Throughout its 77-year history, the NASCAR Cup Series has had 206 different drivers win at least one points-paying race. For 144 of them, they've found victory lane more than once.
That leaves 62 drivers who only ever got one bright moment in the sun. Some of them were obscure nobodies who faded right back into irrelevance, while others ultimately became more notable because of the fact that they only won once.
With that in mind, let's count down the top 10 one-win wonders in NASCAR Cup Series history. This list is based on a combination of shock value, the circumstances surrounding their win, as well as how big of a name the driver otherwise was.
10. Bill Rexford
Rexford is the only Cup Series champion who is eligible for the NASCAR Hall of Fame but hasn't been inducted, and probably for good reason. His title in 1950 was a result of several other drivers being docked points for competing in non-sanctioned events, and he only won once during a 36-race career.
That lone victory came at Canfield Speedway in 1950. Every Cup Series title winner in history besides Rexford and inaugural champ Red Byron has recorded at least five career wins, and the latter only ever competed in 15 events. NASCAR's second champion has the distinction of being its youngest, but also its most unsuccessful.
9. Brett Bodine
Bodine makes the list because the circumstances of his lone triumph remain unclear as to whether or not he actually won. It came during the 1990 First Union 400 at North Wilkesboro Speedway, when he inherited the lead after a caution came out during a green-flag pit cycle.
Several competitors, most notably second-place runner Darrell Waltrip, insisted that Bodine was a lap down and that the pace car had mistakenly picked him up as the leader. Alas, he held off the field for the final 62-lap run and scored what is officially credited as his only Cup Series win in 480 career starts.
8. Wendell Scott
Scott is the only NASCAR Hall of Famer on the list, which he makes based on name value. The 1960s owner-driver was the Cup Series' only African American winner until Bubba Wallace joined him many years later, and his victory at Jacksonville in 1964 was a historic first.
Overshadowed by the barrier-breaking element of Scott's win was the sheer degree of difficulty he faced as an independent driver. He had to serve as his own pit crew, meaning climbing out of his car during pit stops to service it. He was able to win a war of attrition by two laps over Buck Baker, who was originally awarded the victory due to NASCAR's discomfort with the thought of a black driver kissing a white trophy queen.
7. Mario Andretti
Open-wheel crossovers are nothing new to NASCAR. A.J. Foyt, Dan Gurney, and Parnelli Jones all won races in the Cup Series in the pre-modern era, but the most famous IndyCar star to test the waters at stock car racing's highest level was a one-win wonder.
Mario Andretti competed in 14 Cup Series races between 1966 and 1969, and his lone win came in the 1967 Daytona 500. He led 112 of 200 laps and outlasted a field consisting of names such as Richard Petty, David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, and Bobby Allison. His contributions in NASCAR are a footnote in his illustrious career, but the victory further establishes him as one of the all-time auto racing giants.
6. Casey Mears
From one famous open-wheel name to another, the nephew of Rick Mears was a mainstay on the Cup Series grid for 14 seasons. He racked up 494 career starts (and could potentially add more, as he ran part-time in 2025) and finished in the top 15 in points twice. But he only ever made one trip to victory lane.
He made it count, though, winning the 2007 Coca-Cola 600. Mears flirted with the top five all evening and managed to save enough fuel to go the distance during the final 59-lap run. On a high-attrition night, he led one of the more bizarre top five finishing orders in NASCAR history by beating J.J. Yeley, Kyle Petty, Reed Sorenson, and Brian Vickers.
5. Donald Thomas
Thomas carries the distinction of being the only driver credited with a Cup Series win who didn't even take the checkered flag in said race. Rather, he started a 100-lap event at Lakewood Speedway in 1952, but his more famous brother Herb relieved him midway through and won.
Due to NASCAR's rule that each result is credited to the driver who starts the race, it was Donald who officially went down in the record books as the victor. He became the youngest race winner in Cup Series history until the mark was broken by Kyle Busch in 2005, and then again by Joey Logano in 2009.
4. Justin Haley
Purely from an in-race circumstantial standpoint, Haley might lay claim to the wackiest win in Cup Series history. During the 2019 Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway, he was running near the back of the field when a major crash put the race under caution with rain fast approaching.
Most of the remaining drivers pitted, but Haley stayed out hoping to catch lightning in a bottle. He did exactly that, with thunderstorms forcing an early conclusion just as the 20-year-old in his third career Cup Series start had inherited the lead. He's made 177 attempts since and is yet to return to victory lane, and he's set to move back down to the Craftsman Truck Series in 2026.
3. Richard Brickhouse
Remember the NFL player strike during the 1987 season, when a chunk of the campaign was performed by "scab" players while the regulars boycotted? Brickhouse's win at Talladega Superspeedway in 1969 was the NASCAR version of that.
Due to concerns about the tires and speed at NASCAR's fastest track, the vast majority of the Cup Series stars sat out of the Talladega 500. Brickhouse's only competitors of any significance were Bobby Isaac, Tiny Lund, and Buck Baker, and he led 33 laps en route to his only win in 39 career starts.
2. Trevor Bayne
In terms of capturing the true flash-in-the-pan magic of a one-win wonder, Bayne is NASCAR's all-time most definitive example, and it's not particularly close. In only his second Cup Series start, he was one of the fastest drivers all day in the 2011 Daytona 500, and he found himself in the mix in the closing laps. David Ragan was penalized for a late restart violation, and the 20-year-old inherited the lead and stunningly held on to take the checkered flag.
He became an instant sensation, and his long-term prospects skyrocketed. Alas, 187 Cup Series starts later, he never won again and recorded a career-best points finish of 22nd. He was supposed to be a future superstar. But much like fellow early 2010s one-hit wonder Gotye, now he's just somebody that we used to know.
How can you possibly top that? Well... there is one way.
1. Marvin Burke
It is time to present one of NASCAR's greatest trivia questions: who has the best winning percentage in Cup Series history? It's Marvin Burke. He's 1-for-1.
Burke won a 1951 event at Oakland Stadium, in a depleted field while most of the Cup Series stars were competing at Martinsville Speedway on the same day. Nobody else who finished in the top five ever won a race at NASCAR's top level.
He came from nowhere, etched his name into the history books, and was never heard from again. By default, Burke is NASCAR's all-time biggest one-win wonder.
Honorable mentions: Cole Custer, Johnny Rutherford, Jim Roper, Ron Bouchard, Harrison Burton