As all three of NASCAR’s premier series take on Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend, it is also approaching nearly 10 years since a surprisingly extremely rare feat was accomplished at that very track.
For three current or future NASCAR Hall of Famers, some might call it the best gift they could have asked for on their birthday — a NASCAR Cup Series race win.
Given how many drivers have tried their hand at Cup, it’s not too surprising that drivers have, or will have to, race(d) on their birthday. This weekend, no driver in any series will be eligible to win on their birthday (unless Austin Wayne Self and Sage Karam were to inexplicably run the Cup race somehow), but three Cup Series drivers have done it in the past — two of them managed to do it twice.
So how is this feat so rare? We’ve heard several times in the past that the win was a great birthday gift. Well, most people either win on a crew member or team owner’s birthday (for example, Austin Cindric won the 2022 Daytona 500 on team owner Roger Penske’s 85th birthday) or they win on their birthday weekend (sorry fans, but Trevor Bayne did not in fact win on his 20th birthday, despite Darrell Waltrip’s now-famous quip, “Happy birthday, Trevor Bayne, 20 years old!” — he won the day after his birthday).
So with that being said, let’s take a look at the three drivers who have taken home a trophy for their birthday.
Cale Yarborough
Cale Yarborough (March 27) was the first driver to win on his birthday, and he was actually able to do it twice. The first time came in 1977 at North Wilkesboro Speedway, where he absolutely dominated, leading 320 of the 400 laps.
The second time came six years later at Atlanta Motor Speedway, leading 78 of the 328 laps and holding off Neil Bonnett, who led the most laps at 83.
Yarborough would be the sole driver to accomplish this feat for another 26 years.
Kyle Busch
Kyle Busch (May 2) became the second driver to win on his birthday, and like Yarborough, he has been able to do this twice.
The first time he was able to accomplish the feat came at Richmond Raceway (then called Richmond International Raceway). Despite teammate (and hometown favorite) Denny Hamlin leading 124 laps and dominating the race, Busch was able to take the lead late in the event to win after leading 53 laps total of the 400-lap event. Busch won the event again in 2010, but that race was on May 1, losing the chance to win on his…
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