One of the best things about racing is that there are so many ways to look at its history. For all the wins and losses, there are people and stories. For every stat that can be analyzed, there are things that happen that nobody will ever see again. Sometimes that’s a good thing.
NASCAR is off this week, so no new memories will be made, but here’s a selection of five stats and stories that illustrate just how many ways there are to tell the story of the sport.
1. There are six internationally-born drivers with Cup Series wins
In the spirit of the Olympics, NASCAR’s drivers have come from all corners of the world. OK, no they haven’t. Which makes sense in that stock car racing isn’t as common internationally as open wheel.
All six international winners come from different countries. Mario Andretti (Italy) paved the way, winning the 1967 Daytona 500, his only win in just 14 career Cup Series starts.
He’s joined by Canada’s Earl Ross (1 win), Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya (2 wins), Australian Marcos Ambrose (2 wins), New Zealand’s own Shane van Gisbergen (1 win to date) and Mexican Daniel Suarez (2 wins to date).
It’s a good illustration of why it would be so difficult to make racing an Olympic sport: while racing is popular around the world, there are so many types of vehicles that there’s no one kind that would give an even playing field, and the expense of each country having multiple types of cars compete would be prohibitive and a logistical challenge.
2. Jimmie Johnson’s recent struggles aren’t as uncommon as you might think.
Jimmie Johnson deserves a good amount of slack for the last couple of years. He hadn’t driven the Next Gen before the 2023 Daytona 500 (and learning it while driving part-time is a major obstacle). His team’s equipment is mid-tier, and he’s spent most of the last year dealing with a family tragedy.
His final three winless seasons as a full-time driver are more of a mystery, but Johnson is far from alone as a driver who didn’t take his winning ways all the way to the end of his career. Of the drivers in the top 10 of all-time winners, only five won in their last full-time season:
David Pearson (11 wins in 1969, his last full-time effort). Pearson also ran 18 part-time seasons afterwards and was winless in the last seven of them.
Jeff Gordon (one win in 2015). His win at Martinsville sent Gordon to the title race in his last season. He did make eight winless…
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