Kyle Busch capped his 2015 championship season by earning a combined $8,393,925 from race winnings, special awards and from the Sprint Cup points fund.
But it was Kevin Harvick who earned the most money among Sprint Cup drivers in 2015 at $11,730,460, according to NASCAR officials. A significant part of why Harvick amassed more earnings than the younger Busch brother was because the latter missed the first 11 races of the season recovering from racing-related injuries.
A total of 44 drivers earned more than $1 million this past season,
Joey Logano earned the second-highest amount ($9,663,863) followed by Kyle Busch ($8,393,925), Jimmie Johnson ($8,152,877), Jeff Gordon ($7,614,469), Brad Keselowski ($7,477,096), Denny Hamlin ($7,473,268), Matt Kenseth ($6,806,416), Dale Earnhardt Jr. ($6,761,500) and Martin Truex Jr. ($6,751,609).
Eleventh through 20th were Ryan Newman ($5,923,403), Carl Edwards ($5,787,488), David Ragan ($5,757,006), Kurt Busch ($5,752,866), Clint Bowyer ($5,702,243), Jamie McMurray ($5,680,016), Aric Almirola ($5,598,831), Greg Biffle ($5,555,082), Austin Dillon ($5,186,719) and Kyle Larson ($5,092,490).
From 21st through 30th were Trevor Bayne ($4,947,485), AJ Allmendinger ($4,872,864), Kasey Kahne ($4,863,754), Paul Menard ($4,635,345), Casey Mears ($4,633,656), Tony Stewart ($4,519,999), Sam Hornish Jr. (4,482,286), Danica Patrick ($4,097,299), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. ($3,985,317) and David Gilliland ($3,962,669).
From 31st through 40th were Cole Whitt ($3,718,652), Justin Allgaier ($3,350,649), Landon Cassill $3,258,211), Alex Bowman ($3,206,163), Michael Annett ($3,151,990), JJ Yeley ($3,036,443), Matt DiBenedetto ($2,981,653), Brett Moffitt ($2,959,923), Jeb Burton $2,176,387) and Josh Wise ($2,029,497).
Also topping the $1 million mark: Ryan Blaney ($1,673,128), Michael McDowell ($1,672,860), Xfinity Series regular Brian Scott ($1,093,844) and Alex Kennedy ($1,052,077).
As for the earnings from special awards, here’s the breakdown:
* Kyle Busch, $151,500, for the Sunoco Diamond Performance and Goodyear Tires awards.
* Kevin Harvick, $604,364, for awards including 3M Lap Leader, American Ethanol Green Flag Restart and the Mobil 1 Driver of the Year Award.
* Kurt Busch, $200,000 for Ingersoll Rand Power Move Award and Mechanix Wear Most Valuable Pit Crew Award.
* Dale Earnhardt Jr., $100,000 for MOOG Steering and Suspension Problem Solver of the Year Award.
* Joey Logano, $130,000 for Coors Light Pole Award.
* Matt Kenseth, $100,000 for Sherwin-Williams Fastest Lap Award.
* Brett Moffitt, $51,500 for Sunoco Rookie of the Year award.
A total of 78 drivers earned money for competing in at least one of this year’s 36 races.
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