Since it’s inception in 1948, the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing has been the ideal platform for the world’s greatest drivers to show off their skills. Decades after it’s first race in Daytona Beach, Florida, it has only risen in popularity to the point where it is now one of the U.S.’s most popular sporting associations.
At the end of the day, what would the sport be without the person operating the car though? With this in mind, we have to look at the greatest NASCAR racers of all time and of course rank them. Using the stats of Racing Reference we were able to comb through all those NASCAR racers to determine who comes out on top… and these were the results.
Ranking The Greatest NASCAR Drivers Of All Time
30) Fireball Roberts
A fantastic driver, Glenn “Fireball” Roberts unfortunately proved just how dangerous the sport can be. While racing in NASCAR’s World 600, Roberts crashed and his car caught fire; ending in the worst circumstances for Roberts as he ultimately perished. His accident did lead to many improvements in safety in the sports, which includes fire-retardant uniforms. Roberts had a career that spanned over 200 races and he was the winner of 33 Cup Series races, while he finished second in the running for the 1950 championship.
Fireball Roberts
29) Ricky Rudd
Rudd is only one of two NASCAR racers to have had more than 900 starts on record, sitting alongside Richard Petty. Rudd never won a Cup Series championship, but did finish second in 1991. Rudd did however achieve 23 wins and nearly 400 top-10 finishes, which is mightily impressive. Having ranked in the top 30 for career laps led, the man was clearly a natural.
Ricky Rudd
28) Carl Edwards
Prior to his retirement in 2016, Edwards was one of the most popular racers in NASCAR history, with fans making note of his notorious backflip off the top of his car being the greatest post-race celebration in history. Being a two-time runner-up for the Cup Series championship, Edwards had a great habit of finishing around the top every time he drove. In 445 races, Edwards finished in the top 10 220 times and had the eighth-best average finish place of any driver since 1970.
Carl Edwards
27) Dale Jarrett
The Daytona 500 is NASCAR’s answer to the Super bowl, so it’s a pretty big deal. For any stock car driver, this is the dream. Jarrett not only won this trophy, but he won it on three occasions. These victories make up a small fraction of his 32 career wins in the Cup Series, putting him inside the top 25. Jarrett comes from a big racing family and was able to carve out his own legacy, despite still being overshadowed by his father- who we will learn about later.
Dale Jarrett
26) Rex White
White was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2015 and was an early star in the Cup Series, racing from 1956 to 1964. In only 233 starts, he was a constant presence at the top of the leaderboard and won 28 times. Additionally, he finished in the top five almost 50% of the time, and in the top ten nearly three-quarters of the time. He won the Cup Series in 1960, impressively surpassing other top drivers like Richard Petty, Ned Jarrett and Junior Johnson.
Rex White
25) Bobby Isaac
Despite the fact that NASCAR was pretty much dominated by Richard Petty in the 60’s and 70’s, Isaac still managed to accumulate a Hall-of-Fame career in the same era. Having finished second in 1968, he won the championship in 1970. Isaac managed 37 career victories in only 308 career Cup Series Starts, giving him an impressive win percentage of 12%. Isaac unfortunately passed away at 45 due to heat exhaustion.
Bobby Isaac
24) Terry Labonte
Labonte cruised to victory in the notoriously colorful Kellogg’s Chevrolet consistently in NASCAR for decades. Labonte started in an impressive 890 Cup Series races in his long career, giving him the third most starts in history. Labonte won the season championship in ’84 and ’96, finishing in the top 5 for points on five other occasions. Having retired in 2014, he was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
Terry Labonte
23) Brad Keselowski
Keselowski was a veteran of NASCAR’s Cup Series, Keselowski has won many championships. Keselowski finished in the top 10 of more than half of his 388 career Cup Series starts since his debut in 2008. Of those races, he has won 32 and has amassed a win percentage of 8%, which is impressive.
Brad Keselowski
22) Matt Kenseth
Having been named Cup Series Rookie of the Year in 2000, it wasn’t so long after that Kesnseth took to the championship. He did so in 2003, not due to a tally of wins, having won only one race, but for consistent driving. Since then, Kenseth has won 39 career Cup Series races and has the 16th highest total for career laps led in NASCAR history.
Matt Kenseth
21) Denny Hamlin
Hamlin is a three-time winner of NASCAR’s Daytona 500 race and is just one of four drivers to win it in back to back years (2019 and 2020). Hamlin’s career has been excellent; the only title that has eluded him is a Cup Series championship. At the highest level, Hamlin has won 40 races, tying him for the 10th most wins of any driver since 1980.
Denny Hamlin
20) Mark Martin
Despite never winning a Cup Series championship, Mark Martin certainly had a decorated career. He finished as runner-up a stressful five times, but still landed his name in the NASCAR record books. Having 40 career wins, he sits inside the top 20, number five in terms of starts (882) and also in the top 10 for poles and second-place finishes. Martin’s greatest feat is surely acquiring the quickest average speed for any NASCAR driver ever, 188.354 mph.
Mark Martin
19) Buck Baker
Baker is another racer who found his way into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Baker was the first driver ever to win back-to-back season championships in the Cup Series. Having won those crowns in 1956 and 1957, he cemented his legacy as one of the most dominant drivers in the early years of the sport.
Buck Baker
18) Tim Flock
Flock is pictured on the left, just below. He was a constant rival of Buck Baker’s and was a NASCAR titan in the 50’s. Having racked up 39 Cup Series Victories in 187 starts, this means that he won more than 20% of his races at NASCAR’s highest level. Despite winning the Cup Series championship in 1952 and 1955, his career ended controversially six years later. Flock found himself disqualified from a race and banned from NASCAR for a minor rules violation. It was rumored that the harsh punishment was really due to his support of a NASCAR driver’s union.
Tim Flock
17) Bill Elliott
Bill from Dawsonville has a pretty interesting record in NASCAR racing. During qualification at Talladega in 1987, Elliott hit 212.809 mph; a speed that is still the highest ever recorded even 30 years later. Despite failing to finish on race day, he earned 44 checkered flags in his career and won the Cup Series crown in 1988.
Bill Elliott
16) Herb Thomas
Thomas was one of the sport’s earlier racers and was the first driver to win two Cup Series championships in NASCAR history. He achieved these records in 1951 and 1953, dominating the rest of the field in the latter season. Across the 50s, Thomas won 48 races, the most of any driver. Thomas has the best win percentage in NASCAR history against drivers with at least 100 starts, winning in at least 21% of his 229 races.
Herb Thomas
15) Junior Johnson
NASCAR announced its first inductions into the Hall of Fame in 2010, with only 3 drivers making the initial cut. Among these three, was no other than Junior Johnson. Johnson won 50 races at NASCAR’s highest level, yet somehow never managed to win a Cup Series championship. Johnson hasn’t raced for 50 years, yet still ranks among the top 15 for poles and laps led.
Junior Johnson
14) Kevin Harvick
Harvick has been a mainstay on the leaderboards ever since he first started racing in 2001. Since his debut, he has won 51 Cup Series events, which doesn’t even include his 61 wins in NASCAR’s Xfinity and Truck series. The future Hall of Famer won the season championship in 2014, finishing in the top 10 for points in 14 other seasons.
Kevin Harvick
13) Ned Jarrett
Since his debut in 1953, Jarrett went on to win 50 Cup Series races prior to his retirement in 1966. Having only started in 352 races, he retains one of the greatest winning percentages of all time. Jarrett also won the Cup Series crown in 1961 and 1965, finishing in the top 5 on four other occasions.
Ned Jarrett
12) Rusty Wallace
Despite 1990s NASCAR being quite dominated by Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon, Wallace was right there in the mix with them. Wallace won 33 Cup Series victories during that decade, finishing third only to those two. At the highest level, he won 55 races- putting him right in the top 10 all-time.
Rusty Wallace
11) Lee Petty
Lee was the legendary patriarch of the Petty racing family and was arguably NASCAR’s original superstar. Having won 54 races at the Cup Series level from 1949-1964, he took the championship on three occasions in the 50s. Petty averaged a finish place of 7.602 from 427 career Cup Series races- the best ever, according to Racing Reference.
Lee Petty
10) Tony Stewart
Arguably one of the most versatile drivers in motorsports history, Stewart was a natural born winner. He rose in popularity in NASCAR in the 2000s by winning 49 career Cup Series races between 1999-2016. Having won the season crown three times, he sits at third in career earnings from NASCAR races.
Tony Stewart
9) Kyle Busch
Busch was the driver of a brightly colored M&M’s Toyota, but this certainly isn’t the thing he’s most remembered for. Despite the fact it took him a while to get his first win, in 2004, he has since gone on to win an incredible 56 Cup Series races; placing him at ninth, for all time wins. Since 2006, he has only finished outside the top 10 on three occasions, winning the Cup Series crown in 2015 and 2019.
Kyle Busch
8) Bobby Allison
Bobby Allison drove in over 700 NASCAR Cup Series races during his career, winning in 84 of them, including three times at Daytona. Ranking in the overall top 5, he also sits in the all-time top three for laps led and podium finishes, finishing in the top three a whopping 244 times. Allison finished his career as one of the more consistent drivers in NASCAR history.
Bobby Allison
7) Cale Yarborough
Yarborough will be remembered for his fierce rivalry with Bobby Allison, but both men can rest easy knowing that they both made it into the list of all-time greats. Yarborough won the Daytona 500 nine times, the second all time best. Yarborough won 83 races across a career that spanned 30 years.
Cale Yarborough
6) Darrell Waltrip
Waltrip has certainly become one of the all-time greats of the sports, while maintaining being pretty much liked by everyone. Waltrip won 57 NASCAR Cup Series races in the 1980s alone and won the Cup Series championship on three occasions between 1981-1985. Waltrip won 84 races at the highest level, tying him at fourth. Post-driving, he worked as a TV commentator for the sport.
Darrell Waltrip
5) Jeff Gordon
Gordon is the most successful NASCAR driver in the modern era, having won 93 Cup Series checkered flags; the most of anyone since 1980. In the 90s, Gordon won 49 times; the most of the decade! Having four Cup Series championships, he sits among the biggest legends of the sport. Although the fact that he never missed a start in 797 races between 1992-2015 might be his most impressive statistic.
Jeff Gordon
4) David Pearson
Pearson may not be as though of as the other drivers in the top 5, but he certainly deserves his place right here! Pearson was a main rival of Petty in the 60s, a decade where only one of the two of them could seemingly win a race. Pearson won a remarkable 105 Cup Series races, winning them all in just 574 races. This is less than half of the races Petty competed in, making it all that more impressive.
David Pearson
3) Dale Earnhardt
Earnhardt will forever be notorious in the NASCAR world. This is a great compliment to how great this driver was. Not only was he a great driver, and unique in his look; but the circumstances of his death on track were terrible. Earnhardt died during a crash in his last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. Earnhardt won 76 races at Cup Series level and seven championships, which to this day are still tied as the most in history.
Dale Earnhardt
2) Jimmie Johnson
Having made his debut in the Cup Series in 2001, he took the baton as the best driver on the track (replacing Earnhardt after his untimely death). Johnson finished the 2000s with 47 wins at NASCAR’s highest level, the most of the decade, taking 83 checkered flags across his career. Johnson’s win percentage is also pretty great, the best of anyone starting their career since 1980 (with 100 or more races on record).
Jimmie Johnson
1) Richard Petty
Unfortunately for other racers, the race was always for second place. Petty has simply accomplished too much in NASCAR, it is unlikely he will ever be dethroned. His first accomplishment was stepping out of his father’s shadow, to even greater depths. Petty won seven Cup Series titles and holds stats such as the most starts, poles, laps led and podium finishes. His greatest achievement is certainly his 200 career cup wins.
Richard Petty