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The Greatest Drivers Who Never Won a NASCAR Cup Series Championship

The greatest prize and achievement in NASCAR and all motorsports is the end-of-the-season championship because it is the culmination of months and months of struggle, preparation, and dedication. With seasons getting longer and longer, the satisfaction of winning a NASCAR championship will be even greater.
The Greatest Drivers Who Never Won a NASCAR Cup Series Championship 13 photos
Photo: Mark Martin/Twitter
The Greatest Drivers Who Never Won a NASCAR Cup Series ChampionshipThe Greatest Drivers Who Never Won a NASCAR Cup Series ChampionshipThe Greatest Drivers Who Never Won a NASCAR Cup Series ChampionshipThe Greatest Drivers Who Never Won a NASCAR Cup Series ChampionshipThe Greatest Drivers Who Never Won a NASCAR Cup Series ChampionshipThe Greatest Drivers Who Never Won a NASCAR Cup Series ChampionshipThe Greatest Drivers Who Never Won a NASCAR Cup Series ChampionshipThe Greatest Drivers Who Never Won a NASCAR Cup Series ChampionshipThe Greatest Drivers Who Never Won a NASCAR Cup Series ChampionshipThe Greatest Drivers Who Never Won a NASCAR Cup Series ChampionshipThe Greatest Drivers Who Never Won a NASCAR Cup Series ChampionshipThe Greatest Drivers Who Never Won a NASCAR Cup Series Championship
However, some incredible and amazing drivers could never put it all together for a single season and take the top ranking. Sometimes, it was just a matter of being good while others were great, and other times luck was not on their side. Whatever the case, we take a look at the best NASCAR drivers who never won a Cup Series Championship.

Mark Martin - Arguably the greatest NASCAR driver to never win a Cup Series Championship, Mark Martin burst onto the scene in the early 1980s, showing a lot of promise and potential. However, sponsors were not satisfied with him. As a result, he races sporadically throughout the mid-80s until Jack Roush comes to visit him. Just a year later, Mark Martin was winning his first race. After that, the rest was history, achieving a total of 35 wins and four runner-up finishes in the championship alongside Roush Racing. In 2007, he would take kind of a part-time role as he was looking to retire.

Still, the racing fuel did not exit his blood yet, and when Rick Hendrick from Hendrick Motorsports offered him a full-time multi-year contract for his number five car in 2009, Mark Martin could not say no. As a result, he will get five more wins and another championship runner-up and will go part-time again in 2012.

In 2013, he would make his final start and call it a day. He had won nearly 100 races in the top three divisions but not a single championship to show for in any of them. It's incredible how he did not have at least one, considering he had 17 top ten points finishes in the Cup Series, which included 13 top five points finishes. Of those, seven were in a row from 1993 to 1999.

Besides having amazing results, he was always very consistent, but a combination of bad luck and incredible competitions made him the best driver not to win a Cup Series championship.

Junior Johnson - He won six championships as a car owner but not one as a driver, despite winning 50 races in his career behind the wheel, including the 1960 Daytona 500 event. At that race, he famously discovered the properties and benefits of drafting. Things were indeed pretty different back then because they were racing two or three times a week, so compared to more modern drivers, it's not really comparable.

The Greatest Drivers Who Never Won a NASCAR Cup Series Championship
Photo: CNN
But let me change your perspective because Junior Johnson achieved 50 wins in just 313 starts, which from a percentage standpoint, is astonishing. Besides, Johnson's attempts at a full-time season were also diminished by a lack of rides and other non-racing problems. As a result, he never really got the points and finishes he deserved.

He drove for a lot of car owners, but his true talents were made obvious when he prepared his own cars. Learning everything he could from the veterans and more experienced car owners, Junior maneuvered his way around the rules with expert precision and eventually found the ultimate winning way. The victories started to pile up, and he solidified his position as one of the greatest drivers to never win a championship.

Davey Allison - A driver whose life was tragically cut short right in his prime. Dave Allison was destined to take the NASCAR world by storm, and he did exactly that. Despite having run only six full-time seasons and 191 total race starts, he achieved 19 wins, taking victory at the 1988 Daytona 500 event. With the help of this race wins, they scored three top ten points. Actually, just in his last two seasons (1991 and 1992), he scored ten wins and finished third in the points back to back. Besides, going to the final race of the 1992 NASCAR Cup Series season, he was the favorite to win the title. Unfortunately, fate had other plans for Davey Allison.

Davey's real strength was at the superspeedways track, and places like Daytona, Michigan, or Talladega were his playgrounds. He was undoubtedly going to be one of the best drivers in history, and if he had not died in that helicopter crash in 1993, who knows how many titles and wins he would have taken from the likes of Dale Earnhardt and others.

Edward Glen Fireball Roberts - When you have the nickname Fireball it means you are pretty good at what you are doing. Mr. Roberts was one of the greatest, finishing runner-up in the standings in his first-ever NASCAR season all the way back in 1950, despite only running nine of 19 events. In only 206 starts, Fireball won 133 races. He had several attempts at putting together a full-time season. Still, as per usual during that era, full-time rides were extremely hard to come by, and it was often when from a logistical standpoint, it was too difficult to get from one race to another. And it's understandable because, in a 60-race schedule, there were often three races per week.

The Greatest Drivers Who Never Won a NASCAR Cup Series Championship
Photo: Orlando Sentinel
Still, Roberts managed six top ten points finishes from 1950 to 1963, and in 1962, he won the Daytona 500 event. In 1964, he had more than a good season, but in the World 600, he wrecked on the backstretch while trying to avoid another crash. As a result, his car hit the inside wall with the trunk first, flipped, and immediately caught fire. Unfortunately, he was trapped inside and severely burned. A couple of weeks later, he passed away at only 35 years old due to his injuries.

From that moment, NASCAR implemented several new safety regulations, which included mandated fireproof coveralls for drivers and self-sealing fuel tanks. If he had never been involved in that horrible crash, he would definitely have added many accomplishments and championships.

Curtis Turner - He was considered by many of his contemporaries to be the best driver ever, and he indeed lived up to the hype on a lot of occasions. He had won on all types of tracks, whether talking of small dirt ovals or superspeedways. He took the pole position for the inaugural Southern 500 and was extremely loved by NASCAR fans for most of his time in the sport.

He couldn't take home a title; the main reason was the one we discussed earlier. Running full-time back then was just kind of unheard of. But that wasn't the main problem. The biggest reason he never achieved a championship was that in 1961 he was banned from NASCAR for life for trying to start up a drivers union. When full-time grand national competition was starting to become a reality for many drivers, Curtis Turner got the short stick because he wanted a cut of broadcasting rights revenue.

The Greatest Drivers Who Never Won a NASCAR Cup Series Championship
Photo: NASCAR Legends/Twitter
He raced for four years in the smaller promotions, trying to make a living out of racing stock cars. However, in 1965 after NASCAR saw its biggest star Richard Petty turn his attention to drag racing, and Ford with Chrysler boycotted NASCAR over some engine disagreements, fans were not showing up to events.

As a result, NASCAR's officials lifted the ban on Curtis Turner, and he made one of the greatest comebacks in the history of the competition, winning his first race back. It would prove to be his last one in the Cup Series, and he ended his career with 17 wins and 184 starts. In the lower divisions, he achieved a considerable number of victories. He was one of the best drivers ever, but unfortunately, nobody let him prove that.

These were the best drivers never to win a Cup Series Championship, but if you know of other names, please let us know in the comments.
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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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