NASCAR Cup Series: 2010s decade breaks championship record
By Asher Fair
The 2010s decade featured seven different NASCAR Cup Series champions, a new all-time record for the series that has existed since 1949.
When Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch crossed the finish line and took the checkered flag to win the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season finale, the Ford EcoBoost 400, at Homestead-Miami Speedway this past Sunday, he did so having already been crowned a champion in the 2010s decade.
The 34-year-old Las Vegas, Nevada native made himself a two-time champion, the first since Jimmie Johnson was crowned for a second time back in the 2007 season, by winning this 267-lap race around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) Homestead-Miami Speedway oval in Homestead, Florida, as he won the 2015 championship in the same manner.
The 2010s decade finished up with seven different champions.
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Busch and Johnson were the only drivers to win multiple championships this decade, as Johnson, a seven-time champion, won three titles from 2010 to 2019: his fifth in 2010, his sixth in 2013 and his record-tying seventh in 2016.
The five drivers who won one championship throughout this decade were three-time champion Tony Stewart (2011), 2012 champion Brad Keselowski, 2014 champion Kevin Harvick, 2017 champion Martin Truex Jr. and 2018 champion Joey Logano.
Seven different champions in a decade is the new all-time record.
The previous record was six, which was set in the 1980s decade with Dale Earnhardt (1980, 1986 and 1987), Darrell Waltrip (1981, 1982 and 1985), Bobby Allison (1983), Terry Labonte (1984), Bill Elliott (1988) and Rusty Wallace (1989).
This record was then tied in the 2000s decade with Bobby Labonte (2000), Jeff Gordon (2001), Tony Stewart (2002 and 2005), Matt Kenseth (2003), Kurt Busch (2004) and Jimmie Johnson (2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009).
Technically, Logano broke this record last year when he won the 2018 championship. But with Denny Hamlin being one of the four drivers who competed in this year’s Championship 4, that record very well could have been extended to eight.
Unfortunately for him, he is still seeking his maiden title instead following a fourth place finish in the championship standings.
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How many different NASCAR Cup Series champions will be crowned in the coming decade? The 2020 season is scheduled to get the decade underway on Sunday, February 16 with the 62nd annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. This race is set to be broadcast live on Fox beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET.