Denny Hamlin is now the winningest NASCAR Cup Series driver without a title
BRISTOL, TENN. — Denny Hamlin earned his 51st NASCAR Cup Series win and passed Junior Johnson on the all-time wins list.
Hamlin now has the most wins of any Cup Series driver without a championship.
From 1965-1978, Junior Johnson held this distinction as he earned 50 wins but didn’t claim the big trophy. Then, in late-1978, Bobby Allison earned his 50th career win at Charlotte and 51st in Ontario, Cali., putting him ahead of Johnson.
Allison held that mark until 1983. That year, Allison moved to 79 career wins and, by season’s end, his first championship – giving the distinction back to Johnson.
Junior Johnson held on as the winningest driver without a Cup Series championship until Hamlin won Saturday night at Bristol.
Denny Hamlin has been on a tear lately. Last week at Kansas, Hamlin held a 3-second lead over Tyler Reddick with seven laps to go. Then, a caution fell and pushed him back to second in overtime.
Hamlin also swept the stages in the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington. However, a loose wheel caused him to finish outside of the top-20.
Should Hamlin win the Cup Series title this year, it will come in his 18th full-time season – just like Bobby Allison when he earned his first Cup title in 1983.
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com