Busch increases his coffers

Having also collected an announced US$4.2m in race winning this season (he won three times), the 26-year-old's season take came to US$9,677,543, second-largest in series history, surpassed only by Jeff Gordon's US$10.8m in 2001.

Busch becomes NASCAR's third-youngest top-series champion, behind Bill Rexford (23 years old in 1950) and Gordon (23 in 1995). He also is the winner of the first championship sponsored by wireless giant Nextel, after 33 years of Cup stewardship by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco.

"It's truly mind-boggling," Busch declared. "The money is something you don't even think about as you're racing for a championship and trying to keep your head above water and just do the best job you can for yourself, your team and the series.

"It's been a fantastic year. We dodged a lot of bullets, and I'm just so happy to be able to give Jack his second straight championship and Jimmy his first one. I owe those guys so much.

"Jack [Roush, team owner] took a chance on a driver who maybe had some raw ability but was unproven. We knew we had a championship team and championship equipment, and Jimmy gave me so much of his experience to draw from to learn to be a championship driver."

The championship was the second in a row for owner Jack Roush, who had laboured through 16 years of frustration and close calls before winning in 2003 with Matt Kenseth. It was also the first for veteran crew chief Jim Fennig, whose pedigree dates back to Wisconsin short tracks in the 1970s and 1980s.