Winning a NASCAR Cup Series championship means you’ve reached legendary status in the sport. Earning the Bill France Cup is one of the greatest achievements a driver can have in racing.
A successful career with an abundance of race wins hasn’t always worked out in terms of winning a championship, however.
Throughout NASCAR’s storied history, several Hall of Fame drivers never got to experience what it was like to reach the pinnacle of the Cup Series by winning the championship at season’s end.
Denny Hamlin
60 career wins; best points finish: 2nd (2010, 2025)
For now, there’s no question which driver is the greatest non-champion after how this year’s title was taken away from him in the closing laps at Phoenix Raceway.
Denny Hamlin will go down in NASCAR history as the greatest driver without a championship (if, of course, he finishes his full-time career as a driver without one).Â
Having the best car of the Championship 4 contenders at Phoenix, Hamlin was untouchable nearly all race and had the title in reach until William Byron‘s blown tire erased his advantage.
The final restart saw Hamlin struggle on four tires to pass cars, settling for second in the title race to Kyle Larson, who left Phoenix with his second title after a gutsy two-tire call on the final pit stop.
Hamlin has had several opportunities to win the Cup title, coming up short multiple times. His rookie season in 2006 ended with him mathematically having a chance at the title at Homestead-Miami Speedway, ultimately finishing third in the standings.
An eight-win season in 2010 saw Hamlin lead the standings entering Homestead with the points lead over Jimmie Johnson. An early spin made the path to the title more difficult, as Hamlin only recovered for a 14th-place finish, allowing Johnson to win his fifth consecutive championship in come-from-behind fashion.
In the elimination-style playoffs, Hamlin has qualified for the Championship 4 five times, including this year. The debut season of the format in 2014 saw him finish third behind Kevin Harvick and Ryan Newman.
He followed that up with finishes of fourth, fourth and third in his other Championship 4 appearances.
After scoring his 60th Cup victory this season, the question people will continue asking is will Hamlin win a title before calling it a career as a driver in the Cup Series or if was 2025 his last best chance at winning the big prize.
Junior Johnson
50 wins; best points finish: 6th (1955, 1961)
While many are familiar with his resume as a team owner, winning championships with Hall of Fame drivers Darrell Waltrip and Cale Yarborough, Junior Johnson put together a strong career behind the wheel, highlighted by a win in the 1960 Daytona 500.
A member of the first Hall of Fame class in 2010, Johnson scored 50 wins in NASCAR’s top series over 313 career starts as a driver. However, despite being successful in terms of winning races, Johnson failed to score a championship as a driver.
Johnson’s best finish in the standings came during the 1955 season, when he finished sixth after scoring five wins that year. He finished inside the top 10 in the standings twice more, with finishes of eighth in 1958 and seventh in 1960 before calling it a career as a driver following the 1966 season.
Mark Martin
40 wins; best points finish: 2nd (1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2009)
Another icon of the sport, Mark Martin won 40 races during his Cup career, which concluded in 2013.
Whether he was driving for Jack Roush or Rick Hendrick, Martin found plenty of success in scoring race wins. However, he failed to capture a Cup championship during his time behind the wheel.
Five runner-up finishes in the standings marked the closest he ever came to becoming a champion, starting in 1990. That season, Martin won three races, missing the championship by 26 points to Dale Earnhardt, who won his fourth of seven Cup titles that year.
The pair finished first and second again in 1994, with Martin coming up short once more to Earnhardt, who claimed his seventh and final championship.Â
In 1998, Jeff Gordon rode a 13-win season to his third title in convincing fashion, defeating Martin by a staggering 364 points despite Martin winning seven races, second-most to Gordon’s 13 wins.
The closest points-wise Martin came to winning a championship came in 2002, when he finished 38 points behind champion Tony Stewart. Four-straight top-10 finishes to close the season allowed Martin to shrink the points deficit some, but an 18th-place result in the season finale at Homestead allowed Stewart to clinch the title.
Perhaps one of the best seasons of Martin’s career was his debut season with Hendrick Motorsports in 2009. A five-win season showed Martin was just as competitive as ever, even at age 50, being one of the drivers to beat when the playoffs began.
Martin held the points lead for the first few races of the playoffs until Jimmie Johnson went on a tear in the final weeks of the season, earning his fourth of five titles in a row.
Despite not having a championship on his resume, Martin still managed a legendary career in NASCAR that ended with an induction into the Hall of Fame.
Fireball Roberts
33 wins; best points finish: 2nd (1950)
In a career that included wins in several crown-jewel races via the Daytona 500 and Southern 500, Fireball Roberts scored 33 victories but did not win a championship.
Roberts recorded a best points finish of second during the 1950 season, when he only competed in nine races, winning once. In 206 starts that spanned 15 years, aside from his second-place points result in 1950, Roberts finished top five in points on two other occasions, with a pair of fifths in 1961 and 1963.
Roberts’ driving days came to a frightening end in a crash at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the 1964 World 600. He later died from his injuries in the aftermath of the crash. He was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2014.
Carl Edwards
28 wins; best points finish: 2nd (2008, 2011)
Carl Edwards had three exceptional opportunities to breakthrough and win his first championship, with a career-best nine-win season in 2008 not being enough to catch Jimmie Johnson, who won his third of five straight titles that season.
He had perhaps the most consistent season of any driver in 2011 and led the points for most of the final few races. If it weren’t for Stewart earning five of the final 10 victories, Edwards would have at least one championship to his credit.
A late crash after leading late at Homestead in 2016 not only ended Edwards’ chance at the title but also his tenure in NASCAR, as he walked away from the sport altogether just a few months later. Edwards was nominated to the Hall of Fame earlier this year.
While I understand why Fireball & Junior were included, both are slightly outliers in this case, since neither really focused on the championship when they were driving. Hamlin, Martin & Edwards certainly fit completely.
Winning a championship is not the only thing worth playing for. Some of us just like to compete with the best