The 50th running of the Daytona 500 on Sunday, Feb. 17 - the most anticipated event in racing history - will carry a record purse of more than $18 million. The posted awards for “The Great American Race” on Sunday, Feb. 17 will be $18,689,238.

The posted awards for the 2007 Daytona 500, which was won for the first time by Kevin Harvick in a photo finish over Mark Martin, was $18,386,023. The winner of this year’s Daytona 500 will collect a minimum of $1,445,250. The second, third, fourth and fifth-place finishers in the Daytona 500 will receive a minimum of $1,044,400, $752,400, $598,450 and $471,500 respectively. The last-place finisher in the Daytona 500 will also be well compensated with a minimum of $233,865. The winner for the inaugural Daytona 500 back in 1959 - Lee Petty - collected $19,050 and the last-place finisher - Ken Marriott - earned $100. Other purses for DIRECTV Speedweeks 2008 events are:

*ARCA 200 ARCA RE/MAX Series race: $283,552
*Budweiser Shootout: $1,217,154 with the winner pocketing $215,000
*Gatorade Duel At Daytona: $1,350,000, $675,000 for each race
*Chevy Silverado 250 Craftsman Truck Series race: $875,448
*Camping World 300 presented by Chevy Nationwide Series race: $2,640,772

Tickets to any of the DIRECTV Speedweeks 2008 events are available by calling 1-800-PITSHOP.

[DIS PR]