Top 5 Most Surprising Winners in the NASCAR Cup Series

The 5 Most Surprising Winners in the NASCAR Cup Series

By Brian Cotnoir

NASCAR has had its fair number of upset winners in the past; drivers like David Reutimann, Ron Bouchard, Greg Sacks and AJ Allmendinger are just a few.  They didn’t have the most successful careers, but they were competitive, and did manage to achieve some success.  Then there are other drivers, whose careers were brief, but in that short-time period managed to shock the racing world and steal a victory in the NASCAR Cup Series.

5.)  Johnny Mantz

Johnny Mantz was a young up & coming driver in the USAC (now IndyCar) series back in the late 1940’s.   In 1950, Mantz entered the first ever Southern 500 at the Darlington Raceway in South Carolina.  Mantz fitted his racecar with truck tires, because he knew they would not wear out or blow out as easily.   Doing this helped Johnny Mantz would help put Mantz in the History books as the winner of the first Southern 500; it was his 3^rd start ever in NASCAR.  Mantz would only make 9 more starts in NASCAR after this, and that lone victory in the inaugural Southern 500 remains his only trip to Victory Lane in NASCAR.  Since 2010, the Darlington Raceway has presented the Johnny Mantz Trophy to the winner of the Southern 500, in his honor.

4.)  Trevor Bayne

The day after this 20^th birthday, Trevor Bayne shocked the racing world when he won his 2^nd ever start in NASCAR at the 2011 Daytona 500.  With the win, Bayne tied a modern-era record for fewest starts before a first win in NASCAR.  Even more impressively, he took Wood Brothers Racing to Victory Lane for the first time since the spring race at Bristol in 2001. 

Bayne’s would run part-time for the Wood Brothers over the next few seasons, and eventually earned a full-time ride in the Grand National Series & Cup Series with Roush Fenway Racing.  While Bayne had some moderate success in the Grand National Series, he was never able to recapture the success.  Outside of the Restrictor Plate races, Bayne was never really competing for wins in the Cup Series, and unfortunately the same year he won the Daytona 500, he was also diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.   Bayne has not raced in NASCAR since 2018, and has an average career finish of 23.3 in the Cup Series.

3.)  Mario Andretti

He is the greatest race car driver who ever lived, so this shouldn’t come as a surprise, but Mario Andretti only ever made 14 career starts in NASCAR History; mostly at Daytona International Speedway and Riverside International Raceway.  The open-wheel racing legend won the 1967 Daytona 500, his only victory in NASCAR.   It also marked the first time in NASCAR History that a driver born outside the U.S. won a NASCAR race. To this day, Andretti is the only driver to have won the Daytona 500, Indianapolis 500, and the Formula 1 World Championship.

2.)  Justin Haley

This one happened just this past season.  Justin Haley joined the likes of Ryan Newman, Joey Logano, David Reutimann, Aric Almirola, and Chris Buescher as NASCAR drivers whose 1^st wins came in the Cup Series came from a weather shortened race.  On lap 127 of the 2019 Coke Zero Sugar 400, in just his 3^rd ever start in the Cup Series Haley was running in the 3^rd place under caution when the big one happened.  What followed was a confusing comedy of errors.  Race Leader Kurt Busch was called to the pits by his crew chief with a supposed 1-lap-to-go-back-to-racing signal while Haley stayed out.  

The race would be red flagged due to lightning in the area.   The race would eventually be called (since it had run past the halfway point) and Justin Haley & Spire Motorsports scored their 1^st ever in in the Cup Series.  Kurt Busch would ultimately finish in the 10^th place, but would rebound and win the next race at Kentucky Speedway.  Haley is still a young driver and could have more races in the Cup Series and may even win more races, but for right now this is without a doubt the most bizarre first win I think we’ve ever had in NASCAR.

1.)  Earl Ross

Earl Ross entered the NASCAR History books in 1974, when he became the first Canadian driver to win a NASCAR Cup Series event when he won the 1974 Old Dominion 500 at the Martinsville Speedway.    Ross would drive part-time for owner Allan Broke, at the beginning of the season and finished runner-up at the race in Michigan.  For the 2^nd half of the season Ross would drive for legendary car owner Junior Johnson, for who he would score his only Cup Series win.   In addition to his 1 win that season, Ross would also finish 8^th in the final point’s standings, and was named Rookie of the Year!

 

It seemed like aa bright future was destined for Ross in the Cup Series, but shockingly, after the 1974 season, Ross would only make two more starts in NASCAR ever, the 1975 World 600 and the 1976 Daytona 500, where he finished in the 39^th place.  In total, Ross only ever made 26 career starts in the NASCAR Cup Series.