Top 5 Most Successful NASCAR Drivers
When you think about what makes a successful driver, one of the first things that comes to mind might be the number of championships a specific driver has won.
The rise in popularity has made it a popular betting platform on sites such as powerplay.com. Although it is of course great to win championships, it doesn’t tell the whole story, and to see the best drivers you need to look at the bigger picture. We have put together a list of who we see as the 5 most successful Nascar drivers for you to take a look at.
Harry Gant
Gant was born back in 1940, and remains one of the most famous names in Nascar racing history. Through his career, he managed to finish in the top 10 eight times, meaning that he is one of the strongest drivers and the most consistent. 1991 was without a doubt his best year, when he won 5 races – 3 of them consecutively. Overall, he enjoyed 208 top 10 wins throughout his career, a number that is hard to rival.
Mark Martin
Although Martin has fallen short when it comes to winning championships, there is no doubt that he has enjoyed a huge amount of success during his career. Indeed, since starting competing in the Spirit Cup in 1980, he has won 40 races earning more than $85 million for his achievements. Even without championship wins, these stats alone show that he very much deserves to be listed here, alongside champions.
Rusty Wallace
Wallace firmly cemented himself as a key player of racing throughout his career, remaining 8th on the all time win list (55 in total for him) despite the fact that he has been retired for almost two decades. What set him aside from his peers was his skill of driving on road courses, when most other drivers were working hard to master the oval race tracks. He had six wins on road courses, enjoying a huge amount of success over his career.
Bill Elliot
In addition to an impressive win in the 1988 championship, Elliot has notched up 44 wins and 55 poles on his career record. Even more impressive is the fact that he was the first ever driver to win ‘The Winston Million’, by winning three prestigious races within the same season. Not only was Elliot an excellent racer, but he was also hugely popular with fans of the sport, winning the ‘Most Popular Driver’ contest from the National Motorsports Press Association an astonishing 16 times.
Terry Labonte
Labonte competed for a total of 27 seasons during his career, and during that time achieved two championships and 22 wins. Although he was hugely successful, he also holds an amusing title – the longest drought between his two championship wins. Indeed, there were an entire 12 seasons between the two wins. The fact that he won the second season shows just how good a driver he was however – as he was skilful enough to win twice, with much success in between those years. Labonte was also a firm crowd favourite, with many wanting to attend races just to watch him drive.