Since 1948, NASCAR — the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing — has been the place for some of the world’s best drivers to show off their skills. In the decades after its first race was run on a road course in Daytona Beach, Florida, it has become one of America’s most popular sporting associations, with expert crews keeping state-of-the-art cars running at their peak around some of the most imposing racetracks ever built.
But the folks inside the cars are the ones who inspire fans to spend an entire day sitting in the scorching sun, watching them drive in circles. To rank the best drivers in NASCAR history, we combed through the stats kept at Racing Reference. Of the hundreds of drivers who’ve taken part in NASCAR’s top division, these are the ones who left everyone in the dust.
