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Rare peek into race purses, payouts under charter system

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Auto Club 400 - Practice

FONTANA, CA - MARCH 16: Gray Gaulding, driver of the #23 Earthwater Toyota, drives during practice for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway on March 16, 2018 in Fontana, California. (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images)

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A new filing before a Thursday bankruptcy court hearing for BK Racing provided a window into the payouts of NASCAR’s charter structure.

The system, which went into effect two years ago, guaranteed revenues and race attendance for 36 cars. Funding was based on four categories: entering a race, historical performance over the past three seasons, the traditional points fund (with extra cash) and race results. It was partly intended to help teams by providing more predictable revenue guarantees for budget projections.

MORE: Court filing reveals expenses, revenue for each race

Prior to the 2016 season, each race had a purse that paid out for finishing position and contingency awards (which rewarded the most competitive teams). Under the new system, money paid for results was based solely on finishing position, and NASCAR abolished publishing purse totals and race winnings in box scores.

The BK Racing document, which was filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Western District of North Carolina, sheds some light on those now shielded numbers. It lists the total purse for every race during the 2018 season and also lists BK Racing’s prize money for each of the first four races in the No. 23 Toyota with driver Gray Gaulding.

--Daytona 500 (total purse $15.466 million): The team earned $428,794 for finishing 20th.

--Atlanta Motor Speedway (total purse $2.477 million): The team earned $91,528 for 36th.

--Las Vegas Motor Speedway (total purse $2.647 million): The team earned $98,754 for 33rd.

--ISM Raceway near Phoenix (total purse: $1.459 million): The team earned $82,000 for 34th.

Though the formula was different for structuring the purse and race payouts, here were the total purses and payouts for those positions in 2015, the last year that earnings were publicly made available.

--Daytona 500: Total purse $19.8 million; $348,803 for 20th

--Atlanta: Total purse $6.3 million; $101,370 for 36th

--Las Vegas: Total purse $6.5 million; $118,724 for 33rd

--Phoenix: Total purse $5.1 million; $74,805 for 34th

A hearing on the BK Racing bankruptcy case will be held in Charlotte at 2 p.m. Thursday.

Click here to view the BK Racing filing.