NASCAR: Active wins list after Jimmie Johnson’s retirement

By Asher Fair | Nov 20, 2020

Kevin Harvick, Stewart-Haas Racing, and Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing, NASCAR - Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports /

With seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson having retired from NASCAR Cup Series competition, which drivers sit atop the active wins list?

Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson made the 686th and final start of his career as the full-time driver of the #48 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports at Phoenix Raceway two Sundays ago.

Johnson, who is set to run the 13 road and street course races on the 17-race 2021 IndyCar schedule behind the wheel of the #48 Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing, retiring means that the Cup Series will have a new active leader in wins heading into the 2021 season as well as a new active leader in championships.

Johnson had been the active leader in wins since four-time champion Jeff Gordon retired after the 2015 season (2016 season, including his starts in relief of the injured Dale Earnhardt Jr.).

More from NASCAR Cup Series

Gordon won 93 races throughout his career, a total which ranks third only to the win totals of Richard Petty (200) and David Pearson (105).

Johnson’s 83 wins tied him for sixth place on the all-time wins list with Cale Yarborough. He unfortunately ended his career on a win drought of 130 races, as his final win came at Dover International Speedway in June of 2017. He had never previously gone on a win drought of more than 24 races, and from 2002 through 2017, he won at least two races each season. That 16-year streak of multiple wins ranks second only to Petty’s 18-year streak, which lasted from 1960 through 1977.

Johnson was just one win shy of a fourth place tie on the wins list, as Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip both ended their careers with 84 victories.

Now the battle for the lead in victories among active drivers is much closer. After Kevin Harvick’s nine-win season and Kyle Busch’s disappointing one-win season, just one win separates those two former champions at the top of the list.

Keep in mind that Clint Bowyer, who won 10 races throughout his career, also retired after the 2020 season, and 2003 champion Matt Kenseth, who won 39 races, presumably did so as well after unexpectedly returning in 2020 to replace Kyle Larson at Chip Ganassi Racing, although no official announcement was made.

Four years after Johnson won his seventh and final championship, here is a list of the 19 drivers in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series lineup who have won at least one race throughout their careers, and how many races they have won.

Kevin Harvick – 58
Kyle Busch – 57
Denny Hamlin – 44
Brad Keselowski – 34
Kurt Busch – 32
Martin Truex Jr. – 27
Joey Logano – 26
Ryan Newman – 18
Chase Elliott – 11
Kyle Larson – 6
Ryan Blaney – 4
Austin Dillon – 3
Alex Bowman – 2
Erik Jones – 2
Aric Almirola – 2
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – 2
William Byron – 1
Cole Custer – 1
Chris Buescher – 1

Next. Top 10 NASCAR drivers of all-time. dark

A total of 13 drivers won at least one race in the 36-race 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season, with five winning multiple. How many winners will the 36-race 2021 season see? The season is scheduled to get underway at Daytona International Speedway with the 63rd annual Daytona 500 on Sunday, February 14.

Home/NASCAR Cup Series