Top 5 Surprising NASCAR Grand National Winners

Top 5 Surprising NASCAR Grand National winners

By Brian Cotnoir

Is it better to be good or lucky?  Personally, I think NASCAR’s second-tier series the toughest division to race in.   You essentially have NASCAR Cup Series quality teams competing against family owned teams without factory support and most just getting by from race-to-race.  It’s like the New York Yankees playing against a Single-A baseball team; the odds are always stacked up against the smaller teams, but sometimes something amazing happens!  These are the Top 5 Surprising NASCAR Grand National series winners

5.)  James Buescher

James Buescher had a brief, but successful career in NASCAR, which included winning the 2012 NASCAR Truck Series Championship.  He ran one full-time season for RAB Racing in 2014, but otherwise he only raced part-time for Steve Turner; his father-in-law.  While driving for Turner Motorsports, Buescher pulled off one of the most surprising wins in series history when he went from 11^th place to 1^st place at the season opening race at Daytona, avoiding a huge pile up coming out of the final turn.   This would be Buescher’s only win in the series.  He came close a handful of times to getting that second win; with 3 career runner-up finishes.

4.)  Jeremy Clements

Jeremey Clements hasn’t had the most success in NASCAR.  For most of his career he’s run for his own racing team, Jeremy Clements Racing.   Clements team runs mostly in the Top-15-to-Top-20 during most races, but they pulled off one of the greatest upsets in 2017, when going for the lead on the final lap Clements crashed into the back of Joe Gibbs Racing’s Matt Tift, coming to the white flag at the Road America road course in Wisconsin, both cars spun out, but were able to continue racing.  Clements managed to get his car turned around first, and sped off to his first—and so far only—win in the Grand National Series.

3.)  Justin Labonte

The son of NASCAR Hall of Famer and 2-Time Cup Series Champion, Terry Labonte, Justin Labonte ran part-time in NASCAR in the early 2000’s, mostly for his father’s team.  He competed along with on sons of NASCAR drivers such as Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jason Jarret, and the late Adam Petty.   For the majority of his career, Labonte ran part-time in the Grand National Series for his family’s team, Labonte Motorsports.    Justin struggled to qualify for races early on in his career, but his moment in the sun came at the 2004 Twister 300 at the Chicagoland Speedway, when on the last lap he passed Mike Wallace (whose car had run out of fuel) to score his first and only win in NASCAR.

The following season, Labonte’s team would merge with Gene Haas’s Grand National Team to form Labonte-Haas Motorsports, so Justin could compete in every race on the schedule.   Labonte qualified for every race, but only finished 17^th in points.  The partnership between Labonte & Haas only lasted one season, and the team would shut down after losing their sponsor, the US Coast Guard.  Labonte only ever made one start in 2006, driving for Hendrick Motorsports, his father’s former team.   

2.)  Justin Marks

Justin Marks isn’t a well-known day in NASCAR, but during one rain-soaked race at the Mid-Ohio Road Course he won while driving for owner Chip Ganassi.  Marks’ wasn’t very successful at the ovals, and didn’t drive for any other big teams besides Ganassi.   He made 35 career starts over 9 season in the Grand National Series, and the closest he ever came to winning again in the series was when he finished 2^nd place at the first ever Charlotte Roval Race in 2018.    Justin Marks has not raced in NASCAR since then.  

1.)  David Gilliland

I was torn on who I was going to put as #1 on this list, but in the end I decided to go with David Gilliland for one reason; he drove for an underfunded team.  If you were to ask me, who was more likely to win a race, David Gilliland or Justin Marks, I’d say Gilliland without hesitation, but Marks win came when he had backing from one of the biggest teams in NASCAR.  

In only his 6^th start ever in the NASCAR Grand National Series, Gilliland took his part-time ride for the underfunded, Clay Andrews Racing to Victory Lane at the Kentucky Speedway.   Gilliland was the first non-Cup Series driver to win a race that season.  The win wasn’t enough to keep Clay Andrews team afloat, but did eventually lead to him scoring a full-time Cup Series ride with Robert Yates Racing and Front Row Motorsports.