What year is this? NASCAR's All-Star prize remains stuck at $1 million 23 years after launch

“One million dollars.”

After a beat of awkward silence, Dr. Evil's second-in-command Number 2 suggests a higher dollar amount for the ransom.

“Don't you think we should ask for more than a million dollars?” the villain says. “A million dollars isn't exactly a lot of money these days.”

The time frame for the movie was 1997.

Here it is in 2026, and a million dollars isn't exactly a lot of money in sports these days and hasn't been in NASCAR since the days when Jeff Gordon swept the series full throttle into the national spotlight. Yet in an era when a $10 million annual baseball salary seems like a discount, NASCAR drivers will race for the same measly $1 million prize as they have since 2003 in Sunday's All-Star race at Dover Motor Speedway.

Just as No. 2 suggested, NASCAR drivers are openly asking, shouldn't they ask for more than a million dollars for winning the All-Star race?

“I think an increase would be great, for sure,” said Chase Elliott, NASCAR's most popular driver. “I mean, I think it would be awesome to make that number bigger, what that number needs to be, where it should be, I’m not sure. But certainly, yeah certainly, with the time and all the things that have changed over the years, I guess it would seemingly make sense for that to adjust.”

Adjusted for inflation, that same prize from 2003 would be worth about $1.8 million today.

Consider the rising team costs of fuel, engines, tires — well, just about everything on or in a stock car — and it seems only fair the prize should fall in line to assist with the added expenditures. The All-Star event — and by All-Stars, NASCAR means every single driver in the field that race every single week in the series — has been defined by annual format changes that can often lead into a bit of a mystery for fans watching the race.

Drivers have long grumbled that an increase is overdue and a $7.7 billion TV deal that stretches through the 2031 season means NASCAR can afford to loosen the winning purse strings. The charter deal which guarantees spots in the field gives the teams a lump sum of money, which is spread throughout the year.

“I will say to the credit of the sport, the team owners have certainly elevated the prize money on the other races,” 2012 NASCAR champion Brad Keselowski said.

Speedway Motorsports, which owns the Delaware track, said through a spokesman it was unaware of any immediate plans to raise the winner’s purse.

“Don’t get me wrong, the payday’s nice and stuff like that,” 2023 NASCAR champion Ryan Blaney said. “But yeah, I feel like as a competitor, I think it should be at least double.”

Hey, Bubba Wallace tossed out $5 million last year as a suggested prize, so NASCAR would get off easy with Blaney’s suggestion and a $1 million bump.

Dover's long-term future in the Cup Series remains in doubt

Dover Motor Speedway had a points race on the schedule every year since 1969 and was the site of two Cup weekends through 2020.

The All-Star race is being run in the Northeast — Christopher Bell won last year at North Wilkesboro Speedway —for the first time in the event's history but that's not necessarily good news for the mile-concrete track.

Dover President Mike Tatoian said the track will have a place on the schedule in some form in 2027 and he remained confident NASCAR would still thrive in Delaware for years to come.

“When you've never done this before, you don't know what to expect and fans vote really with their pocketbook,” Tatoian said. “We've been really pleased with all aspects from camping to premium hospitality to ticket sales. We're looking for as big or bigger crowd than we've had the last couple of years.”

Without a Cup points race this season, the urgency to return one to the schedule in an era where NASCAR leadership has been bolder this decade in trying new cities and venues could be lessened in the future.

“We'll get a points race back,” Tatoian said. “Honestly, I just don't know when that will be.”

The All-Star race format tries not to confuse in current form

One of the primary complaints about the All-Star race is that there is nothing really “All-Star” about the event.

The full 36-driver field will race in the first two segments of the All-Star race before a final 200-lap segment that will consist of 26 drivers.

Oh, and 19 drivers are already locked into that final segment because they are either a former All-Star race winner, a former Cup Series champion competing full-time this year, or full-time driver who has won a Cup Series points race in either the 2025 or 2026 season.

Six drivers will race their way into the final segment based on performance during the opening two segments, while one more driver will advance through the NASCAR All-Star fan vote.

“It's complicated on how to make it work,” Keselowski said. “You've got the whole charter situation, TV wants a full field, so NASCAR has really got to pull together a lot of different stakeholders with maybe not aligned interests. I think they're doing as good a job of that as you can. I think the race has a place in the sport.”

AP Sports Writer Stephen Hawkins in Fort Worth, Texas, contributed to this story.

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing