NASCAR's all-time top 75 drivers; today: 16 through 30, including Denny Hamlin
While every racer in our top-75 list is obviously accomplished, we're now getting to the biggest legends the sport has known, as we reach spots 16 through 30 on our countdown of best NASCAR Cup Series racers of all time.
As NASCAR's 75th Cup Series season points to its Sunday kickoff with the Daytona 500, News-Journal motorsports writers Ken Willis and Ryan Pritt have compiled a list of the Cup Series all-time best 75 drivers. Many factors were weighed, including overall wins and championships, as well as longtime relevance and shorter bursts of excellence.
Here are positions 30 through 16, as we release 15 per day through Friday.
30. Kurt Busch
Years active: 2000-2022
Wins: 34
Championship: 2004
Also: Won races in 19 different seasons, and won races with five different organizations. Best stretch began his sophomore season in 2002, when he won 14 races and his championship over a four-year run.
29. Bobby Isaac
Years active: 1961-76
Wins: 37
Championship: 1970
Also: Teamed with owner Nord Krauskopf and crew chief Harry Hyde to win a combined 28 races and 32 poles in 1969-70, driving the famed Dodge Daytona.
28. Matt Kenseth
Years active: 1998-2020
Wins: 39
Championship: 2003
Also: Had wins in 14 seasons, and multiple wins in 10. Mr. Consistency had 13 finishes of eighth or better in the championship standings. Eight times he posted at least 20 top-10s in a season.
27. Mark Martin
Years active: 1981-2013
Wins: 40
Also: Five times a championship runner-up, Martin paired with owner Jack Roush to become perennial title contenders beginning in 1989. Had an 11-year run where his No. 6 Ford usually finished second or third in points, and never worse than sixth. Came out of semi-retirement in 2009 to win five races at age 50.
26. Denny Hamlin
Years active: 2005-present
Wins: 48
Also: Has had just one winless season in 17 full-time campaigns. Had five or more wins four times. Has finished top 10 in the championship 14 times, and since his lone winless year in 2018, he’s won 17 races.
25. Terry Labonte
Years active: 1978-2014
Wins: 22
Championships: 1984, 1996
Also: Built his two championships with consistency. He had 24 top-10s in each of those seasons. Won a pair of Southern 500s and four times at North Wilkesboro.
24. Tim Flock
Years active: 1949-1961
Wins: 39
Championships: 1952, 1955
Also: Had perhaps the best championship year for anyone not named Richard Petty. Had 18 wins and 33 top-10s while entering 39 races in 1955. Ran 12 or more races just six times, and got all of his 39 wins in those years. Also known for his short-term co-pilot, a chimp named Jocko Flocko.
23. Rex White
Years active: 1956-64
Wins: 28
Championship: 1960
Also: At 93, White is the oldest living NASCAR Hall of Famer. Stood just 5-foot-4 but had a heavy right foot. Won 28 times between 1958-62. After his 1960 championship, he won seven races and finished second to Ned Jarrett the next year. Retired at 34.
22. Fred Lorenzen
Years active: 1956-72
Wins: 26
Also: When “Fast Freddie” showed up in a Holman-Moody Ford, he was a threat. He won 18 of 62 races entered between 1963-65. Had a combined eight wins at Daytona, Darlington and Charlotte. His 26 wins came in just 158 starts.
21. Joey Logano
Years active: 2008-present
Wins: 31
Championships: 2018, 2022
Also: After a sluggish start to his career, he moved to Team Penske in 2013 and became a perennial championship contender and weekly threat — he’s seven multiple-win seasons in his decade with Roger Penske.
20. Bill Elliott
Years active: 1975-2012
Wins: 44
Championship: 1988
Also: Moved from the family team to Harry Melling’s organization in the early-’80s and within a few years became a cultural phenomenon: "Awesome Bill from Dawsonville." His No. 9 Thunderbird was the fastest thing around. In 1987, he helped usher in the restrictor-plate era by qualifying at 210+ at Daytona and 212+ at Talladega.
19. Fireball Roberts
Years active: 1950-64
Wins: 33
Also: A busy racing schedule didn’t begin for Fireball until 1956, and he won 19 times in 85 starts over the next three seasons. His legend was enhanced after Daytona International Speedway opened in ’59. First with fellow-Daytonan Smokey Yunick and later with Banjo Matthews and Holman-Moody, seven of his final 13 wins (and six poles) came at Daytona, including the 1962 Daytona 500.
18. Joe Weatherly
Years active: 1951-64
Wins: 25
Championships: 1962, 1963.
Also: Was aiming for a championship three-peat when he was killed in a crash at Riverside in early 1964. NASCAR’s “Clown Prince” started racing a steady schedule in 1960 and had 24 of his career wins the next four seasons. Had nine wins and 45 top-10s, in 52 starts, during his ’62 championship run.
17. Buck Baker
Years active: 1949-76
Wins: 46
Championships: 1956-57
Also: His championships came during an eight-year stretch when he finished fifth or better. During his two title years, he combined for 24 wins and 77 top-10s in 88 starts. Later, the Buck Baker Racing School would train many future NASCAR stars.
16. Junior Johnson
Years active: 1953-66
Wins: 50
Also: Legendary moonshine runner before becoming a legendary racer. Invented the "bootleg turn" on the dirt roads back home, and basically discovered drafting when he won the 1960 Daytona 500. In his final season of nearly full-time racing, in 1965, he won 13 times. Would later win six championships as a team owner and was in the inaugural class of five in the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR's best 75 list: 16 through 30; Denny Hamlin, Bill Elliott, more
