, the number stood at a staggering $537 million. However, a significant point behind the number was the sale of the majority of the land at California Speedway. Summing up the sport’s total income for 2024, including deferred income taxes, amounted to $8.9 million.
Moving on to the charter agreement, each chartered team gets $141,000 as the base payment per event. Adding the points finish payouts over the last two years, the payment sits closer to $185,000. Owing to the same, an average team ended up making $330,000 per event while a top team earned $488,000.
Then comes the income of an open team, in an overall purse $431 million (per season). Should an open team run all the races and finish dead last, they would still earn nearly 2.5% of the total, roughly equalling $2.9 million per season, as opposed to the $11-$12 million for a charter team.
While these numbers appear favorable, they only tell one side of the story. In reality, the running cost in NASCAR is so high that despite making millions each season, teams barely make any profit while the sport piles on hundreds of millions.
According to the financial reports that have been made public, only three teams ended up being profitable in the 2024 season, and only one of them generated over $150,000 per car. Moreover, one (unnamed) team claimed to have lost over $10 million per car last year, while the weighted average loss per car in 2024 stood at over $2.2 million for each team.
With the numbers revealing the harsh reality of the pay disparity within the sport, NASCAR’s case currently looks weaker than ever before. 23XI and FRM continue to carry the momentum as the date for the Jury Trial nears, and if NASCAR cannot turn the tide around, the sport may have to brace for radical changes to the entire structure ahead of the 2026 season.
