NASCAR: Only one of the top 25 drivers is still winless

Only one driver who currently sits inside the top 25 in the NASCAR Cup Series point standings is still seeking his first career win.

The NASCAR Cup Series is set to return to action this Sunday at Nashville Superspeedway following the one and only off weekend of the 36-race 2022 season.

There are 10 races remaining on the regular season schedule, prior to the four-round, 10-race playoffs.

Of the first 16 races this season, five were won by drivers who entered the season having never won a Cup Series race before. In total, four drivers have won for the first time this year.

Team Penske rookie Austin Cindric won the season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.

Stewart-Haas Racing’s Chase Briscoe then won at Phoenix Raceway before Trackhouse Racing Team’s Ross Chastain won at Circuit of the Americas and Talladega Superspeedway.

Most recently Chastain’s teammate, Daniel Suarez, won at Sonoma Raceway. Following Suarez’s victory, every driver in the top 25 in the point standings now has at least one career Cup Series victory.

That is, except for one.

Here is where these 25 drivers currently rank n the point standings, plus how many career wins they have.

1. Chase Elliott – 14
2. Ross Chastain – 2
3. Kyle Busch – 60
4. Ryan Blaney – 7
5. Joey Logano – 29
6. Martin Truex Jr. – 31
7. Kyle Larson – 17
8. William Byron – 4
9. Alex Bowman – 7
10. Christopher Bell – 1
11. Aric Almirola – 3
12. Kevin Harvick – 58
13. Chase Briscoe – 1
14. Tyler Reddick – 0
15. Austin Dillon – 3
16. Erik Jones – 2
17. Daniel Suarez – 1
18. Austin Cindric – 1
19. Kurt Busch – 34
20. Michael McDowell – 1
21. Denny Hamlin – 48
22. Chris Buescher – 1
23. Justin Haley – 1
24. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – 2
25. Bubba Wallace – 1

NOTE: Beyond the top 25, there are seven full-time drivers. Only two (Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer and RFK Racing’s Brad Keselowski) have won before.

Richard Childress Racing’s Tyler Reddick currently sits in 14th place in the point standings, but because four drivers below him have won this year, including two who had no wins entering the 2022 season, he sits in 18th in the playoff picture, making him the second driver out.

Last year, he finished the regular season in 11th in the standings and was the 16th and final driver to qualify for the postseason.

In 90 career starts, Reddick has recorded five runner-up finishes. He finished in second place at Texas Motor Speedway in July 2020, Homestead-Miami Speedway in February 2021, the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval in October 2021, Bristol Motor Speedway (dirt) in April 2022, and Darlington Raceway in May 2022.

Second place finishes make up half of his career top five results, as he has just one third place finish, two fourth place finishes, and two fifth place finishes.

But take a look at the rest of the list.

Beyond the four first-time winners from 2022, nine drivers have won no more than three races, and five of those nine drivers have won just one. Three of those five drivers did not have any wins entering the 2021 season.

The bottom line is that the list continues to grow.

So when will the driver of the #8 Chevrolet finally secure his first career Cup Series victory? It seems to be only a matter of time.

Many have tabbed him as the driver most likely to be “next” in a season which has already produced four new winners. At which track will he find victory lane?