NASCAR Winston Cup Champ Stewart Gets $4.3 Million From Fund: 2002 NASCAR Winston Cup Series champion Tony Stewart received $4,305,607 in point fund money Friday night at the series’ annual awards ceremony, held for the first time at the Hammerstein Ballroom in the Manhattan Center. That amount – which included a $3.75 million contribution from series sponsor R.J. Reynolds – brought Stewart’s season winnings total to $9,163,761 and his career total to $20,937,721. This is the second-highest season winnings total for a NASCAR Winston Cup champion. The record belongs to Jeff Gordon, who won $9,306,584 in 1998 (Although the NASCAR Preview and Press Guide has Gordon’s total in 2001 as $10.8 million). This season’s second-, third- and fourth-place finishers also received point-fund payouts exceeding $1 million. Series runner-up Mark Martin received $1,721,988; third-place finisher Kurt Busch received $1,304,348; fourth-place finisher Gordon received $1,086,707. The point fund totaled $16,373,084 and included all fines collected by NASCAR during the 2002 season. For the sake of perspective regarding Stewart’s winnings, consider: Only 20 years ago, in the 1983 season, the NASCAR Winston Cup Series’ top 50 drivers’ combined season winnings didn’t match up to Stewart’s 2002 total. Only 15 years ago, in the 1988 season, the top 10 drivers’ combined winnings were less than Stewart’s total. It took a three-time NASCAR Winston Cup champion, Darrell Waltrip, 18 years of competition to reach the $10 million mark in career winnings. See my 2002 Points Fund and Awards Winnings page for a detailed breakdown of 2002 winnings.(NASCAR PR)(12-7-2002)
