Daytona 500 2012: Purse, Winnings For NASCAR's Biggest Race

Edit: 2013 Daytona 500 results can be found here. The 2013 Daytona 500 purse is here.

Winning the Daytona 500 results in a very lucrative payday, as you probably can guess. But just starting the Daytona 500 has plenty of benefits, too.

The record $19.1 million purse for Monday night's NASCAR season opener paid $1.59 million to race winner Matt Kenseth, but it also paid a healthy $267,637 to last-place finisher David Ragan.

Most drivers made somewhere between $300,000-$400,000, though there was a lot of prize money for the top three finishers in particular.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. earned $1.1 million for finishing second – an extra $298,000 than if he had not edged Greg Biffle at the line.

Biffle, though, won't go home empty handed. He gets $804,163 for finishing third.

Here is the purse money for each driver in the Daytona 500 (some amounts are higher than others due to participation in NASCAR's contingency sponsor programs):

1. Matt Kenseth $1,589,387
2. Dale Earnhardt Jr. $1,102,175
3. Greg Biffle $804,163
4. Denny Hamlin $702,091
5. Jeff Burton $559,550
6. Paul Menard $427,900
7. Kevin Harvick $415,261
8. Carl Edwards $403,466
9. Joey Logano $346,063
10. Mark Martin $323,313
11. Clint Bowyer $339,002
12. Martin Truex Jr. $535,052
13. Marcos Ambrose $341,858
14. Bobby Labonte $331,196
15. Dave Blaney $296,513
16. Tony Stewart $379,025
17. Kyle Busch $341,821
18. Terry Labonte $292,200
19. Tony Raines $292,763
20. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. $304,275
21. Ryan Newman $336,221
22. Landon Cassill $319,945
23. David Gilliland $309,335
24. Regan Smith $332,421
25. Casey Mears $304,746
26. David Reutimann $309,335
27. Elliott Sadler $305,788
28. Joe Nemechek $287,363
29. Kasey Kahne $297,988
30. Michael McDowell $292,175
31. Jamie McMurray $318,608
32. Brad Keselowski $322,295
33. Aric Almirola $320,986
34. AJ Allmendinger $328,325
35. Trevor Bayne $283,200
36. Juan Pablo Montoya $312,391
37. David Stremme $282,075
38. Danica Patrick $281,715
39. Kurt Busch $277,913
40. Jeff Gordon $317,549
41. Robby Gordon $268,150
42. Jimmie Johnson $327,149
43. David Ragan $267,637