Let’s talk about the number 10.
There have been 10 different winners so far in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2024 … oh, wait, not that 10. Not 10 drivers with wins … one driver with 10 wins. Here’s a look at that something that has become all but extinct, but tells a story of the sport’s evolution.
A single driver winning 10 or more races in a season is a rarity these days. Only two drivers have done it in the last 25 years. Both did it on the way to a title. Even elite drivers these days will go entire careers without pulling it off.
But it wasn’t always so difficult. Season-defining? Sure. The mark of the sport’s best ever? Absolutely — the only driver on the list not in the NASCAR Hall of Fame isn’t eligible. All but one have at least 37 Cup Series victories (and again, the lone holdout is still racing, so he’s got time).
Overall, 18 different drivers have had double-digit wins in a season, and it’s been done a total of 38 times in 31 different seasons.
Here’s a list of drivers, by decade, with 10 or more wins in a season:
1950s (six times by four drivers)
1953: Herb Thomas (12 wins/37 starts, champion)
1954: Thomas (12 wins/34 starts, second in points)
1955: Tim Flock (18 wins/39 starts, champion)
1956: Buck Baker (14 wins/48 starts, champion)
1957: Baker (10 wins/40 starts, champion)
1959: Lee Petty (11 wins/42 races, champion)
1960s (11 times by five drivers)
1963: Richard Petty (14 wins/54 races, second in points)
1964: Ned Jarrett (15 wins/60 starts, second in points)
1965: Jarrett (13 wins/54 starts, champion), Junior Johnson (13 wins/36 races, 12th in points)
1966: David Pearson (15 wins/43 starts, champion)
1967: Richard Petty (27 wins (Cup record)/48 starts, champion)
1968: Pearson (16 wins/48 starts, champion), Richard Petty (16 wins/49 starts, third in points)
1969: Pearson (11 wins/51 starts, champion), Richard Petty (10 wins/50 starts, second in points), Bobby Isaac (17 wins/50 starts, sixth in points)
1970s (11 times by five drivers)
1970:Â Isaac (11 wins/47 starts, champion), Richard Petty (18 wins/40 starts, fourth in points)
1971:Â Richard Petty (21 wins/46 starts, champion), Bobby Allison (11 wins/42 starts, fourth in points)
1972:Â Allison (10 wins/31 starts, second in points)
1973: Pearson (11 wins/18 starts, 13th in points)
1974:Â Richard Petty (10 wins/30 starts, champion), Cale Yarborough (10 wins/30 starts, second in points)
1975:Â Richard Petty (13 wins/30 starts, champion)
1976:Â Pearson (10 wins/22 starts, ninth in points)
1978:Â Yarborough (10 wins/30 starts, champion)
1980s (four times by three drivers)
1981: Darrell Waltrip (12 wins/31 starts, champion)
1982: Waltrip (12 wins/30 starts, champion)
1985: Bill Elliott (11 wins/28 races, second in points)
1987: Dale Earnhardt (11 wins/29 starts, champion)
1990s (four times by two drivers)
1993: Rusty Wallace (10 wins/30 starts, second in points)
1996: Jeff Gordon (10 wins/31 starts, second in points)
1997: Gordon (10 wins/32 starts, champion)
1988: Gordon (13 wins/33 starts, champion)
2000s (once)
2007: Jimmie Johnson (10 wins/36 starts, champion)
2020s (once)
2021: Kyle Larson (10 wins/36 starts, champion)
This is actually an interesting statistic, as there are a number of ways to analyze it. From the 1950s through the ’70s, it wasn’t super uncommon. 1974, for example, saw just five different winners all year, two of whom cracked double digits.
Changes to the points system and schedules in the sports modern era didn’t immediately end the big win totals, but from the 1980s on, it became increasingly rare.
The way points were distributed changed drastically in the modern era, with the schedule being shortened considerably from the ’60s. Pre modern-era drivers didn’t always run every race, and some races featured more regional or local drivers than national stars, and the thinner fields probably helped some drivers’ win totals at times. Part-time drivers could rack up wins but not compete in enough races or run competitively in the right races, to win a title.
Recently, on the other hand, the points system rewards a big finish to the season over consistency, and teams approach it differently. The regular season is spent trying to make the playoffs but also preparing for them.
Sometimes that means trying things that might help in the playoffs but at the cost of regular-season wins. Another thing to consider is the cars themselves. The current Next Gen racecar was designed to do exactly what it has done: create unpredictability through parity. More drivers capable of winning makes actually winning harder. In the 21st century, a double-digit win column is truly exceptional.
If you want to look at the above in terms of racecars, you can look at each of the seven generations of Cup cars. The first-generation car raced from 1948-66. The second iteration raced between 1967-80 with the third from 1981-90. The fourth-generation car raced during NASCAR’s massive growth from 1991-2006. The Car of Tomorrow spanned 2007-12, followed by the sixth-generation machines from 2013-21. The current car has been on track since 2022. It’s easy enough to look at the above seasons in terms of the different cars.
In NASCAR’s early days, the cars were much less equal than they are today, and teams had much more leeway with setups. A team that hit on something could reel off a lot of top finishes before someone else caught up. That allowed for a lot of innovation but less close competition through the field. Fewer drivers often won more races.
Starting with the fourth-generation car in the 1990s, NASCAR tightened the rules. That meant more cars capable of winning, at least if their drivers were, but it made it harder for one team to gain the kind of edge that brought win after win.Â
All of this illustrates why it’s so hard to compare statistics straight up across decades and eras. The points systems are different and the cars are different. Winning in double digits has always been reserved for an elite tier of drivers, but at one time it was something more readily achievable and something that made a good season great.
Surprisingly, 15 times drivers have won 10 times or more and not won a title. That speaks to both the level of consistency needed to win a title but also to the fair number of drivers who did not run for a season title but still won regularly.
Now, it’s something that sets apart a generational talent from the rest of an elite field. But it’s also not the main focus for teams. While winning in the playoff era is still the main goal, teams put more emphasis on a title than single-race wins, which sometimes cost them in the spring and summer.
One thing remains constant, though, and that’s that the names on this list are some of the best the sport has ever seen. Larson trails the others in wins, but at 31 years old, he’s also still winning.
Will another driver crack 10 wins in a season? Times, they are a changin’. Parity has afforded more drivers the chance to shine, and the emphasis on the championship coupled with the playoff system has changed teams’ approach to a season.
But it’s possible, even likely, that someone will be No. 19 on the list. It’s a matter of when not if. Whoever it is will be in a rare, exceptional company. Time doesn’t erase how great any of these drivers are.
About the author
Amy is an 20-year veteran NASCAR writer and a six-time National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) writing award winner, including first place awards for both columns and race coverage. As well as serving as Photo Editor, Amy writes The Big 6 (Mondays) after every NASCAR Cup Series race. She can also be found working on her bi-weekly columns Holding A Pretty Wheel (Tuesdays) and Only Yesterday (Wednesdays). A New Hampshire native whose heart is in North Carolina, Amy’s work credits have extended everywhere from driver Kenny Wallace’s website to Athlon Sports. She can also be heard weekly as a panelist on the Hard Left Turn podcast that can be found on AccessWDUN.com's Around the Track page.
A daily email update (Monday through Friday) providing racing news, commentary, features, and information from Frontstretch.com
We hate spam. Your email address will not be sold or shared with anyone else.
Interesting that the last 5 drivers to pull off the 10 win season all drove for the same team owner.
You have a typo in the 1990s, it says 1988 instead of 1998.