Top 24 NASCAR Cup Series Drivers of the 2000s

Four-time champions share this list with Daytona 500 winners who never took a title and drivers who peaked in one big season. Ten years of stock-car racing, ranked by you.

1. 1
   Jeff Gordon

   Won his fourth Cup title in 2001 and the Daytona 500 in 2005, with 33 race wins between 2000 and 2009.
   1000pts
2. 2
   Jimmie Johnson

   Won four straight Cup titles from 2006 to 2009 with Hendrick Motorsports and 47 races in the decade, including 10 in 2007.
   959pts
3. 3
   Ryan Newman

   2002 Rookie of the Year who won eight races and 11 poles for Penske in 2003, and later won the 2008 Daytona 500.
   708pts
4. 4
   Michael Waltrip

   Won the Daytona 500 in 2001 and 2003 for Dale Earnhardt, Inc., and moved into Cup team ownership with Michael Waltrip Racing in 2007.
   686pts
5. 5
   Greg Biffle

   Won six races in 2005 for Roush Racing and finished second in that year's championship.
   645pts
6. 6
   Matt Kenseth

   Won the 2003 championship for Roush Racing with a single race win, led the series with five wins in 2002 and won the 2009 Daytona 500.
   548pts
7. 7
   Dale Earnhardt

   Seven-time champion who finished second in the 2000 standings and won at Talladega that October, his final Cup win before his death at the 2001 Daytona 500.
   547pts
8. 8
   Bill Elliott

   Won the 2002 Brickyard 400 for Evernham Motorsports, one of four Cup wins he took between 2001 and 2003.
   547pts
9. 9
   Kevin Harvick

   Took over Richard Childress Racing's car after Dale Earnhardt's death in 2001, won at Atlanta in his third start and won the 2007 Daytona 500.
   490pts
10. 10
    Jamie McMurray

    Won at Charlotte in 2002 in his second Cup start as a substitute for the injured Sterling Marlin, then took 2003 Rookie of the Year.
    490pts
11. 11
    Sterling Marlin

    Gave Dodge its first Cup win since its return to the series at Michigan in 2001 and finished third in that year's standings.
    425pts
12. 12
    Kurt Busch

    Won the 2004 championship for Roush Racing, the first decided under the Chase for the Cup format.
    425pts
13. 13
    Ward Burton

    Won the 2001 Southern 500 at Darlington and the 2002 Daytona 500 in Bill Davis Racing's No. 22 Dodge.
    425pts
14. 14
    Denny Hamlin

    Joe Gibbs Racing driver who finished third in the standings as a rookie in 2006 and won four races in 2009.
    425pts
15. 15
    Bobby Labonte

    Won the 2000 Winston Cup championship and that year's Brickyard 400 driving the No. 18 Pontiac for Joe Gibbs Racing.
    425pts
16. 16
    Kasey Kahne

    2004 Rookie of the Year who led the series with six wins in 2006 driving the No. 9 Dodge for Evernham Motorsports.
    350pts
17. 17
    Dale Earnhardt Jr.

    Won the 2004 Daytona 500 driving for Dale Earnhardt, Inc., took 18 wins in the decade and was voted Most Popular Driver every year from 2003 to 2009.
    350pts
18. 18
    Rusty Wallace

    Penske driver who won four races in 2000 and made the Chase in 2005, his final full-time season.
    264pts
19. 19
    Mark Martin

    Runner-up in the standings in 2002 and again in 2009, when he won five races for Hendrick Motorsports at age 50.
    163pts
20. 20
    Kyle Busch

    2005 Rookie of the Year who moved to Joe Gibbs Racing and won eight Cup races in 2008.
    163pts
21. 21
    Jeff Burton

    Roush and later Richard Childress Racing driver who won four races in 2000 and ten in the decade.
    163pts
22. 22
    Tony Stewart

    Cup champion in 2002 and 2005 with Joe Gibbs Racing, who won 34 races in the decade and in 2009 became co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing.
    163pts
23. 23
    Carl Edwards

    Roush Fenway driver who won nine races in 2008, the most of anyone that season, and finished runner-up in the standings.
    0pts
24. 24
    Dale Jarrett

    Robert Yates Racing driver who won the 2000 Daytona 500, his third win in that race, and ten Cup races in the decade.
    0pts

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