NASCAR Cup Series: Who is the greatest driver of all-time?

Jeff Gordon

Jeff Gordon is the only non-seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion who was one of the first three drivers to win anything more than three championships. He became the third driver to win four championships in the 2001 season.

If not for the playoffs, which began in the 2004 season, the three-time Daytona 500 winner would be one of three seven-time Cup Series champions, as his consistency and repeated success throughout the seasons during which he drove allowed him to accumulated the most points in three seasons during the playoff era during which he was unable to officially win the championship.

Even with that said, Gordon’s championship total of four trails the championship totals of only the three seven-time champions, as there are no five-time champions or six-time champions. In fact, there are no other four-time champions, either.

The fact that the only thing that stood between Gordon and seven championships was the playoff format shows that he is much closer to being on the level if not above the level of these seven-time champions than many people given him credit for.

The fact that Gordon’s win total is 93, which ranks third on the all-time wins list, also illustrates this, as his win total is higher than the win totals of two of the three seven-time champions, and it is higher than both of those totals by fairly sizable margins.

To compare to a recent significant event, a whole lot was made about the fact that Kyle Busch earned his 50th career Cup Series victory and the fact that he did so at the young age of 33 in just his 14th season as a full-time driver in the sport.

However, Gordon earned his 50th career victory at the all-time youngest age (by far) of 28, and he did so toward the beginning of his eighth season as a full-time driver in the sport. He pulled this off despite the fact that he did not win any races in his rookie season.

Who else can be considered the greatest NASCAR Cup Series driver of all-time?