The most exciting sports and pastimes often involve a degree of risk, whether racing in NASCAR at 200mph, making a crunching tackle in ice hockey, or enjoying some time in an online casino. We tend to look up to our sporting heroes who are willing to risk life and limb to beat their competition, with the danger and fame often leading to lucrative prizes and impressive wealth.
Like any sport, NASCAR has big names and stars whose success on the track makes them a cultural phenomenon. Dominating performances from crowd favourites are big news, leading to major sponsorship deals and a surge of interest online, both in the sport and the drivers themselves.
Some of these high-profile drivers also have hugely successful social media accounts with vast numbers of followers. A single post from large accounts can be worth thousands of dollars, especially across multiple platforms, giving popular NASCAR drivers another source of income away from the track.
With over a hundred thousand fans in attendance per race, NASCAR provides spectators with an exciting experience equal to the thrill of seeing the latest blockbuster movie, playing your favourite online slots, or winning a competitive game against your friends.
With all this in mind, the team at Gambling Zone wanted to uncover the most successful NASCAR drivers in the sport today. We delved into the data to determine which drivers have secured the most wins, amassed the most wealth and built the most valuable following on social networks.
Jimmie Johnson Is The Most Successful NASCAR Driver In 2024
1) Jimmie Johnson Cup Series Wins: 83
The most successful NASCAR driver currently in the sport is Jimmie Johnson, who has accumulated 83 NASCAR Cup wins over his career. Johnson drives part-time for Legacy Motor Club, a team he co-owns with entrepreneur Maury Gallagher, sitting behind the wheel of the No. 84 Toyota Camry XSE. Jimmie Johnson has competed in the top tier of NASCAR for over two decades, making him a veteran of the sport and a force to be reckoned with on the track.
2) Kyle Busch Cup Series Wins: 63
Kyle Busch is the second most successful driver in NASCAR today, with 63 Cup Series wins to his name. Having won the Drivers’ Championship title in the 2015 and 2019 Cup Series competitions, Kyle Busch has cemented himself as one of NASCAR’s most successful drivers and at the age of 39, he has plenty of time to build on this record.
3) Denny Hamlin Cup Series Wins: 54
Denny Hamlin is the third most successful NASCAR driver competing in the 2024 Cup Series, with 54 wins in the sport’s top tier of competition. Hamlin drives the No. 11 Toyota Camry XSE full-time for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Cup Series. While Hamlin has achieved an impressive number of wins, he hasn’t yet claimed the series title, though he is repeatedly considered a sure contender.
Jimmie Johnson Is The Wealthiest NASCAR Driver In 2024
1) Jimmie Johnson Estimated net worth: CA$219.7 million
As well as having the most Cup Series wins, Jimmie Johnson is the NASCAR driver with the highest net worth at CA$219.70 million ($160/£123.9 million). This huge personal wealth has been accrued over a long career in NASCAR and motorsports, with earnings coming in from prize winnings, sponsorship deals and business investments, such as Cup Series team Legacy Motor Club.
Jimmie Johnson has received many awards and accolades throughout his career, including five Driver of the Year awards and taking first place in Forbes’ Most Influential Athletes list for both 2011 and 2012. This huge public profile makes Johnson an attractive prospect for brands and marketing agencies to use in promotions and advertising, which could have led to some very lucrative sponsorship deals.
2) Kyle Busch Estimated net worth: CA$109.9 million
Kyle Busch follows in second place with an estimated net worth of CA$109.9 million ($80/£62 million). While this could be seen as only half of Jimmie Johnson’s net worth, it’s still 435 times the average household net income in the United States[1], which is $183,500 (CA$252,000/£142,200). When compared to the median net worth in the country, this figure jumps to 2,000 times as much.
Busch is not a stranger to the business world, being the founder and owner of Kyle Busch Motorsports, which has competed in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and a range of other motorsports competitions in the United States.
3) Denny Hamlin Estimated net worth: CA$89.3 million
Denny Hamlin has the third-largest estimated net worth at CA$89.3 million ($65/£50.3 million). Hamlin is a household name in NASCAR, with almost 700 races over the last 20 years, giving him plenty of opportunities to sign sponsorships and brand deals to boost his income.
The most significant business decision Hamlin has made was forming the 23XI Racing team, which he co-founded with NBA Hall of Famer and long-time friend Michael Jordan. 23XI Racing has been a huge success, expanding the team from one to two drivers and claiming a series of wins over its short lifetime.
Hamlin also appeared alongside fellow 23XI driver Bubba Wallace in the music video for Post Malone’s 2021 song “Motley Crew,” showing the success and popularity of his team.
Kamui Kobayashi Has The Most Valuable Social Media Presence
1) Kamui Kobayashi Potential earnings per social media post: CA$14,529
Kamui Kobayashi is the NASCAR Cup Series driver with the biggest potential social media earnings, with a single sponsored post across Instagram and X worth over CA$14,529 ($10,581/£8,195). Kobayashi drives the No. 50 Toyota Camry XSE part-time for 23XI Racing alongside teammates Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace.
Kobayashi has appeared in one NASCAR Cup Series race this year, the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in March, where he finished 29th of 39 drivers. Most of his racing career has been in other motorsports, with many years spent racing in Formula One, Super Formula, the FIA World Endurance Championship and the world-famous 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Kobayashi’s rich and varied racing career has helped him build a strong personal brand. He has almost one million followers on Instagram and just under 200,000 on X, who he frequently updates with posts about his races. Despite not having an official TikTok account, Kobayashi’s social media presence outstrips any other driver in NASCAR, allowing him to earn significant income via sponsored posts if he wants to.
2) Bubba Wallace Potential earnings per social media post: CA$11,235
Bubba Wallace has the second most valuable social media presence of all drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series, with a single sponsored post across all platforms worth CA$11,235 ($8,181/£6,336). Wallace posts on social media pretty frequently, covering both racing and his personal life, such as his wife’s pregnancy and their child’s gender reveal. He is most popular on Instagram, with just over half a million followers. This is closely followed by X, where he has 445,000 followers.
Bubba Wallace, who’s driven with 23XI Racing since the team’s founding, became the first black driver to win a Cup Series race since 1963, raising the profile of team’s profile and attracting a spate of new fans and sponsorship deals.
Outside of racing, Bubba Wallace is deeply involved in philanthropy. He founded the Live to be Different Foundation, which aims to empower and support disadvantaged individuals to help make their dreams a reality. Wallace’s charitable activity was touched on during a six-part Netflix series about the driver, which explored both his career and personal life. This exposure and positive image make him an attractive choice for brands looking for partnerships or a sponsored post.
3) Kyle Larson Potential earnings per social media post: CA$11,141
Kyle Larson has the third most valuable social media presence in NASCAR's top flight, with a sponsored post worth CA$11,141 ($8,113/£6283) across Instagram, X, and TikTok. He frequently posts about his career and personal life, showing fans what goes on behind the scenes and the life he leads with his wife and children.
Larson competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports, while also driving part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and the NTT IndyCar Series. He has been performing very well in 2024 and could be a strong contender to claim the coveted NASCAR Cup Series Drivers' Championship for the second time in his career.
As a family man at the top of the sport, a sponsored post from Kyle Larson would be a dream for many brands. His large dedicated audience of over 900,000 followers across all three platforms provides excellent reach. At the same time, the association with a sports star who is a winner on and off the track could be priceless.
Methodology
We wanted to reveal the current NASCAR drivers that are most successful, both on the track and financially. We included all drivers listed as having competed in the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series as of August 7th.
Data for each driver’s lifetime Cup Series wins record was also taken from the NASCAR website. This allowed us to reveal the current drivers with the most successful careers.
We then revealed the NASCAR Cup Series drivers with the largest personal NET worth, using estimates sourced from Essentially Sports, Sportskeeda, and FervoGear. Drivers were then ranked by their NET worth to reveal the wealthiest drivers in 2024. We took the average figure where NET wealth was estimated to be between two sums.
We then collected each driver’s social media and recorded the number of followers on their Instagram, X and TikTok accounts. We then used the inzpire.me Instagram pricing calculator to record the value of a single sponsored post and story for each driver’s Instagram account. Tweet Hunter was used to find the value of a sponsored post on X, while Tikcalculator was used to find the value of a sponsored video on TikTok.
The values of a sponsored post on each social media platform were then combined into a single figure to represent how much each driver could make from social media sponsorship. The drivers were ranked by this figure to reveal the drivers with the most potentially lucrative online presence.
Instagram post values were given as a range, so we took the middle figure as an estimate. Some drivers did not have official accounts across all three social media platforms.
Currencies were converted from USD to CAD and GBP on 16/08/24 using XE.
[1] Average NET worth United States https://thehill.com/homenews/4290971-heres-the-average-net-worth-of-americans-by-age-how-do-you-stack-up/
