Top 10 Active NASCAR Cup Series Drivers Ranked by Career Wins

The NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series’ schedule has 36 points-paying races.

In other words, there is plenty of chances for drivers to score wins.

Recent years have seen a drop in the number of race winners in a single season.

That, however, isn’t always the case.

The 2014, 2015 and 2016 seasons had, respectively, 13, 12 and 11 different race winners.

This year’s field features 20 race winners among the full-season entrants.

See who makes it into the top 10.

#10 – Clint Bowyer: 10 Wins

Clint Bowyer moved to the Cup Series in 2006, joining a strong Richard Childress Racing team.

In only his second year in the series, Bowyer won two races and finished third in points.

He made trips to victory lane in 2010 and 2011 as well.

His final year with RCR saw Bowyer score his best championship result, finishing runner-up to Brad Keselowski.

At the end of that year, he left the team and joined Michael Waltrip Racing.

Bowyer kept his streak going in 2012, but did not score a win in his final three years with MWR.

As the organization folded at the end of 2015, Bowyer joined the small HScott team for 2016.

He found his way back into a top ride in 2017, replacing Tony Stewart in the #14 car.

After a winless first year with Stewart-Haas, Bowyer finally ended his drought with two wins in 2018.

While Bowyer hasn’t been able to replicate his early championship success, he remains a rather successful driver.

#9 – Ryan Newman: 18 Wins

Ryan Newman was often considered a future champion during his early years.

After scoring a pole-position for the Coca-Cola 600 in 2001 as a part-time driver, he made the move in 2002.

He won six poles and scored one victory, finishing an impressive sixth in points.

Newman won the Rookie of the Year title over Jimmie Johnson.

The following season was a breakthrough year for the sophomore driver.

Ryan Newman led the series with eight wins and 11 poles, repeating his sixth place in points.

He, however, failed to replicate that success.

Newman leads all active drivers with 51 career poles.

He remained fairly competitive in recent years.

In 2014, Newman narrowly missed out on the title, finishing second to Kevin Harvick by a few tenths.

#8 – Martin Truex Jr.: 22 Wins

Martin Truex Jr. could be considered something of a late-bloomer.

He made his move to the Cup Series in 2006 after scoring back-to-back championship wins in the Busch Series.

Truex scored his first victory in the series the following year.

It would take another six years for him to score another victory.

A move to the small Furniture Row in 2014 turned out to be his big turnaround.

The team became a championship contender the following seasons.

Truex, meanwhile, became a regular in victory lane.

He won the championship in 2017 and finished runner-up last year.

Furniture Row closed its doors at the end of the season, and Truex joined Joe Gibbs Racing.

The 2017 champion already has three wins with his new team in 2019.

#7 – Joey Logano: 22 Wins

Many felt that Joey Logano had been rushed into the Cup Series in 2009.

At the age of 18, Logano had some big shoes to fill in.

He was drafted in as Tony Stewart’s replacement in the #20 for Joe Gibbs Racing.

He set the record as the youngest winner that same year, taking a rain-shortened race at New Hampshire.

Logano had a hard time, only returning to victory lane in 2012 at Pocono.

He left Gibbs in 2013 for Team Penske, which turned out to be his big break.

After an up-and-down first year, Logano turned into a championship contender.

Scoring multiple wins over the next seasons, he finally won his first title in 2018.

Now one of the top drivers in the Cup Series, Logano will likely add to that count.

#6 – Kurt Busch: 30 Wins

Kurt Busch joined the Cup Series as a full-time driver in 2001 for Roush Racing.

His first four wins came the following year, with him finishing third in points.

Busch’s great form continued, winning the Cup Series title in 2004.

But off-track issues, one of his career’s marks, brought his Roush days to an early end.

Busch was removed from the team in 2005 after a DUI arrest.

He moved to Team Penske for 2006, taking over the legendary #2 from Rusty Wallace.

Busch again enjoyed success with his new team, winning races in every season.

Once again, however, off-track issues led to him leaving the team in 2011.

He joined the small Phoenix Racing for 2012, and had his first winless season since his rookie year.

Busch didn’t stay at Phoenix for too long, moving over to Furniture Rown before the end of 2012.

He found a way back into a top team for 2014, joining Stewart-Haas Racing in the new #41 car.

Busch repeated his early success and won at least one race from 2014 until 2018.

He left the team at the end of last year, joining Chip Ganassi Racing for 2019.

#5 – Brad Keselowski: 30 Wins

Brad Keselowski scored his first win in only his fifth career start, driving for Phoenix Racing.

In one of the most iconic finishes in NASCAR history, he sent Carl Edwards into the fence at Talladega.

It turned out to be Phoenix Racing’s only victory in the series.

Keselowski spent the rest of the year swapping between Phoenix and Hendrick Motorsports’ fifth car.

With NASCAR limiting teams to only four cars in 2010, Keselowski signed with Team Penske.

He had a breakout season the following year, winning three races on the way to fifth in points.

Keselowski scored his first career championship in 2012, scoring five wins along the way.

Since then, Keselowski has scored at least one win in each season, with a career-high six in 2016.

The Team Penske driver already has three wins in 2019, and this number should keep on growing.

#4 – Denny Hamlin: 33 Wins

Denny Hamlin won two races as a rookie in 2006, finishing an impressive third in points.

Driving for Joe Gibbs Racing in the #11, he quickly established himself as one of the series’ top drivers.

Hamlin had his best season in 2010, scoring a career-high and series-leading eight wins.

He ultimately finished second to Jimmie Johnson, losing the title in the final race of the season.

His streak continued until 2018, which turned out to be his only winless season so far.

But Hamlin has found the way back to victory lane in 2019.

He ended the drought by scoring his second career victory at the Daytona 500.

Even without a championship to his name, Denny Hamlin remains one of the Cup Series’ leading drivers.

#3 – Kevin Harvick: 45 Wins

Kevin Harvick joined the Cup Series in 2001, replacing the late Dale Earnhardt.

Drafted in as an emergency replacement, Harvick won his first race in only his third start.

While he remained a consistent contender for race victories, his big break came in 2010.

Harvick finished third in points that season, marking his turnaround into a championship contender.

Following a move to Stewart-Haas in 2014, he won the Cup Series championship the same year.

In 2018, Harvick scored a career high eight wins and finished third in points.

He is still winless in 2019, but it’s hard to imagine that lasting much longer.

#2 – Kyle Busch: 55 Wins

Kyle Busch made his Cup Series debut in 2004 driving for Hendrick Motorsports.

He stayed with the team for three seasons, scoring three wins during that time.

In 2008, he signed with Joe Gibbs Racing to replace J.J. Yelley in the #18.

It marked a breakout year for Busch, who went on to score a series-leading eight wins.

From then on, #18 quickly established himself as one of the top drivers in the series.

Despite scoring a good number of wins, he failed to translate that into championship success.

Busch finally scored his first title in 2015, after missing out 11 races that year with a broken leg.

In 16 full seasons in the Cup Series, Busch has never had a winless year.

In 2018, he matched his 2008 record with eight wins.

He already has four wins in 2019, and his numbers continue to improve.

Kyle Busch is also well-known for his Xfinity and Truck Series success.

He is the all-time leader in the Xfinity Series with 95 wins and in the Truck Series with 56.

With 55 wins in 512 starts, Busch is one of two active drivers with a 10% win rate.

#1 – Jimmie Johnson: 83 Wins

Unsurprisingly, seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson also leads all active drivers in wins.

Johnson’s 83 victories place him sixth in the all-time list, only one win behind fourth and fifth place.

He began his career as a full-time driver in 2002 with Hendrick Motorsports.

Johnson scored three wins in each of his first two seasons.

In 2003 and 2004, #48 finished second in points.

His record-setting run of championships began in 2006 and continued until 2010, breaking Cale Yarborough’s previous mark of three consecutive.

In 2007, Johnson set a career-high with ten wins during the season.

He won at least one race every year until 2018, which marked his first winless season.

His drought is currently at 71 races, with the last trip to victory lane coming at Dover in 2017.

With 83 wins in 629 starts, #48 leads all drivers in win rate as well with 13.2%.

Still, Johnson has a few more years left, so moving up in the all-time list isn’t out of the question.