Sunday's Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway (6 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App) will be the playoff opener for the NASCAR Cup Series ,as 16 drivers begin their quest for the Bill France Cup.
William Byron comes in as the regular-season champion, tied atop the playoff standings with Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson (+26). While those two, along with four-time race winner Denny Hamlin (+23) and two-time winner Ryan Blaney (+20), have the biggest advantage of anyone in the field, this is the tightest playoff field in history — meaning all it is going to take is one misstep and that slight cushion will be gone in an instant.
Las Vegas winner Josh Berry (-1), Tyler Reddick (-1), Richmond winner Austin Dillon (-2) and Alex Bowman (-5) enter Darlington below the cutline, with Bowman benefitting from Blaney's late charge at Daytona to lock up the 16th spot.
What is the total purse for the 2025 Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington?
The purse for the Cup Series' playoff opener at Darlington is $10,447,135, according to Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports.
Purses for Darlington and Portland with all payouts, all positions and contingency awards, year-end pts fund contributions, etc; for Cup includes all charter payouts.
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) August 27, 2025
Cup (Darlington): $10,447,135
Xfinity (Portland): $1,651,939
Trucks (Darlington): $$782,900
The Cup Series purse for Darlington sees an uptick from last week's $9,797,935 payout for Daytona, which should come as no surprise given it is one of NASCAR's crown jewels and most prestigious races. It is a huge jump from last season's Southern 500 purse, which stood at $8,644,143. Unlike Sunday's 500-miler, that race closed out the regular season and officially set the playoff field.
The Xfinity Series is out west at Portland International Raceway for a one-day show on Saturday. The $1,651,939 purse remains steady for NASCAR's second-tier series as it prepares for the penultimate race of the regular season in the Pacific Northwest before closing out the regular season at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway on Sept. 6. Like the Cup Series, the Craftsman Truck Series begins its playoffs at Darlington, where drivers will compete for a total payout of $782,900.
How much does the Cook Out Southern 500 winning driver earn?
The exact take-home for the winner of the Cook Out Southern 500 is not verified. According to Pockrass, the total purse includes all payouts, all positions and contingency awards, year-end points fund contributions and all charter payouts for Cup.
Expect experience to prevail on Sunday. Hamlin owns five career wins at The Lady in Black and won the spring race earlier this season. He may have won that race with some help from his pit crew, but the dominant driver was Byron, who led the first 243 laps and has been the best driver in the series at Darlington in the Next Gen era with an average finish of 9.1.
Other drivers to keep an eye on are Larson, who has led at least 124 laps four times there, as well as Reddick, Christopher Bell and defending Southern 500 winner Chase Briscoe. A grueling 500 miles await as drivers tackle arguably the most challenging track on the circuit and officially kick off the 2025 playoffs.