Who are the greatest drivers in NASCAR Cup Series history?
With NASCAR’s 75th anniversary season upon us, we decided to put together a panel of stock car racing experts to help us answer that question.
Unlike the most famous edition of this list — NASCAR’s own “50 Greatest Drivers” from the 50th anniversary season in 1998 — we decided to limit it to only the Cup Series.
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That made it both more of a challenge and more fascinating to see the results, since some names that you might not expect made the list.
A quick word about our methodology before we jump into Part 2 of our list: We sought to gather a sampling of a variety of voices throughout the NASCAR industry. That included drivers (both current and former), team owners, crew chiefs, spotters, track executives and media members. We also wanted to have a variety of ages on the panel to represent knowledge of different eras. (To see the full panel, check out Part 1.)
We refrained from asking any drivers eligible for the list to participate in the voting due to potential conflicts of interest. However, we recognize those conflicts could exist from other members of the panel based on the nature of their roles.
We’ve separated our list into several parts. This is Part II. Part 1, featuring Nos. 75-51, is here. Part III, with Nos. 50-26, is here. The final piece, revealing Nos. 5-1, is here.
50. Geoff Bodine
Years active: 1979-2011
Cup Series wins: 18
Top points finish: Third (1990)
Highest panel ranking: 38
Lowest panel ranking: NR
The eldest of the Bodine brothers trio, Geoff won the 1986 Daytona 500. Though he never scored more than three victories in a season, Bodine finished top 10 in the point standings six times during a seven-year stretch from 1984-1990 and won 10 races in that period (fifth-most of any driver). In retirement from racing, he became known for building bobsleds that have been used by Team USA to win Olympic medals.
49. Speedy Thompson
Years active: 1950-1971
Cup Series wins: 20
Top points finish: Third (1956, 1957, 1958, 1959)
Highest panel ranking: 42
Lowest panel ranking: NR
Thompson won the 1957 Southern 500 by three laps over Cotton Owens. He retired after running three races in 1962, but returned for one race in 1971 (the World 600, where he finished 16th).
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48. Jack Smith
Years active: 1949-1964
Cup Series wins: 21
Top points finish: Fourth (1962)
Highest panel ranking: 41
Lowest panel ranking: NR
Smith, who finished 13th in the inaugural Cup Series race in 1949, went on to win multiple races in six straight years from 1957-1962. He was known for being the first driver to use a two-way radio (to communicate with car owner Bud Moore in 1960). Though not as big of a name as others from his era, Smith won NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver award in 1959.
47. Harry Gant
Years active: 1973-1994
Cup Series wins: 18
Top points finish: Second (1984)
Highest panel ranking: 33
Lowest panel ranking: 64
“Handsome Harry” didn’t run his first full-time Cup Series season until age 40, but that didn’t stop him from establishing an ageless career. He won races and kept his speed past the time many drivers retire, with eight victories after age 50 (and claiming the record for the oldest driver to win a race at age 52). His resume included two Southern 500 wins (1984 and 1991) and a famed four straight victories in Sept. 1991 that earned him the nickname “Mr. September.”
46. Greg Biffle
Years active: 2002-2022
Cup Series wins: 19
Top points finish: Second (2005)
Highest panel ranking: 28
Lowest panel ranking: 64
Biffle is credited with winning back-to-back Southern 500s in 2005-06 (although those victories came during a time when the race was in May and not actually called the “Southern 500”). A near-miss always haunted Biffle: In 2005, he won six races and was in position to win the Cup Series championship — but with three races to go, he had a loose wheel at Texas while running third and finished 20th instead. Biffle also won an Xfinity Series and Truck Series title.
45. Tim Richmond
Years active: 1980-1987
Cup Series wins: 13
Top points finish: Third (1986)
Highest panel ranking: 12
Lowest panel ranking: 65
One of the biggest “what if?” careers in NASCAR history, Richmond seemed destined for many more victories until falling ill and ultimately dying from AIDS at age 34. During the 1986 season — the year before his career was sidelined — Richmond won a series-high seven races (including the Southern 500) and finished behind only Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Darrell Waltrip in points. During his brief career, Richmond was known for being a flamboyant playboy as much as a supremely talented driver.
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44. Buddy Baker
Years active: 1959-1994
Cup Series wins: 19
Top points finish: Fifth (1977)
Highest panel ranking: 37
Lowest panel ranking: 54
The “Gentle Giant” won the Daytona 500 (1980), the Southern 500 (1970) and three World 600s (1968, 1972, 1973) during a 700-race career that began in his teenage years and ended in his 50s. After retirement, Baker became well known as a TV broadcaster and was a longtime SiriusXM co-host before his death from lung cancer in 2015.
43. Jeff Burton
Years active: 1993-2014
Cup Series wins: 21
Top points finish: Third (2000)
Highest panel ranking: 38
Lowest panel ranking: 53
Burton won the Coca-Cola 600 twice (1999 and 2001) as well as the Southern 500 (1999). He had the bulk of his success while driving for Jack Roush, winning 17 times (including a six-win season in 1999) and finished top-five in points four straight years from 1997-2000. Through Burton’s work both as an NBC broadcaster and representative of the Drivers Advisory Council after his racing days ended, “The Mayor” has continued to be one of the most important and respected voices in the garage.
42. Jim Paschal
Years active: 1949-1972
Cup Series wins: 25
Top points finish: Fifth (1956)
Highest panel ranking: 34
Lowest panel ranking: 67
Paschal had top-10 finishes in 55 percent of his career races. He won two World 600s, but his 23 other victories all came on short tracks (where he averaged an 11th-place finish for his career). Paschal also raced in the inaugural Cup Series race in 1949.
41. Benny Parsons
Years active: 1964-1988
Cup Series wins: 21
Top points finish: Champion (1973)
Highest panel ranking: 21
Lowest panel ranking: 54
Though Parsons was more known to younger fans for his personable and popular TV career, he had a wildly consistent stretch in which he finished top-five in the point standings nine straight times (1972-1980). His victories included the 1975 Daytona 500 and the 1980 World 600, and he was one of three drivers to win multiple times at the short-lived Ontario Motor Speedway (A.J. Foyt and Bobby Allison being the others).
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40. Ricky Rudd
Years active: 1975-2007
Cup Series wins: 23
Top points finish: Second (1991)
Highest panel ranking: 33
Lowest panel ranking: 50
One of NASCAR’s most consistent drivers, Rudd won a race in 16 straight years — tied with Rusty Wallace for the fourth-longest streak. With 906 career premier series starts, Rudd ranks second behind only Richard Petty’s 1,185. He finished second to Dale Earnhardt in the 1991 championship, one of 15 times in 16 years he placed 10th or better in points.
39. Bobby Labonte
Years active: 1991-2016
Cup Series wins: 21
Top points finish: Champion (2000)
Highest panel ranking: 26
Lowest panel ranking: 60
Though Labonte raced 20 full-time seasons, all of his 21 wins came in a nine-year period from 1995-2003. Only Jeff Gordon and Dale Jarrett won more races over those nine years. During that stretch, he won a championship and three crown-jewel races: the 1995 Coca-Cola 600 (his first career win), the 2000 Brickyard 400 and the 2000 Southern 500.
38. Chase Elliott
Years active: 2015-present
Cup Series wins: 18
Top points finish: Champion (2020)
Highest panel ranking: 15
Lowest panel ranking: 55
In just seven full seasons, Elliott has already amassed a Hall-of-Fame-worthy career. He won the 2020 title, has advanced to the championship round on two other occasions, earned 18 wins and won the 2022 regular-season points championship. Elliott already ranks third on the all-time road course wins list (two shy of Jeff Gordon’s record) and has won the Most Popular Driver award every year since 2018.
37. Rex White
Years active: 1956-1964
Cup Series wins: 28
Top points finish: Champion (1960)
Highest panel ranking: 28
Lowest panel ranking: 61
White was one of the most consistently fast drivers in history, with a career top-10 percentage of 70 percent and a top-five percentage of 47 percent. In a four-year stretch from 1959-1962, White led NASCAR in wins, top-fives, top-10s, poles and laps led.
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36. Joe Weatherly
Years active: 1951-1964
Cup Series wins: 25
Top points finish: Champion (1962, 1963)
Highest panel ranking: 18
Lowest panel ranking: 49
Nicknamed the “Clown Prince of Racing” for his colorful personality and penchant for practical jokes, Weatherly’s ability on the track sometimes got overlooked. But in the car, he was one of NASCAR’s best, winning championships in consecutive years and finishing in the top 10 in 66 percent of his starts — seventh-best all-time. His chance to become the first driver to win three straight titles was tragically cut short when he was killed in a crash during a race at Riverside in 1964.
35. Fred Lorenzen
Years active: 1956-1972
Cup Series wins: 26
Top points finish: Third (1963)
Highest panel ranking: 15
Lowest panel ranking: 60
The “Golden Boy” won the Daytona 500 and two World 600s in the 1960s, becoming one of NASCAR’s big stars of the era. In some minds, he was the most talented driver of his time and compiled the fifth-best winning percentage in history. But Lorenzen suddenly stopped racing at age 32 after feeling burnt out — a decision he later came to regret — and eventually returned for three partial, winless seasons.
34. Davey Allison
Years active: 1985-1993
Cup Series wins: 19
Top points finish: Third (1991, 1992)
Highest panel ranking: 14
Lowest panel ranking: 53
The older son of 1983 Cup champion Bobby Allison, Davey came into NASCAR facing heightened expectations. And though his career didn’t have the duration of his father’s due to his tragic death at age 32, the younger Allison still carved out a career that earned him enshrinement into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. He won 19 races across seven seasons and twice finished third in the championship. He scored wins in the Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600 and the All-Star Race — the latter in a finish regarded as one of the more memorable in NASCAR history that featured Allison crashing as he crossed the finish line. After nearly winning the 1992 title, he died the following summer from injuries sustained in a helicopter crash.
33. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Years active: 1999-2017
Cup Series wins: 26
Top points finish: Third (2003)
Highest panel ranking: 30
Lowest panel ranking: 43
Despite spending much of his career with inescapable comparisons to his father, Earnhardt Jr. put together a highly respectable Cup resume himself. He won two Daytona 500s (2004, 2014) and finished top five in the standings four times. Earnhardt was also a 15-time Most Popular Driver, two-time Xfinity Series champion and continues to be one of the most prominent faces of NASCAR even in retirement.
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32. Terry Labonte
Years active: 1978-2014
Cup Series wins: 22
Top points finish: Champion (1984, 1996)
Highest panel ranking: 16
Lowest panel ranking: 52
Labonte was a two-time Cup champion whose 12-year gap between his first and second titles is a record. The “Iceman” became NASCAR’s “Ironman” when he started a record 655 consecutive races, surpassing the previous mark set by Richard Petty (though Ricky Rudd and Jeff Gordon later toppled that record). In a career spanning five decades, the native Texan won 22 times including the Southern 500 (twice). He is the older brother of 2000 Cup champion Bobby Labonte.
31. Carl Edwards
Years active: 2004-2016
Cup Series wins: 28
Top points finish: Second (2008, 2011)
Highest panel ranking: 21
Lowest panel ranking: 50
Despite a stunning retirement at age 37, which seemingly left a half-dozen prime years of his racing career on the table, Edwards still managed to establish himself as one of NASCAR’s top talents during the 2000s. Though he won the Southern 500 and Coca-Cola 600 in 2015, his career may be most remembered for two near-misses in the championship: His thrilling 2011 duel with Tony Stewart (which he lost on a tiebreaker) and the 2016 title race, which he was in position to win until a late caution changed the outcome.
30. Martin Truex Jr.
Years active: 2004-present
Cup Series wins: 31
Top points finish: Champion (2017)
Highest panel ranking: 25
Lowest panel ranking: 43
Over a five-year span, Truex captured a title, was the championship runner-up three times and won 24 races. His 2017 title run is considered one of the best in playoff history with four wins and nine top-five finishes in 10 races. He’s won the Coca-Cola 600 twice, the Southern 500 once and the Xfinity Series championship in consecutive years (2004-05).
29. Kyle Larson
Years active: 2013-present
Cup Series wins: 19
Top points finish: Champion (2021)
Highest panel ranking: 10
Lowest panel ranking: 47
Through eight full-time seasons, Larson has already won a championship, set the record for laps led in a 36-race schedule and has a Coca-Cola 600 victory. He is still only 30 years old but is already considered a generational talent across multiple forms of racing.
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28. Bobby Isaac
Years active: 1961-1976
Cup Series wins: 37
Top points finish: Champion (1970)
Highest panel ranking: 22
Lowest panel ranking: 46
Isaac once won 28 races across two seasons (1969-70) — which was tied with Richard Petty for the most during that time. Those years also included a Cup Series championship (1970) and a record 19 poles in a season (1969), and Isaac still ranks in the top 25 on the all-time Cup wins list. After retirement from NASCAR racing, Isaac died of a heart attack during a Late Model race at Hickory Motor Speedway at age 45.
27. Fireball Roberts
Years active: 1950-1964
Cup Series wins: 33
Top points finish: Second (1950)
Highest panel ranking: 12
Lowest panel ranking: 58
One of NASCAR’s biggest superstars during its early years, Roberts was a prolific winner who amassed the sixth-best winning percentage (16 percent) in NASCAR history. Among his victories were the 1962 Daytona 500 and Southern 500 (twice), two of the sport’s crown-jewel events. He died from injuries sustained in a fiery crash during the 1964 World 600.
26. Dale Jarrett
Years active: 1984-2008
Cup Series wins: 32
Top points finish: Champion (1999)
Highest panel ranking: 20
Lowest panel ranking: 38
A three-time Daytona 500 winner (1993, 1996, 2000) and two-time Brickyard 400 winner (1996, 1999), Jarrett started the tradition of kissing the bricks at Indianapolis. He also won the 1996 Coca-Cola 600 in addition to the 1999 Cup Series title — part of a run in which he finished top five in points for six consecutive seasons.
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(Illustration: John Bradford / The Athletic; photos: George Tiedemann, Nick Laham, Racing One / Getty Images)