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NASCAR
NEXTEL CUP SERIES CHAMPIONS WEEK – DAY 5
* Champion Jimmie Johnson
to Collect $6,785,982 in Point Fund Awards
* Top 10 Drivers to Share
over $22 Million at Year’s End
* Jeff Gordon Surpasses
$82 Million in Career Winnings
Singer Jewel poses with Jimmie and Chandra
Johnson on the red carpet prior to the 2006 NASCAR
NEXTEL Cup Series Awards Ceremony. (Photo Credit: Paul
Hawthorne/Getty Images for NASCAR)
 NEW
YORK (Dec. 1, 2006) –
NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series teams and drivers have
competed all season long for this. It’s time to present the
final point fund awards
and this year’s total is another record-setting amount for
NASCAR.
NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series
champion Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet)
will collect a point fund award of $6,785,982, bringing his 2006
season total winnings to
$15,770,125 – a new single season winnings record. Johnson has
won more than $44 million
during his NASCAR NEXTEL Cup career.
And that’s just the beginning.
 The
NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Top 10 drivers will share $22,081,489, the
largest top 10
point fund payout in series history. Each of the Top 10 will
receive over $1 million, and
they aren’t the only million-dollar winners at year’s end.
 Jimmie
Johnson poses outside the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York city
with the
NASCAR NEXTEL Cup. (Photo Credit: Chris Trotman/Getty Images for
NASCAR)
Comedian Jay Mohr jokes with Tony Stewart during the 2006 NASCAR
NEXTEL Cup Series Awards Ceremony.
(Photo Credit: Chris Trotman/Getty Images for NASCAR)
Eleventh-place driver Tony
Stewart (No. 20 The Home Depot Chevrolet) received
a
$250,000 bonus for finishing 11th and his total point
fund award is $1,143,888. Stewart
also
receives $310,000 for winning three special awards – the Bank
of America Card
Services
Mid-Race Leader Award, the USG Improving the Finish Award
and the WIX
Lap
Leader Award – bringing his 2006 total to $8,739,169, the
third-highest season total in the series.
Matt Kenseth (No. 17 DeWALT
Power Tools Chevrolet), who finished second in the
standings,
receives $2,841,047 from the point fund and $75,000 for the
Goodyear Gatorback Fastest Lap Award
– to go along with his regular-season race winnings of
$6,608,919 for a 2006 total of $9,524,966. It is
$102,202 more than he won in 2003, when he was the series
champion.
Sixth-place Jeff Gordon (No.
24 DuPont Chevrolet), the series’ all-time money leader,
collects
$1,495,574 from the point fund for a season total of $7,471,447.
With this payout, Gordon’s career
winnings now total $82,838,526.
NASCAR NEXTEL CUP SERIES
CHAMPIONS WEEK
The NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Top 10 –
those drivers who participated in the Chase for the NASCAR
NEXTEL Cup – gain the greatest rewards for their efforts, but
the point fund is shared among many
more drivers, down to 30th place in the standings. In
total, more than $30.4 million will be distributed to
the top 30 drivers.
NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Top
10 – Point Awards and Season Totals:
|
Driver |
Race winnings |
Special Awards |
Point Fund |
Total |
|
1.Jimmie Johnson |
$8,909,143 |
$75,000 |
$6,785,982 |
$15,770,125 |
|
2. Matt Kenseth |
$6,608,919 |
$75,000 |
$2,841,047 |
$9,524,966 |
|
3. Denny Hamlin |
$4,389,222 |
$50,000 |
$2,168,710 |
$6,607,932 |
|
4. Kevin Harvick |
$6,201,578 |
$100,000 |
$1,929,828 |
$8,231,406 |
|
5. Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
$5,466,104 |
|
$1,645,635 |
$7,111,739 |
|
6. Jeff Gordon |
$5,975,873 |
|
$1,495,574 |
$7,471,447 |
|
7. Jeff Burton |
$5,008,882 |
|
$1,356,113 |
$6,364,995 |
|
8. Kasey Kahne |
$6,204,222 |
$201,000 |
$1,316,156 |
$7,721,378 |
|
9. Mark Martin |
$4,282,548 |
|
$1,286,200 |
$5,568,748 |
|
10. Kyle Busch |
$4,821,093 |
|
$1,256,244 |
$5,537,337 |
|
11. Tony Stewart |
$7,285,281 |
$310,000 |
$1,143,888 |
$8,739,169 |
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