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Top 36 Daytona 500 Winners of All Time

By YPB Team

Seven wins for one driver, one win after nineteen tries for another. The same trophy means very different things here.

  1. Dale Earnhardt — ranked #11
    Dale Earnhardt
    Won the 500 in 1998 on his twentieth attempt, after nineteen years of near misses.
    1000pts
  2. Richard Petty — ranked #22
    Richard Petty
    Won the race a record seven times between 1964 and 1981.
    912pts
  3. Cale Yarborough — ranked #33
    Cale Yarborough
    Four wins, and the driver at the centre of the 1979 last-lap fight.
    566pts
  4. Kevin Harvick — ranked #44
    Kevin Harvick
    Won in 2007 by 0.020 seconds as the field crashed behind him.
    566pts
  5. Jimmie Johnson — ranked #55
    Jimmie Johnson
    Won in 2006 and 2013 during his seven-championship run.
    566pts
  6. Michael Waltrip — ranked #66
    Michael Waltrip
    Won in 2001 for his first career victory, in the race that killed Earnhardt.
    500pts
  7. Darrell Waltrip — ranked #77
    Darrell Waltrip
    Won in 1989 at his seventeenth attempt and cried in victory lane.
    500pts
  8. Trevor Bayne — ranked #88
    Trevor Bayne
    Won in 2011 the day after his twentieth birthday, in his second Cup start.
    500pts
  9. Bobby Allison — ranked #99
    Bobby Allison
    Won three, the last in 1988 ahead of his son Davey.
    423pts
  10. Joey Logano — ranked #1010
    Joey Logano
    Won in 2015 at 24, one of the youngest winners of the race.
    423pts
  11. Bill Elliott — ranked #1111
    Bill Elliott
    Won in 1985 and 1987, and his 1987 pole lap of 210.364 mph remains NASCAR's all-time qualifying record.
    333pts
  12. Jeff Gordon — ranked #1212
    Jeff Gordon
    A three-time winner, in 1997, 1999 and 2005.
    227pts
  13. Denny Hamlin — ranked #1313
    Denny Hamlin
    Won in 2016 by 0.010 seconds, then again in 2019 and 2020.
    227pts
  14. Sterling Marlin — ranked #1414
    Sterling Marlin
    Back-to-back wins in 1994 and 1995 for his first two career victories.
    227pts
  15. Matt Kenseth — ranked #1515
    Matt Kenseth
    Won in 2009 and 2012, the second in a Monday-night finish.
    227pts
  16. Dale Jarrett — ranked #1616
    Dale Jarrett
    Three wins, including a 1993 duel with Earnhardt called by his father on television.
    0pts
  17. Junior Johnson — ranked #1717
    Junior Johnson
    Won in 1960 in an underpowered Chevrolet after discovering the draft, the slipstreaming technique that has shaped Daytona ever since.
  18. Fireball Roberts — ranked #1818
    Fireball Roberts
    Won the 1962 race from pole position, the biggest victory for NASCAR's first superstar.
  19. Mario Andretti — ranked #1919
    Mario Andretti
    Won in 1967, and remains the only driver to win the Daytona 500, the Indianapolis 500 and the Formula One title.
  20. A. J. Foyt — ranked #2020
    A. J. Foyt
    Dominated the 1972 race in the Wood Brothers Mercury, adding NASCAR's biggest prize to his Indianapolis 500 victories.
  21. Benny Parsons — ranked #2121
    Benny Parsons
    Won in 1975, two years after his Cup title, and later became one of the sport's best-loved broadcasters.
  22. Buddy Baker — ranked #2222
    Buddy Baker
    Won in 1980 at an average of 177.602 mph, still the fastest Daytona 500 ever run.
  23. Geoff Bodine — ranked #2323
    Geoff Bodine
    Won in 1986 to give Hendrick Motorsports its first Daytona 500 victory.
  24. Derrike Cope — ranked #2424
    Derrike Cope
    Won in 1990 for his first career victory when leader Dale Earnhardt cut a tyre on the final lap.
  25. Ernie Irvan — ranked #2525
    Ernie Irvan
    Won in 1991 for the small Morgan-McClure team in a race that finished under caution after a late crash.
  26. Ward Burton — ranked #2626
    Ward Burton
    Won in 2002 after leader Sterling Marlin was penalised for pulling on his damaged fender during a red flag.
  27. Dale Earnhardt Jr. — ranked #2727
    Dale Earnhardt Jr.
    Won in 2004, six years after his father's victory, and again in 2014 after a long rain delay.
  28. Jamie McMurray — ranked #2828
    Jamie McMurray
    Won in 2010 after leading only the final two laps, and added the Brickyard 400 later that year.
  29. Kurt Busch — ranked #2929
    Kurt Busch
    Won in 2017 on his seventeenth attempt after leading only the final lap.
  30. Austin Dillon — ranked #3030
    Austin Dillon
    Won in 2018 in the No. 3 car, twenty years after Dale Earnhardt drove it to victory.
  31. Austin Cindric — ranked #3131
    Austin Cindric
    Won in 2022 as a 23-year-old rookie in his first Daytona 500 start, for Team Penske.
  32. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. — ranked #3232
    Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
    Won in 2023 in a double-overtime finish that made it the longest Daytona 500 ever, at 530 miles.
  33. Tyler Reddick — ranked #3333
    Tyler Reddick
    Won in 2026 with a last-lap pass on Chase Elliott, giving Michael Jordan's 23XI Racing its first Daytona 500.
  34. David Pearson — ranked #3434
    David Pearson
    Won in 1976 by limping his wrecked car across the line after a last-lap crash with Richard Petty.
  35. Ryan Newman — ranked #3535
    Ryan Newman
    Won in 2008 with a push from teammate Kurt Busch, giving Roger Penske his first Daytona 500.
  36. William Byron — ranked #3636
    William Byron
    Won back-to-back in 2024 and 2025, the first driver to defend the title since Denny Hamlin.

Photo credits

Comments 1

Nineteen attempts passed before Earnhardt won this race once, and Gordon won it three times. The list where a championship count stops helping: https://youpick.best/articles/earnhardt-vs-gordon-ranked

YP
ypb-team
Sep 11