Johnson earns $7.3 million in 2007 point fund awards

NEW YORK -- After a season of achievements and memorable competition, the payoff for the Nextel Cup Series drivers came Friday in the form of the presentation of the final point fund awards.

Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet) will collect a point fund award of $7,317,499, bringing his 2007 total winnings to $15,313,920. The back-to-back champion has won more than $59.5 million during his Nextel Cup career.

In addition to the point fund and his race winnings, Johnson also receives $350,000 for winning four special awards -- the Goodyear Gatorback Fastest Lap Award, the Dow Automotive Strategic Call of the Race Award, the Sunoco Diamond Performance Award and the Goodyear Award.

The Nextel Cup top-10 drivers will share $24,068,732, the largest top-10 point fund payout in series history. Each of the top-10 will receive over $1 million.

Johnson's Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Jeff Gordon (No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet), finished second in the standings and receives $3,280,915 from the point fund, and $497,150 for winning four special awards -- the Budweiser Pole Award, the Checkers/Rally's Double Drive-Thru Challenge Award, the Commit Lozenges Commit to Win Award and the WIX Filters Lap Leader Award -- to go along with his race winnings for a total of $10,926,687. With this payout Gordon, the series' all-time money leader, has collected $93,300,213 during his career.

In total, more than $32.8 million will be distributed this year from the point fund.