Kyle Busch won 2015 Sprint Cup title, but Harvick, Logano earned more

Kyle Busch capped his 2015 championship season by earning $8,393,925 in race winnings, special awards and from the Sprint Cup points fund.

But while Busch is ranked No. 1 in the Sprint Cup Season Winnings list, Kevin Harvick actually took home the most money among Sprint Cup drivers in 2015 at $11,730,460. 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.

Drivers are ranked based upon their finishing order in the Sprint Cup standings, which explains why Joey Logano was the third-highest overall earner – including special awards – but wound up being ranked sixth overall, which is where he finished in the final standings.

All told, 44 Sprint Cup drivers earned more than $1 million this past season.

Jeff Gordon, who retired after the final race at Homestead, has a nice little retirement nest egg, finishing third on the money list at $7,614,469.

Fourth through 10th were Martin Truex Jr. ($6,751,609), Carl Edwards ($5,787,488), Logano ($9,663,863), Brad Keselowski ($7,477,096), Kurt Busch ($5,752,866), Denny Hamlin ($7,473,268) and Jimmie Johnson ($8,152,877).

Eleventh through 20th were Ryan Newman ($5,923,403), Dale Earnhardt Jr. ($6,761,500), Jamie McMurray ($5,680,016), Paul Menard ($4,635,345), Matt Kenseth ($6,806,416), Clint Bowyer ($5,702,243), Aric Almirola ($5,598,831), Kasey Kahne ($4,863,754), Kyle Larson ($5,092,490) and Greg Biffle ($5,555,082).

From 21st through 30th are Austin Dillon ($5,186,719), AJ Allmendinger ($4,872,864), Casey Mears ($4,633,656), Danica Patrick ($4,097,299), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. ($3,985,317), Sam Hornish Jr. (4,482,286), David Ragan ($5,757,006), Tony Stewart ($4,519,999), Trevor Bayne ($4,947,485) and Justin Allgaier ($3,350,649).

From 31st through 40th were Cole Whitt ($3,718,652), David Gilliland ($3,962,669), Alex Bowman ($3,206,163), Brett Moffitt ($2,959,923), Matt DiBenedetto ($2,981,653), Michael Annett ($3,151,990), Josh Wise ($2,029,497), Jeb Burton $2,176,387), Michael McDowell ($1,672,860) and Alex Kennedy ($1,052,077).

Four other drivers topped the $1 million mark: 52nd-ranked Ryan Blaney ($1,673,128), 53rd-ranked Brian Scott ($1,093,844), 55th-ranked Landon Cassill $3,258,211) and 57th-ranked JJ Yeley ($3,036,443).

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.