Bowyer and Logano both took the big step in their lives in the last month, as they proposed to their girlfriends, and Bowyer’s engagement received a great deal of press last week at the Sprint Cup Series Awards in Las Vegas. Among the 2013 top-10 Cup drivers, only Earnhardt and Busch are part of the non-married and non-engaged crowd — although they are among what one would consider the “taken” group.

Earnhardt has been in a four-year relationship with Amy Reimann. Busch has spent more than two years with Patricia Driscoll.“We don’t have any plans (to get engaged),” Earnhardt said Friday after the awards banquet. “But we’re enjoying our relationship. It just gets better every day.”

Earnhardt, whose relationship news over the years has been the topic of the tabloids thanks to his popularity, said he picked out the color of Reimann’s dress for the banquet.

“She’s real proud of that (dress),” Earnhardt said. “I love orange so at least I was able to pick out the color. She’s really proud of that and she looks gorgeous as always.

“She has so much class and really makes me look a ton better than I look otherwise, so I enjoy going to these deals with Amy.”

Just how “settled” are NASCAR’s 2013 top-10 drivers? Six of them are married (Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon and Greg Biffle) and two are engaged (Bowyer, Logano).

Kurt Busch was divorced in 2011. He possibly took the most joy in 2013 when Driscoll’s son, Houston, joined him on stage in September for the celebration at Richmond for the drivers who made the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

“Engagement is a possibility,” Kurt Busch said. “Everything in life has its moments when it tells you it’s right. Patricia is a very lovely lady that has turned my life into the better direction it is.”

RAIN WASHES OUT NASCAR TEST

NASCAR postponed its test to determine the 2014 Sprint Cup Series rules package until Wednesday as rain washed out the eight-hour session Monday and more wet weather is predicted for Tuesday at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

About 30 teams are expected to test prospective packages with a mix of aerodynamic and horsepower modifications to the cars. NASCAR is looking for a better mix to enhance the racing at the 1.5-mile and 2-mile tracks.

NASCAR plans to use the data and feedback from the test to determine the rules for 2014. Among the changes to cars that NASCAR was expected to test were a larger rear spoiler, which would increase rear downforce, and a tapered spacer (think of it as a thicker version of a restrictor plate), which would limit air flow through the engine and decrease horsepower.

“We're after some interesting changes to the rules packages,” NASCAR Chairman Brian France said last week. “I'm liking what I'm seeing. It's tightening up competition, and that's hallmark. We wake up every day and try to do that.”

JOHNSON’S HUGE CHECK

The bonus check Jimmie Johnson and his team received for winning the Sprint Cup title was $5,226,405.10 — which added to his $8,956,750 in race winnings and $450,000 in special awards put his season total at $14,663,155.10. A driver typically gets 35-50 percent of the overall winnings, with the remainder going to the crew and to the team itself

Matt Kenseth, who finished second in the standings, got a bonus check of more than $2.25 million, and five other drivers earned bonus money of more than $1 million.

The season-ending bonus money is split among the top-25 in the driver standings and top-25 in the owner standings, which are sometimes different because some cars use multiple drivers during a season. The season-ending money is primarily funded by series sponsor Sprint, and the champion gets 22 percent of the fund.

Twenty drivers earned more than $5 million in season winnings.

Contributors: Bob Pockrass, The Associated Press

PHOTOS: Dale Earnhardt Jr. gallery