Back in 1947, Bill France Sr. and a group of investors helped in launching the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing without having complete knowledge of what the future would hold. Today, the organization, NASCAR, is one of the most watched racing leagues and largest motorsport business in the United States.

Notwithstanding the NFL, NASCAR is a top motorsports league that can give any other racing league in the world a run for its money. But there can be no NASCAR without the drivers. It’s like a head with no neck.

For the drivers, entering into the NASCAR league alone is a win for many – even before they get an actual victory on track. It’s like a Hollywood actor getting nominated for an Oscar. It doesn’t matter who wins, just getting on that list is prestige in itself. Why?

Because of one thing – sponsorship deals. In this article, we would be talking about a special lot of NASCAR drivers. These are drivers who end up making more money in sponsorship deals than in prize money. This is the exact reason why it’s not only Joey Logano (the current NASCAR champion), Richard Petty, or Jeff Gordon that makes a lot of cash from winnings. Some other NASCAR drivers experience a little drought in victories, but land big sponsorship deals and endorsements which make them millionaires.

Who are they? You’ll have to read to find out.

20 Ryan Newman- $50 Million

Born on December 8, 1977, “Rocketman”, as he’s known by many of his fans, ran his first car race in the United Midget Auto Racing Association and the Midget Series where he won both the tournament and Rookie of the year in 1993.

According to Sporting News, he earned a place in the Quarter Midget Hall of Fame because of his 100 feature wins and two titles. All these have earned him huge sponsorship deals worth $50 million over the years that make his prize money look like peanuts. Recently, he got a sponsorship from Oscar Mayer in the Roush Fenway Racing.

19 Kurt Busch- $50 Million

The Furniture Row Racing driver, Kurt Busch, has participated in over 60 races recently but he hasn’t been able to get a victory – even though he gives some strong runs against his contenders. Regardless, he hardly sees the victory lane. But despite such “close calls” at victory, he has still been able to make some good money.

Of course, he doesn’t depend much on his winning prize (which is meager). What has kept him going on are the sponsorship deals and endorsements he keeps getting. According to Celebrity Networth, the Nevada-born driver lives on a sponsorship deal worth $50 million like Ryan Newman.

18 Paul Menard- $30 Million

The last time Paul Menard won a competition was in the 2015 Road 180 race competition. As a professional stock car racer, he has competed in 435 races in the last 15 years at the Monster Energy NASCAR cup series where he partners with the Wood Brothers Racing team to drive a Ford Mustang branded No. 21, with only a win and 65 top ten finishes.

He has a 218 race-record in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in the last 15 years, with three wins and 100 top ten finishes. From all his records, we can deduce that his career has been eventful. However, he hasn’t kept consecutive winning streaks. Nevertheless, he has been making some money with sponsorship deals worth $30 million, according to Fox News.

17 Regan Smith- $35 Million

Both a pit reporter for Fox NASCAR and a free agent, Regan Smith started driving as a certified stock car racing driver in NASCAR when he was 18 years old in 2002. He raced in the Craftsman Truck series, driving the Ford F-150 with the number 63. In that race, he represented MB Motorsports.

Over the years, he has won a considerable amount of races; one in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series with 14 top ten finishes, and majorly six wins in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with 79 top ten finishes, and one pole. According to TheSquander, he makes millions of dollars in sponsorship deals than his winnings.

16 Jamie McMurray- $60 Million

No doubt, Jamie McMurray and his racing team enjoyed an outstanding season in 2010 because he won the premier event in the series. According to Fox News, he received over $10 million in prize money for the events he won.

As a result, he got sponsorships and endorsements worth $60 million in total – an astounding six times more than his prize money. After his winning at Charlotte Motor Speedway in October of that season, Jamie has been having a tough time as he struggles to get back on the top of his game. Currently, Jamie has an 89-race winless streak.

15 Juan Pablo Montoya- $35 Million

Juan Pablo had an intense series of runs in 2010, and this made him prime for stronger runs in 2011. Even though Juan Pablo Montoya was a good challenger for victory on road courses, he hasn’t made much of an impact recently.

His winnings earned him over $2 million, but he got sponsorship worth $35 million. This is despite Pablo’s not-so-good 2011 and 2012 seasons. In 2013, Juan finished second at Dover, but his last victory was at Watkins Glen in 2010. Today, he carries a winless streak of 98 races.

14 David Reutimann - $18 Million

David earned Rookie of the Year honors in 1997 and 2002 when he made his NASCAR Nationwide Series debut. According to Fox News, David has competed in 127 races over the last decade.

For the last couple of seasons, David has been a journeyman racer. He has also worked with different teams, and his last taste of the victory lane was in 2010 at Chicagoland Speedway. After that year, David has been competing in other races but finished poorly. Despite his defeats, he got sponsorship deals worth $18 million.

13 Mark Martin- $70 Million

In the late 70s, Mark Martin joined the ASA racing series and instantly made his mark in the game. He won over twenty races and four championships and was named Rookie of the Year in 1977.

In 1981, he had uneven success which carried on for the first six years he started racing on the NASCAR circuit. In the process of looking for steady progress, Mark moved from one team to another before he returned to ASA circuit. He got sponsorship deals worth $70 million and prize money of less than $2 million. Nonetheless, he hasn't won in 129 races since he won in the cup series.

12 Jeff Burton- $55 Million

The year 1993 was a remarkable one for Jeff Burton because he won his first race in the Winston Cup Series. The victory earned him NASCAR’s Rookie of the Year title. Also, he won the Interstate batteries 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

According to Fox News, in 2006, Jeff took four pole positions at Daytona 500, GFS Marketplace, Daytona 500, USG Sheetrock 400, and Brickyard 400 - which showed he was a perennial contender. He got sponsorship deals worth $55 million even though he remained stalled in a 161-race stretch with no wins.

11 Casey Mears- $25 Million

Casey Mears made his NASCAR Nationwide series debut in Homestead at the 2001 GNC Live Well 300. According to Sporting News, he won his first race in 2006 and finished in the top ten 32 times at the USG Durock 300 in Chicago.

For the last 12 years, Casey appeared in over 400 races and finished in the top ten, 50 times. Casey tasted victory again when he won the 2007 Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte. Since the victory in 2007, he tried to find his way back to the victory lane, but it was to no avail. However, Casey got sponsorship deals worth $25 million which was far higher than all his winnings.

10 Martin Truex Jr. - $30 Million

According to Red Bull, Martin Truex Jr. kick-started his racing career on a good note when he won the Nationwide Series championships and earned a full-time ride in the Sprint Cup Series. In 2000, Truex Jr. took the helm of his Busch North Series ride with the permission of his father.

In 2010, he moved to Michael Waltrip Racing, and on several occasions, he came close to winning. In 2013, he ran consistently for weeks, but he ended with a 215-race winless streak. However, he got sponsorship deals worth $30 million which washed away all those winless stains.

9 Dave Blaney - 20 Million

Dave Blaney participated in his first NASCAR Nationwide Series competition at the NAPA Auto Parts 300 in Daytona. He didn’t record any wins until the 2006 Dollar General 300 in Charlotte. According to Fox Sports, Dave also took part in 121 Nationwide Series races, but he finished in the top ten in 31 races and got a victory for one of those.

It’s obvious that Dave Blaney loved racing even though he bounced around less favorite teams during his Cup Series years. Regardless of his defeats, he got sponsorship deals worth over $20 million.

8 Wally Dallenbach Jr. - $30 Million

Dallenbach Jr. is a popular name amongst NASCAR fans. He spent about ten seasons as a NASCAR driver before he got a job as a commentator on TNT and a NASCAR analyst. Wally Jr. won Rookie the Year in 1984. Afterward, he won two Trans-Am championships.

No doubt, Dallenbach Jr.’s transition to NASCAR was difficult considering that he didn’t make it to the top 10 until his third season. From the number of defeats, it was evident that most of Wally’s income came from sponsorship than prize money. He got $30 million from sponsorship deals and endorsements.

7 Ron Fellows - $25 Million

Ron Fellows was a great Canadian driver whose impact wasn’t felt on the race course as he never won a Cup Series race in his 16-year NASCAR career. Ron was able to record five top-10s, but he did better as an accomplished Canadian driver who competed in the ALMS, Trans-Am Series, and IMSA.

According to Sporting News, he barely competed full-time in NASCAR and hardly drove on the oval tracks on the track. Ron Fellows got most of his money from sponsorships since he never got to win big prize money. He got sponsorship deals worth $25 million.

6 Kevin Lepage- $35 Million

Kevin Lepage’s best Cup position was in the 1999 NASCAR Winston Cup Series, and he had a total of 201 NASCAR cup races over an 11-year cup career with 9 top 10 finishes, no wins, and one pole. Even though it seemed like he didn’t achieve so much, Kevin still achieved much more than he should have, considering the adversity that surrounded him.

According to Fox Sports, he recorded two wins, four poles, and 51 top ten finishes in the Xfinity Series. He earned less than $200,000 as prize money, but he got a fortune from sponsorships. Kevin had a total of $35 million in sponsorship deals.

5 Todd Bodine- $30 Million

It’s funny how Todd Bodine wasn’t able to achieve as much success as fans believed he could have. The reason for this isn’t far-fetched because Bodine raced with teams that weren’t popular and they had a smaller budget. Despite the setback, Todd was able to have multiple quality top 10 finishes at the end of each season.

According to Fox Sports, Bodine couldn’t win a race; he was able to spend five seasons in the Cup Series where he got 21 top 10 finishes and five poles. Todd got sponsorship deals worth $30 million, that masks all of his setbacks when it came to grabbing victories on the oval tracks.

4 Robert Pressley- $45 Million

For three decades Robert Pressley was a regular in NASCAR. Judging from the length of his career one would imagine that he would achieve so much, but that didn’t happen. According to Fox Sports, Pressley wasn’t able to earn a Cup Series win.

Robert was, however, able to achieve 11 top-10 finishes, but his peak seemed difficult for him to reach. It was that difficult because he competed in teams with insufficient funds and resources. However, Robert got sponsorship deals worth $45 million which was good enough to keep him motivated.

3 Scott Riggs- $40 Million

Scott is one of those NASCAR drivers that most people know by his middle name. The last car he drove was the No. 92 Ford in the Truck Series for RBR Enterprises. In 2004, Scott was ready to become the next great Cup Series driver when he made his NASCAR debut.

Scott Riggs suffered a few lackluster years because he had several powerhouse seasons in the Xfinity and Truck Series. In 2006, he came back to the season and finished in 20th place, even though he missed out on the Daytona 500 that year. He got sponsorship deals worth $40 million which isn’t anywhere close to the little prize money.

2 Sam Hornish Jr. - $30 Million

Sam Jr. started racing at a young age, and he earned so many junior titles which led to him racing on the World Karting Association circuit. In 2000, Sam began racing in the IRL Series, and he achieved three-time wins. When he became an IndyCar racer, he had 47 podiums and 19 wins.

According to Sporting News, since Sam started racing for NASCAR, he achieved top ten finishes nine times in the Sprint Cup Series and won one race. Asides his prize money, Sam got sponsorship deals worth $30 million.

1 Reed Sorenson - $20 Million

Reed is another racer that started early and got a National title in 1997. In 2000, Reed made his NASCAR Nationwide Series debut in the Kroger 200. In the course of a decade, Reed has participated in almost 200 races and won the 2005 Pepsi 300 in Nashville for the first time.

In 2014, Reed participated in over 200 competitions in the Sprint Cup Series, according to Sporting News. He didn’t win any of the races in his car. However, he recorded 15 top ten finishes which earned him little prize money, but he got a larger sum of $20 million from his sponsorship deals.

Sources: TheSquander, Sporting News, Celebrity NetWorth