Kyle “Rowdy” Busch hopes to add another first to his Nascar résumé at the Daytona 500 on Sunday when he makes his latest bid to win “The Great American Race” for the first time after 14 misses. Last year, the two-time Cup Series champion—with 208 career victories under his belt across all Nascar series—led with only two laps to go before being edged out by his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin.
If he comes up short, the racing vet can take solace in having accomplished a different first: The 34-year-old is the highest-paid Nascar driver for the first time, earning $17.8 million last year from his salary and endorsem*nts, as well as his share of winnings and licensing.
Nascar salaries have fallen dramatically as the sport has struggled with sponsorship problems. Few drivers get salaries north of $3 million anymore, although teams are still willing to pay up for elite talent. Busch, who edged out Jimmie Johnson for the top spot, was asked at Wednesday’s Daytona 500 Media Day who the best driver on the track is today and replied: “You’re looking at him.”
Johnson (No. 2, $17.6 million), who has a record-tying seven Cup titles and is set to retire after the 2020 season, and Busch are the only two drivers with salaries greater than $10 million, according to Nascar insiders, with Busch’s 2019 Cup title helping boost revenue from merchandise. Only Chase Elliott sold more licensed goods last year.
Busch has won two of the past five Cup Series titles and is also the owner of a massively successful Truck Series team, Kyle Busch Motorsports, which he launched in 2010 and adds to his income. The team has captured a record seven Truck Series championships, including six of the past seven years. Busch finished first in all five races he drove for KBM last year, as part of a league rule that allows full-time Nascar racers to drive in a maximum of five Truck Series events per year.
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Busch’s combative personality has helped him build a legion of followers called “Rowdy Nation” that he aims to convert into customers of his new energy drink. Busch launched Rowdy Energy this year in conjunction with beverage entrepreneur Jeff Church, who previously cofounded NIKA Water and Suja Juice. Busch told The Athletic he’s invested nearly $1 million in Rowdy Energy so far, and while it’s currently available only online, he hopes to be in convenience stores by this time next year with a bigger slice of the $12 billion energy drink market.
The ten highest-paid Nascar drivers earned an estimated $120 million in 2019, a tick above 2018 but well below a decade ago when they banked a combined $180 million. That year, Dale Earnhardt Jr. led the pack with $35 million.
10. Clint Bowyer
Total Earnings: $6.9 million
Salary/Winnings: $6.4 million
Endorsem*nts/Licensing: $500,000
Bowyer signed a one-year contract extension for 2020 with Stewart-Haas Raving but took a pay cut, according to sources. Bowyer, who turns 41 in May, has won only two races over the past seven years.
9. Kyle Larson
Total Earnings: $8.8 million
Salary/Winnings: $8 million
Endorsem*nts/Licensing: $800,000
The 27-year-old Larson is likely to be an attractive free agent when his contract expires after the 2020 season; some fans already have him getting fitted for the seat in Johnson’s No. 48 car at Hendrick Motorsports. A fifth straight top-ten finish in the overall standings would make Larson even more of a catch.
8. Joey Logano
Total Earnings: $10 million
Salary/Winnings: $9 million
Endorsem*nts/Licensing: $1 million
The 2018 Cup Series champ dropped to fifth in the standings last year, denting his take from race winnings and bonuses. Logano remains the youngest winner in Cup Series history with his 2009 victory at New Hampshire Motor Speedway a month after his 19th birthday.
7. Chase Elliott
Total Earnings: $10.2 million
Salary/Winnings: $8 million
Endorsem*nts/Licensing: $2.2 million
Elliott was named Nascar’s most popular driver for the second straight year in 2019. More important to his wallet: No driver sold more licensed merchandise than the 24-year-old.
6. Brad Keselowski
Total Earnings: $10.4 million
Salary/Winnings: $9.4 million
Endorsem*nts/Licensing: $1 million
Keselowski has posted at least three wins in seven of the past nine years driving for Team Penske. Keselowski invested more than $10 million in an advanced contract manufacturing company, Keselowski Advanced Manufacturing, that he launched in 2018 and is based on 3-D printing technology.
5. Martin Truex Jr.
Total Earnings: $11.5 million
Salary/Winnings: $10.4 million
Endorsem*nts/Licensing: $1.1 million
Truex got a new deal for 2019 from Joe Gibbs Racing that pushed his salary into the top tier of Nascar drivers. He also won a Cup Series-high seven races and finished second in the overall standings for the second straight year, adding to his earnings.
4. Kevin Harvick
Total Earnings: $12.2 million
Salary/Winnings: $10.9 million
Endorsem*nts/Licensing: $1.3 million
Only Elliott and Busch sold more licensed merchandise in 2019 than Harvick, whose 12 Cup Series wins over the past two years rank second behind Busch. Harvick recently signed a two-year extension with Stewart-Haas Racing that runs through the 2023 season. He also decided to step away from his media duties as an analyst on Fox Sports and host of a program on SiriusXM’s Nascar channel.
3. Denny Hamlin
Total Earnings: $14.6 million
Salary/Winnings: $13.1 million
Endorsem*nts/Licensing: $1.5 million
Hamlin has been a longtime endorser of Nike’s Jordan Brand. The shoes’ namesake, Michael Jordan, attended the Nascar championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2019, hoping to cheer his friend and golfing buddy to a title. Hamlin, who is a season-ticket holder for MJ’s Charlotte Hornets, finished the season in fourth place.
2. Jimmie Johnson
Total Earnings: $17.6 million
Salary/Winnings: $14.8 million
Endorsem*nts/Licensing: $2.8 million
Johnson announced he will retire at the end of 2020 when his contract with Hendrick Motorsports finishes. He starts the 2020 season on a 95-race winless streak, the longest of his career. His next Cup Series win would tie him with Darrell Waltrip and Bobby Allison for fourth in history with 84.
1. Kyle Busch
Total Earnings: $17.8 million
Salary/Winnings: $16.1 million
Endorsem*nts/Licensing: $1.7 million
In addition to winning the 2019 Nascar Cup Series and launching his own energy drink, Busch found time for a couple of TV appearances off the track. He appeared in December on WWE’s Monday Night Raw program and won the “24/7” championship (he lost the belt later in the night). Busch and his wife, Samantha, also appeared on CMT’s Racing Wives reality show in August.
