Purse takes a hike at Texas.

The third largest prize fund in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series has increased in size ahead of this years Samsung/RadioShack 500 and the O'Reilly 300 NASCAR Busch Series races.

More than $7.3million will be up for grabs during the four days of racing as America's finest stock car racers take to the Texas Motor Speedway at the end of the month. The Samsung/RadioShack 500 Winston Cup race - on Sunday 30 March - passes the $6 million mark after jumping to a record $6,047,759 in prize money - up more than $560,000 over 2002. Saturday's O'Reilly 300, traditionally one of the richest races on the NASCAR Busch Series, is now offering $1,284,492 - up from $1,197,691 last year.

"Texas Motor Speedway hosts two of the largest events in NASCAR with our Busch and Winston Cup races each and every year," said speedway general manager Eddie Gossage, "The purse for the Samsung/RadioShack 500 alone has increased more than one million dollars over the past two years. We work very hard to accommodate not only our fans, but the teams participating as well. It's easy to see why the drivers put such importance on racing at Texas."

Since the inaugural Winston Cup race at Texas in 1997, the purse, which - at $3,802,255 - was then the fourth largest in the series history, has steadily grown to the third largest of the season. The Busch Series event, which offered $783,150 in prize money back in 1997, has also consistently provided one of the biggest series paydays of the year.

Terry Labonte, the 1999 Texas race winner, helped with the announcement. The $376,840 in prize money Labonte won for his victory Texas Motor Speedway remains the largest single-race payday of his career.

"I'm excited about coming back down here," Labonte said, "The track is great and the fans are, too. I'll never forget all of 'em standing in the grandstands and waving anything they could get their hands on when I took the chequered flag to win here in 1999. That's still one of the biggest thrills of my career and nothing would make me happier than to feel that same type of excitement again. I want to be the first two-time Winston Cup race winner at Texas."