NASCAR drivers put their lives on the line every time they sit behind the wheel. In doing so, many would think the NASCAR drivers are paid a lot of money, especially given the importance of their health and well-being.
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There tends to be a narrative that is played up about those in NASCAR. And while you can make millions in NASCAR, how much a NASCAR driver makes is a far more complex issue.
Each driver contract is different, and some are paid way more than others, but there is no way to actually know how much one makes because almost every contract detail is kept secret.
2024 Daytona 500 Champion William Byron made an appearance on former NASCAR racer Kenny Wallace's Youtube show, the "Kenny Conversation," where he talked about a narrative that has been pushed about NASCAR racers' salary.
As the sport and its team owners fight over their shares of the billions of dollars in NASCAR's new tv contract, there seems to have been a real dip in each of the drivers' pay in recent years, so the narrative goes. It is the drivers who the fans show up to watch, and they seem to be the ones getting the raw end of the deal, especially considering they are the ones who primarily are making money for their sponsors, teams and NASCAR.
"No, I think that's mostly false for the great drivers or the ones who are winning races," Byron told Wallace, explaining that the successful drivers are making the big bucks, though not quite as much as a Jimmie Johnson or Jeff Gordon did in their prime.
Byron then spoke about the importance of finding a standard baseline value for the sport's drivers. Especially for drivers trying to make their way in the Cup Series.
"I think that there's a, and I heard Kyle (Larson) talk about this, there's an average and I think that if we get drivers who come in that do race for whatever that number is and just kind of bring everything down; it's important that we hold that value," Byron said. "I think the drivers, we've got a council and we've got a lot of things going on behind the scenes to make sure that doesn't happen. But yeah, I was definitely concerned about that coming in but the best thing you can do is win races and compete up front and you're gonna be in line to make what those guys make, but it's a performance sport and that'll never change. The bottom line and the overall average in the Series has probably shifted in the last few years. I think it's really important that when new drivers come in that they demand their value."
NASCAR drivers are certainly not paid what they used to be and are underpaid compared to other motorsports, such as Formula 1 or some drivers in Late Model and World of Outlaws do. Byron's teammate at Hendrick Motorsports, Kyle Larson, certainly shared that sentiment via Sportsnaut recently.
"I make a really good living," Larson said. " I'm totally happy with my contract and all that. But it's still not anywhere near the level, probably not even half of what Jimmie (Johnson) was getting paid in his heyday."
A lot of the younger drivers certainly don't think about these things, according to Larson, who agrees with Byron saying that it only hurt the push from the older and more accomplished drivers for more money.
There is no way of knowing how much NASCAR drivers make because their contract details are not made public, but one thing is clear, a majority of the NASCAR Cup Series seems to not care to much about it.
