NASCAR: Top 5 highest paid Cup Series drivers of 2020
By Asher Fair
NASCAR drivers may not get paid like NFL, MLB or NBA stars, but they can still rake in quite a bit of cash. Here are the top five highest paid competitors of 2020.
You won’t see a NASCAR Cup Series driver signing a 10-year, $503 million deal like Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs, a 13-year, $330 million deal like Bryce Harper of the Philadelphia Phillies or a five-year, $228.2 million deal like Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks.
However, stock car racing’s top competitors can still rake in quite a bit of money each year. As we prepare for the start of the 2021 season, here are the top five earners of the 2020 season, which came to a conclusion at Phoenix Raceway in early November when Chase Elliott secured his first championship.
NOTE: All money totals from GOBankingRates.
Highest paid NASCAR drivers of 2020 – 5. Martin Truex Jr.
Martin Truex Jr., who drives the #19 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, comes in at #5 on this list after earning a total of $11.5 million throughout the 2020 season, with $10.4 million of that coming from his salary.
Truex has competed full-time in the Cup Series since 2006, and he joined Joe Gibbs Racing in 2019 after Furniture Row Racing, the Joe Gibbs Racing-affiliated team with which he won the 2017 championship, shut down following the 2018 season.
Truex entered the 2020 season having been to the Championship 4 in three consecutive seasons and four times in the last five years, but he won only once and could not get back to the winner-take-all round.
In fact, only one of the five drivers on this list competed in the 2020 Championship 4.
His lone win of the 2020 season came at Martinsville Speedway, and he finished in a seventh place tie in the championship standings. While he only won once and that win came in the 36-race season’s 11th race, he did go on a streak of five consecutive third place finishes and seven consecutive top three finishes to start the second half of the season.