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Some of the NASCAR Records That Probably Will Never Be Broken

Unbeatable records are a part of every sport, so NASCAR is no exception. From track records to win streaks, this racing series has a lot of records to beat. Today we will look at just some of them that I believe are the most important.
Some of the NASCAR Records That Probably Will Never Be Broken 11 photos
Photo: NASCAR Hall of Fame
Some of the NASCAR Records That Probably Will Never Be BrokenSome of the NASCAR Records That Probably Will Never Be BrokenSome of the NASCAR Records That Probably Will Never Be BrokenSome of the NASCAR Records That Probably Will Never Be BrokenSome of the NASCAR Records That Probably Will Never Be BrokenSome of the NASCAR Records That Probably Will Never Be BrokenSome of the NASCAR Records That Probably Will Never Be BrokenSome of the NASCAR Records That Probably Will Never Be BrokenSome of the NASCAR Records That Probably Will Never Be BrokenSome of the NASCAR Records That Probably Will Never Be Broken
Two hundred wins (Richard Petty) - From the late 1950s, all the way to the 90s, King Richard Petty was winning every race on track while at the same time being the most famous person off the track. He won most of these races in the pre-modern era before 1972 when the race schedule was changed to have fewer races in a season. Back in the 1960s, NASCAR had approximately 50 races per year. Basically, every single week of the year, a race was held.

With the help of his father, Richard Petty created this race company, and they were able to attend every race, every single time. With the kind of money Richard Petty had behind him, it's not surprising that he could put together the most wins in the competition history. Not only does Richard Petty have the most wins of any competitor in NASCAR Grand National/Cup history, but he is also the driver with the most second-place finishes (157).

I believe that this level of dominance is absolutely insane. Let's play a little numbers game. For example, in the last two decades, we had 36 races a season. Let's say you have an incredible dominant season, and you win ten races. Well, you would have to do that every year for 20 years to equalize Richard Petty's record. Yeah, that's not going to happen anytime soon.

Best win percentage (Herb Thomas) - Only drivers who started in at least 100 races were eligible for the list made by NASCAR. From all of them, Herb Thomas has the best win percentage of all time, with 48 victories in 229 race starts. That is approximately 21 percent. To put that into perspective, just about every five times, he fired the engine for a race he was going to win.

Some of the NASCAR Records That Probably Will Never Be Broken
Photo: NASCAR Hall of Fame
It should come as no surprise that he was one of NASCAR's earliest stars. After all, he was the first driver to win two premier series championships, taking the titles in 1951 and '53. Both of them were behind the wheel of the iconic "Fabulous Hudson Hornet." Besides, he is the main inspiration for the famous Doc Hudson character in the movie Cars.

After a severe injury in 1957 during a North Carolina race, he was almost done racing, retiring in 1962. A lot of fans were left wondering what else he could have achieved had he not been injured in that 1957 race.

Five championships in a row (Jimmie Johnson) - From 2006 to 2010, Jimmie Johnson went on to dominate the NASCAR world. Funny enough, a lot of people were worried that he would single-handedly destroy NASCAR, but it's understandable. It becomes boring and unspectacular to watch when you have a single person who dominates like that—just how Michael Schumacher won five straight F1 titles or Valentino Rossi with five consecutive titles in MotoGP. Apparently, there is something unique about this number five.

Some of the NASCAR Records That Probably Will Never Be Broken
Photo: NASCAR
Richard Petty indeed had seven championships, but they are actually pretty well-spaced out. The guy closest to Jimmy Johnson's record was Dale Earnhardt Sr., who won four titles in five seasons. While Jimmy was on this tear, NASCAR changed the format no less than three times, even changing the point system completely.

Fastest lap ever at 212.809 mph (Bill Elliott) - We are talking here about the fastest lap ever, not only in a race. Bill Elliott reached 212.809 mph (342.48 kph) at Talladega Superspeedway in 1987 in his #9 Coors Ford Thunderbird.

Bill's team built him the legendary Ford Thunderbird for that respective season. His tube-frame stock car weighed 3700 pounds (1678 kg). Under the hood rumbled a 351 cubic inch (5.75-liter) Ford V8 making 625 hp (634 ps).

Unfortunately, the 1987 Winston 500 race at Talladega was one to forget because on lap 22, Bobby Allison blew a tire, and his car went airborne, tearing down a section of the fence protecting the grandstands. Five people were seriously injured, but fortunately, no one was killed.

Twenty-seven races won in one season (Richard Petty) - The 1967 NASCAR season had to be the one that earned him the nickname King. Driving an old Plymouth, Richard Petty absolutely obliterated the competition. Again, there were more races in a year back then, but by winning 27 of 48 races that he entered, he had by far the most dominant season at the highest level of racing. Between August and October, Richard won ten races in a row, and this is the year when, for the first and last time, he won the famed Southern 500 event in Darlington.

Some of the NASCAR Records That Probably Will Never Be Broken
Photo: NASCAR/Twitter
Most starts without a victory (J.D. McDuffie) - Until now, we only talked about positive records, but here we have the most negative one. JD McDuffie holds the record for the most starts in NASCAR's top level without a win (653). He still had 106 top ten finishes during his long career, but nothing better than that. Besides, he had the record for most last-place finishes (32) until Joe Nemechek surpassed him in 2014.

McDuffie made his debut in 1963 at the Myrtle Beach Speedway, driving Curtis Turner's old 1961 Ford racing car. J.D. was an expert on dirt tracks, but he did not enjoy the same success in NASCAR. His best NASCAR finish came at the Albany-Saratoga Speedway in 1971, where he managed to finish third.

Unfortunately, he was killed in an accident on the fifth lap of the 1991 Budweiser The Glen race at Watkins Glen. At 170 mph (273 kph), he collided with Jimmy Means after suffering a mechanical failure. As a result, McDuffie slid across the grass and hit the outside retaining wall with such force that the car jumped into the air, rotated, and then came to rest upside-down.

Seven Daytona 500 victories (Richard Petty) - I know this is the third time we are talking about a Richard Petty record, but the guy was that good. From 1964 to 1981, Petty won an incredible seven Daytona 500's. It is hard enough to come victorious at one of those things; if you win two, you are already considered a great driver. Three or four, you can call yourself a legend of the sport. But seven, you are in a totally different league than anybody else. Richard Petty became the first driver to win the Daytona 500 in three different decades.

Some of the NASCAR Records That Probably Will Never Be Broken
Photo: NASCAR Hall of Fame
Probably the most impressive one was in 1981 when he won the legendary race with a brand-new car. NASCAR went from the enormous cars of the 70s and shrunk them down to more compact and modern-looking vehicles. Still, Richard Petty was able to control that thing to a victory. I believe this record will not be broken because it took him almost two decades to achieve all these seven wins, and with the driver's career getting shorter and shorter to avoid injury, I don't think someone will come even close to beating his record.

There you have it—the most important and, at the same time, unbeatable records in NASCAR's long history.
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About the author: Silvian Irimia
Silvian Irimia profile photo

Silvian may be the youngest member of our team, being born in the 2000s, but you won't find someone more passionate than him when it comes to motorsport. An automotive engineer by trade, Silvian considers the Ferrari F50 his favorite car, with the original Lamborghini Countach a close second.
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