By Richie Murray
Indianapolis, Indiana (December 11, 2021)………Winning championships will already pay substantially larger sums of money than ever before for the 2022 USAC National season, but there’s even more at stake with the announcement of Double Down and Triple Crown bonuses.
Much more at stake, in fact!
Any driver who can capture all three USAC National driving championships in 2022 – Silver Crown, AMSOIL National Sprint Car and NOS Energy Drink National Midget – will earn a staggering $300,000 bonus in addition to their base payout.
Any driver who can score two of the three titles in 2022, that’ll put a $150,000 bonus in their pocket at season’s end.
Furthermore, the overall point fund for USAC’s National divisions now totals $320,000, an increase of 60 percent since the 2019 season.
The pay for USAC’s AMSOIL Sprint Car National champion has drastically risen to $50,000 to win in 2022 as part of a total point fund of $200,000. By comparison, the series’ point fund was $125,000 just two seasons ago in 2019.
The USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National champion will now collect a $25,000 reward in 2022, as part of a point fund overhaul for the series, which has seen a three-year increase from $50,000 to $80,000 since 2019.
USAC Silver Crown’s champion in the coming year will take home $20,000 as part of an overall $40,000 point fund.
Entering USAC’s 67th year of competition, Tony Stewart (1995) and J.J. Yeley (2003) remain the lone drivers to notch USAC Silver Crown, National Sprint Car and National Midget championships all within the same season.
Six more drivers have won two of the three USAC National championships in a single season: Rich Vogler (1980 Sprint & Midget), Rick Hood (1985 Silver Crown & Sprint), Steve Butler (1988 Silver Crown & Sprint), Jason Leffler (1998 Silver Crown & Midget), Jerry Coons Jr. (2008 Silver Crown & Sprint), Levi Jones (Silver Crown & Sprint) in both 2010 and 2011.