NASCAR
Who Has Won in the Most Consecutive NASCAR Cup Series Seasons?
2024 saw one of the most impressive streaks in NASCAR history come to an unceremonious end. By failing to win a race, Kyle Busch went 0-36 for the first time in his Cup Series career. Busch had never seen a winless season dating back to 2005. This set an all-time Cup record of 19-straight years with a checkered flag for the Las Vegas driver. Busch broke a tie with Richard Petty for this honor by winning in 2023, but was unable to make it a perfect 20 winning years.
As a result, who now holds the active consecutive winning seasons record? The five drivers below are the only ones to score a win every year since 2021. What may have once seemed like an insurmountable feat by ‘The King’ was broken in the modern era. Will Kyle Busch’s claim to this record last the test of time? These drivers are the ones with the best chance at one day upsetting Rowdy’s reign.
Christopher Bell – 4 (2021-2024)
Kyle Busch saw a majority of his winning seasons with Joe Gibbs Racing, so it’s appropriate to start this list with another JGR driver. Christopher Bell has won each season since taking over the No. 20 Toyota in 2021. What currently amounts to nine career wins for the Oklahoma driver has seen a lot of success in a short time. Bell made the Championship 4 in two of these four years, and also earned multiple victories in the last three seasons.
2024 was in Bell’s eyes his best season yet, setting or matching career highs in wins, top-fives, top-10s, average finish, and laps led. If not for the wall riding penalty at Martinsville, Bell would have made a third-straight Championship 4 as well. Driver 20 appears to be just entering the prime of his career.
Bell’s winning ways show no signs of slowing down anytime soon. As long as Bell is paired with Busch’s past crew chief Adam Stevens, expect to see the 20 in victory lane on a regular basis.
Kyle Larson – 4 (2021-2024)
In similar vein to Bell, Kyle Larson has also seen regular checkered flags since joining a powerhouse team. The Hendrick 5 crew has yet to see any fewer than three wins across their four years together. Their behemoth 2021 season including 10 victories and a championship may have yet to be replicated, though. Despite not finding as much success in the Next Gen era, Larson still put up a series-high six win 2024 campaign.
Larson is considered by many to be the most talented driver on Sunday’s grid, and he’s with the all-time winningest team. Cliff Daniels is also regarded as the perfect crew chief to mesh with Larson’s bold and sometimes-reckless driving style. As long as Larson remains a Hendrick driver, his winning ways should continue on for years to come.
William Byron – 5 (2020-2024)
Besting Larson by one winning year is his teammate William Byron. The 24 returned to victory lane in 2020’s regular season finale from Daytona, and has yet to go winless again. Since the 2021 season, Byron has been partnered with handpicked crew chief Rudy Fugle, who previously guided the young driver to six wins as a Truck Series rookie. A six-win year was repeated by this duo in 2023, setting their high water mark to this point.
Team 24 fell a bit shy of the Cup title in 2024, but a Daytona 500 triumph is an equally large career milestone. 2025 will see Byron try and make a third-straight Championship 4 appearance. In short, Byron’s days contending for multiple wins each season and championships appear to just be getting started.
Denny Hamlin – 6 (2019-2024)
Returning to Joe Gibbs Racing, Denny Hamlin has both Hendrick drivers beat in this record, with a six-pack of active winning seasons. 2018 was the first and so far only winless season of Denny Hamlin’s career. Had he won then, he would rival Busch now with 19-straight successful years.
All of Hamlin’s success following this down year came with crew chief Chris Gabehart atop team 11. Joe Gibbs Racing has recently reassigned Gabehart to a competition director role though, and gave Hamlin Chris Gayle as a new shot caller. This match is an unproven commodity, only having eight Xfinity starts together.
Hamlin has shown no signs of falling off in the Next Gen Car. Alas, age will eventually catch up to the veteran. Driver 11 recently turned 44 years old, meaning a competitive ceiling may be in his rearview mirror. Hamlin and Gayle may be a bit off to start in 2025. They should still be able to find a win somewhere across the opening 26 weeks.
Joey Logano – 13 (2012-2024)
Trumping all active drivers in consecutive winning seasons is reigning Cup champion Joey Logano. Dating back to his second career win with Joe Gibbs Racing at Pocono in June 2012, Logano has not gone winless since then. This timespan includes his entire duration at Team Penske, and three championship seasons.
Even amidst his career low seasons, Logano has weathered through each dry spell to still find victory lane. Recent forgettable years for Logano include 2017, 2021, and 2023, with each one tallying a single win for team 22.
Should Logano keep up this pace of winning each year, he would surpass Kyle Busch’s record in 2031. By that year Logano will be 41 years old. This age is still younger than current-day Hamlin or Martin Truex Jr. If Logano also remains healthy and starts every race between now and then, he would likewise break Jeff Gordon’s ‘Iron Man’ record of 797 consecutive starts in 2030.
As seen with Hamlin, Busch, and countless other drivers, however, no winning streak lasts forever. Logano will eventually run into a full season’s worth of poor luck and on-track execution errors preventing his trophy case from growing. Championship defense seasons in particular have not been kind to Logano. This was seen with a Playoff Round of 16 elimination in 2023. As the sport’s top dog for a third time, it will be fun to follow along with Logano in this latest title repeat quest. History does however favor him finding victory lane again.
Could Logano or one of these drivers here be the first in NASCAR history to 20-straight winning seasons? It’s definitely a longshot chance for any driver to see that level of continued success at the sport’s top level. Logano’s one advantage is that he’s been full-time in Cup since he turned 19. Age alone may swing this record to Logano’s favor. Many others are within reach of this unprecedented feat as well.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credits to Logan Riely/Getty Images
