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NASCAR: Top 10 active drivers from an all-time perspective

By Asher Fair

MARTINSVILLE, VA - APRIL 02: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, leads Matt Kenseth, driver of the #20 Tide Pods Toyota, during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway on April 2, 2017 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
MARTINSVILLE, VA - APRIL 02: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, leads Matt Kenseth, driver of the #20 Tide Pods Toyota, during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway on April 2, 2017 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images) /
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LONG POND, PA – JULY 30: Denny Hamlin drives the #11 FedEx Ground Toyota during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Overton’s 400 at Pocono Raceway on July 30, 2017 in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)
LONG POND, PA – JULY 30: Denny Hamlin drives the #11 FedEx Ground Toyota during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Overton’s 400 at Pocono Raceway on July 30, 2017 in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images) /

#7 – Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing, No. 11 Toyota

Denny Hamlin, 36, earns the #7 spot in these rankings thanks in large part to the fact that he has 30 career Cup Series victories in 12 full-time seasons in the sport. That total is good for the 5th highest total among active drivers, yet he did not make the top 5 in these rankings. Here’s why.

Hamlin, who won the 2016 Daytona 500, has been one of the most consistent threats to win the Cup Series championship throughout his career, as evidenced by the fact that he has finished lower than 9th place in the championship standings just twice in 11 full-time seasons. However, he has never been able to actually win a title.

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He came closest to doing so in the 2010 season, as he finished in a career-high 2nd place in the standings behind only seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson after leading all drivers in victories with a career-high of eight in the 36 races that season.

Hamlin comes it at #7 in these rankings as the highest ranked active driver who has never won a championship, which is not surprising seeing as how the only two active non-champions with more than 18 career victories are he (30 wins) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (26 wins), and Hamlin has four more wins than Earnhardt Jr. does in six fewer seasons of full-time competition.

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