Nothing lasts forever.
That include Kyle Busch’s streak of 19 consecutive winning seasons in the NASCAR Cup Series, as 2024 marked the first winless season of his career.
He had a few chances to extend that number to 20 (see Atlanta Motor Speedway’s three-wide photo finish and races at Daytona International Speedway, Darlington Raceway and Kansas Speedway in the summer), but the best result he could muster was a pair of runner-up finishes in what can only be described as a nightmare of a year.
Read all of Frontstretch‘s content looking back on 2024 here
Busch is back to zero for 2025, and no one has a chance at tying or breaking his record until the 2030s. In fact, there are only five active drivers with a winning streak longer than three seasons. The newest generation of talents has taken center stage, and while the old guard can still compete for wins, they’re slowly falling to the wayside, one-by-one.
Busch and Brad Keselowski saw their decade-long streaks end in the Next Gen car, while since retired champions Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. had lengthy winning streaks come to a close earlier in the decade.
The five longest winning streaks heading into the 2025 season are held by a mix of the old guard and the stars of today and tomorrow. No one will approach Busch’s record for a long, long time, but
4th: Kyle Larson & Christopher Bell: 4 seasons
Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell made their debuts with Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing, respectively, in 2021. That’s the same year their streaks began, and with how much the pair dominated in 2024, they can easily push their streaks into the double digits.
That said, it’s hard to see either driver racing for 15 more seasons, let alone winning in all of them. Both drivers can easily push their streaks into double digits, but Bell turns 30 later this month, while Larson is already 32. He also has a love for dirt racing that transcends his passion for NASCAR, so Larson’s streak will likely last for as long as he is happy competing full time in the Cup Series.
3rd: William Byron: 5 seasons
At 27 years old, William Byron is the youngest driver with a win streak transcending the Next Gen car. He won his first race at Daytona in 2020, and he’s since put together five consecutive winning seasons, a number that includes nine wins since the start of 2023.
Crew chief Rudy Fugle was the spark that saw Byron emerge as a star in 2021, and Byron has more than a decade of winning ahead of him if he plays his cards right.
2nd: Denny Hamlin: 6 seasons
Denny Hamlin has to look back at 2018 and wonder what could’ve been. He had posted 12 consecutive seasons with a win from 2006 to 2017, only to post his first and only goose egg in the win column six years ago.
Hamlin has won at least two races per year since 2019, but if had been able to win a race in 2018, he would be on the verge of breaking Busch’s record with a chance for 20 straight in 2025. Still, his winning streak of six consecutive seasons is good enough for second among all drivers.
How many additional years Hamlin can tack on to that total remains to be seen. He turned 44 in November, and Father Time has frequently paid drivers a visit by their mid-to-late 40s.
1st: Joey Logano: 13 seasons
It’s only fitting that the reigning champion has the longest active streak.
Joey Logano hasn’t recorded a winless season in his decade-long tenure with Team Penske, and he’s won at least one race per year dating back to 2012, his final year with Joe Gibbs Racing.
With 16 full-time seasons, 36 wins and three championships to his name, it’s easy to forget that Logano is only 34 years old. He’ll be 40 in 2030, the year he would tie Busch’s record of 19 seasons.
Could Logano be the first driver to have 20 winning seasons in a row? It’s certainly a longshot, but he’s the only driver within remote striking distance. He’s also one of the last drivers with a chance of dethroning Jeff Gordon‘s Ironman record of 797 consecutive starts. And with two championships in the last three seasons, all while continuing to rewrite the history books, Logano could easily have another decade of racing ahead of him to achieve it all.
About the author
Stephen Stumpf is the NASCAR Content Director for Frontstretch and is a three-year veteran of the site. His weekly columns include “Stat Sheet” and “4 Burning Questions.” He also writes commentary, contributes to podcasts, edits articles and is frequently at the track for on-site coverage.
Can find on Twitter @stephen_stumpf.
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Joe Gibbs is lucky to have Logano. Oh that’s right, they fired him early on and Brad Keselowski was calling Penske night and day to hire him quickly. Who did Gibbs replace Joey with !!! Will they become a 3 time champion lololol