The 5 Most Surprising Champions in NASCAR History

The 5 Most Surprising Champions in NASCAR History

By: Brian Cotnoir

For Pretty Much All of NASCAR History the Series Champion did go to the Best driver in the Series throughout the season, unfortunately that NASCAR decided to shake things up a bit and completely screw with the points so it doesn’t even matter who has the most wins or the most consistent results they’ve got this “knock-out” playoff system so one bad race can mean you get screwed on your entire season.  Recently we’ve seen drivers like William Byron, Erik Jones, and Christopher Bell be completely screwed out of Championships in the Gander Outdoor Truck Series and the Xfinity Series despite having the most wins and most top 5’s that season because apparently the only race on the schedule that really matters is the series finale.  But believe it or not, there was a time when NASCAR would just let teams and drivers race and wouldn’t attempt to manipulate the points or institute any mid-season rule changes—ahh how I miss those days—and there were some drivers who won championships that no one thought they could win, and we’re here to pay homage to the 5 Most Surprising Champions in NASCAR history.

5.) Travis Kvapil, 2003 Craftsman Truck Series Champion

I guess you could argue it wasn’t too surprising that Travis Kvapil won the 2003 Craftsman Truck Series Championship; his team had won the championship the year before with driver Mike Bliss, but it’s how he became champion that is most surprising.  In one of the most infamous races in Truck Series History, points leader Brendan Gaughan was wrecked by a field filler (put in by championship rival owner Jimmy Smith of Ultra Motorsports) and it appeared that Ted Musgrave was going to be champion, however Musgrave jumped the final restart and was black flagged, after several agonizing minutes, Travis Kvapil was declared the Truck Series Champion.

4.) Chuck Bown 1990, Busch Series Champion

Now if you’re like me you’re probably saying to yourself “Who the hell his Chuck Bown?”.  Well he was the 1990 Busch Series Champion, back in the early days of the series when the field was mostly local short track guys driving for teams they owned, there were a few drivers that no one really heard of winning the championship like Tommy Ellis, Steve Grissom, and David Green, and while all of those drivers had successful careers in the Busch Series I decided the most surprising Busch Series champion is probably Chuck Bown.  Why? 

I wouldn't have a clue what Chuck Bown looked like without this picture

Well Ellis won a lot of races in the Busch Series and it’s not surprising he became a champion and Grissom and Green both raced for good teams and got multiple shots in the Cup Series.  Chuck Bown, however, didn’t have a lot of success in Racing. 

Bown only ran 5 Full Time Seasons in the Busch Series—winning 11 races, and 1990 was hands down his best season.  Other than the 1990 Season  he didn’t have a lot of success and was mostly a grid filler, oh and he never ran a full-time cup season or strong ride in the Cup Series.

3.) Brett Moffitt, 2018 Truck Series Champion

Last Year’s Truck Series Champion Brett Moffitt surprised the racing world by winning the truck series championship, but early on in the season  it didn’t seem possible.  His team was having major sponsorship issues and they weren’t sure if they would be able to run the full-season.   Moffitt won 6 races and took the championship.

Never thought I'd see the day when a Championship driver gets dropped from his team

Moffitt early in his career struck me as a driver who got rushed through the ranks too fast and seemed destined to become a NASCAR bust like Casey Atwood, Cole Whitt, and Trevor Bayne, but I’m grateful he finally had a chance to run a full-season in one of the lower-tier series and really develop into a championship winning driver.

2.) Rob Moroso, 1989 Busch Series Champion

Probably the only more surprising Busch Series Champion than Chuck Bown has to be Rob Moroso.  Today 19 and 20-year-olds winning races in the Truck and Xfinity series isn’t all that surprising, but back in 1989 it was unthinkable.  At 20-years-old Rob Moroso was not only winning races while competing against NASCAR talent like Dale Earnhardt Sr. Rusty Wallace, Harry Gant, Tommy Ellis, Bobby Labonte, and Jack Ingram, but was also competing for championships. 

Can you believe they had an Oldsmobile in NASCAR?

Moroso won the Bush Series Championship in 1989, at the time he was the youngest NASCAR champion ever.  Unfortunately, just one year after winning the Busch Series championship, Moroso drove drunk and crashed into another car killing himself a young mother in the other vehicle, and injuring two others.  He was posthumously named NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year for 1990. 

Wasted Talent

1.)  Alan Kulwicki, 1992 Winston Cup Champion

You all know this story already:  A Owner Driver doing things his own way, drives his heart out and beats the odds to become the NASCAR Winston Cup Champion in probably the most famous race ever run in NASCAR History.  Kulwicki was one-of-four drivers who stood a chance to win the 1992 Winston Cup Championship at the season finale in Atlanta, and by leading the most laps and finishing 2^nd in the race he beat Bill Elliot in one of the closest finishes in NASCAR championship history.

The "Underbird" and The King