Beyond the Flag contributor Ryan McCafferty recently completed an offseason top 10 countdown of the greatest NASCAR Cup Series drivers of all-time, in the buildup to the upcoming 2026 season.
Of course, that list was without some big-name drivers, but it had to be, due to just how many possibilities there always are when it comes to narrowing down any top 10 list to just 10. As a result, he also included a separate listing of 10 honorable mentions (even if those drivers might not necessarily have ranked from No. 11 through No. 20).
Among those drivers were old school legends such as Cale Yarborough and Herb Thomas, along with more modern names such as Martin Truex Jr. and Kevin Harvick, and even an active driver in Denny Hamlin.
That full list of 10 drivers can be found here.
But as we prepare for the start of the 2026 season this coming week at Daytona International Speedway, here's a list of the top 10, starting with No. 10.
10. Tony Stewart
Notable statistics: Three championships, 51 victories, two Brickyard 400 victories, 2009 All-Star Race winner
We can only imagine what Tony Stewart's career accolades would have looked like had he not first spent a few seasons competing in the Indy Racing League, where he of course won a championship in the series' second season of existence, before coming to the NASCAR Cup Series.
He won races in each of his first 15 seasons, including five to begin his stint with his own Stewart-Haas Racing. And speaking of IndyCar, he remains the only driver to run all 1,100 miles of the Indy 500/Coca-Cola 600 Memorial Day Double, and with respectable finishes of sixth and third to boot.
9. Kyle Larson
Notable statistics: Two championships, 32 victories, 2021 Coca-Cola 600 winner, 2023 Southern 500 winner, 2024 Brickyard 400 winner, three All-Star Race victories
Kyle Larson's career statistics, from top to bottom, don't measure up to the statistics of anybody else on this list, or even the several dozen others who probably could have been included in the top 10. Yet he is still more than deserving of this ranking.
Since Larson joined Hendrick Motorsports in 2021, nobody has come close to his win total, and with four of those five seasons in a Next Gen era which has produced an unprecedented level of parity, there is a lot more to be said for that than one might realize.
8. Darrell Waltrip
Notable statistics: Three championships, 84 victories, five Coca-Cola 600 victories, two Winston 500 victories, 1989 Daytona 500 winner, 1992 Southern 500 winner, 1985 All-Star Race winner
Aside from Cale Yarborough, who was one of the honorable mentions (and the presumptive No. 11 pick), Darrell Waltrip was the first driver to reel off four consecutive NASCAR Cup Series victories when he did so during his 1981 championship-winning season.
The only other three drivers who did it during a championship-winning season are all ranked inside the top five.
7. Kyle Busch
Notable statistics: Two championships, 63 victories, 19 consecutive winning seasons, two Brickyard 500 victories, 2008 Southern 500 winner, 2018 Coca-Cola 600 winner, 232 wins across the three NASCAR national series, 2017 All-Star Race winner
The only question about Kyle Busch's greatness comes down to how much you want to weigh his success in the lower series in terms of an all-time NASCAR ranking.
But considering how many Cup Series drivers he had to beat over the years to achieve those numbers (yes, even in the lower series), the weight is more significant than many probably want to give him credit for.
6. Bobby Allison
Notable statistics: One championship, 85 victories, four Southern 500 victories, three Daytona 500 victories, three Coca-Cola 600 victories, three Winston 500 victories
Bobby Allison was seemingly competing for a different team each season, and on many occasions with more than one organization per year. Yet he still managed to put together a career that would be envied by almost any driver across any era.
One can only wonder how much higher than fourth he'd be on the all-time wins list had he had top-tier equipment his entire career. Speaking of his "entire" career, lest we forget how he actually got his 85th and final win in in 2024...
5. Jeff Gordon
Notable statistics: Four championships, 93 victories, 17 crown jewel victories, six Southern 500 victories, five Brickyard 400 victories, three Daytona 500 victories, three Coca-Cola 600 victories, three All-Star Race victories
Jeff Gordon changed the complexion of the sport when he arrived in 1992, and in a complete 180-degree turn from Bobby Allison's career, he owns the rare distinction of being the only driver to spend the entirety of a 25-year career with a single team.
And in his 23 years as a full-time driver, he only ever drove one car number.
4. David Pearson
Notable statistics: Three championships, 105 victories, despite never running the full schedule, three Southern 500 victories, three Winston 500 victories, three Coca-Cola 600 victories, 1976 Daytona 500 winner
Part-time drivers having success in the modern era of NASCAR is almost unheard of, even if it took until the 2025 season to produce the first race in Cup Series history without a single part-time driver entered.
David Pearson never ran full-time. Just imagine what his statistics would have look like, and perhaps how many achievements he might have taken away from other legends, had he done so.
3. Richard Petty
Notable statistics: Seven championships, 200 victories, 27 wins in a single season, 10 consecutive victories, seven Daytona 500 victories, two Coca-Cola 600 victories, 1967 Southern 500 winner, 1983 Winston 500 winner
Richard Petty owns so many unbreakable NASCAR records that it would be impossible to list them all. Suffice it to say that he owns the unbreakable record for the number of unbreakable records he owns.
Nobody will ever do what he did throughout his career. But what kept him from the top spot?
2. Dale Earnhardt
Notable statistics: Seven championships, five consecutive titles, 76 victories, four Winston 500 victories, three Coca-Cola 600 victories, three Southern 500 victories, 1995 Brickyard 400 winner, 1998 Daytona 500 winner, three All-Star Race victories
"NASCAR died when Dale died" is still something we all hear, either on social media or even in-person from "former" NASCAR fans. The fact that this remains true, 25 years later, tells you all you need to know about "The Intimidator", the driver who, quite literally, was NASCAR.
The driver who, all these years later, still is NASCAR, in the eyes of many.
1. Jimmie Johnson
Notable statistics: Seven championships, 83 victories, four Coca-Cola 600 victories, four Brickyard 400 victories, two Daytona 500 victories, two Southern 500 victories, four All-Star Race victories
Sometimes it's hard to believe that Jimmie Johnson is still an active driver, given the fact that he initially left the sport in 2020.
While several of his championship are attributed to the Chase format by his critics, the fact that the playoffs were literally altered to prevent something like another run of five straight championships from a single driver speaks for itself. Doing it under the Chase format, and in that era of parity, is something that will forever be hard to top.