What would a perfect season for a driver look like?
There are plenty of ways to answer this question. You could say a season is perfect because they won a bunch of races, scored a bunch of top-fives, led a lot of laps and won the championship easily. Usually, hitting two or three of these marks will get fans claiming perfection. Although, that is a pretty broad answer. So here is a much clearer one: there is no such thing.
Perfection implies exactly that: being perfect. No driver has won every race and led every lap in a season. That’s simply impossible to do.
With that being said, some have come a lot closer than others. Let’s take a look at all of the seemingly perfect seasons in history. But first, let’s go over some criteria. These seasons all took place in the modern era (since 1972) and, obviously, they won the championship pretty handily. This omits seasons like Jeff Gordon in 2007, Kyle Busch in 2018 and Kevin Harvick in 2010, 2015 and 2020. Another rule is that each driver will only appear on the list once. You can’t be perfect twice. Now that we have that out of the way, let’s get started.
Editor’s Note: I was fully prepared to start off with Richard Petty’s 1975 season, where he had 13 wins in 30 races, and led over 3,000 laps. But I can’t make a best season’s list without mentioning Petty’s 1967 season. I know it was before the modern era, but 27 wins in 48 races speaks for itself. Petty won an unimaginable 10 races in a row from Bowman Gray to North Wilkesboro, making a joke out of the sport. I know I said there’s no such thing as a perfect season; but Petty’s ‘67 is in a class of its own. If you need a good chuckle, just look at his Racing-Reference page. Now onto the real list.
Photo: Pinterest.com
Cale Yarborough (1977)
Before Jimmie Johnson, Cale Yarborough’s three consecutive championships from 1976-78 seemed like an unbreakable mark. Yarborough was unbeatable for that three-year stretch; and nowhere was that made more clear than 1977. He started off by running second at Riverside before winning one of his four Daytona 500s. He didn’t win 27 races like Petty in 1967, although he still won nine. What he did do was put together probably the most consistent season in NASCAR. In 30 races, he had 25 top-fives, 27 top-10s and a 4.5 average finish, a record that stands to this day.
He led the points every week except after race no. 18 at Pocono, going down eight points to Richard Petty, who somehow was keeping pace. Yarborough then went on to score top-fives in all of the last 12 races to leave the King in his dust en route to his second Cup. Why does this season not get discussed more often? Well the Cup series was very top heavy in the 1970s, as the top four in points, Yarborough, Richard Petty, Benny Parsons and Darrell Waltrip won 24 of the 30 races on the season. While I have no doubt that this season would get much more praise had it happened in the 1990s, Yarborough’s 1977 is still the most consistent year any race car driver has completed.
Photo: FineArtAmerica.com
Darrell Waltrip (1981)
Darrell Waltrip was on the verge of becoming a superstar before 1981. Between 18 wins among three seasons, over 2,000 laps led in each of those three seasons and getting edged out by 11 points in the 1979 championship, Waltrip was hands-down the most personable driver in the dawn of NASCAR’s television run, even winning the first ESPN televised race in 1980. With the sport getting more and more publicity every year, Waltrip really showed out in 1981. Nobody was topping Jaws, as he led 2,517 laps and won 12 races, eight of which coming from the pole. Even when he wasn’t winning, Waltrip was extremely consistent, with a 7.2 average finish.
Only one driver was able to keep pace: Bobby Allison. Allison’s five wins were no match with Waltrip; but his 6.8 average finish kept him in the thick of things. Allison actually led the points after race no. 24 at Richmond; but after a runner-up at Dover, followed by four straight wins from the pole, Waltrip took the lead back for good, winning by 53 points. Talk about domination, third place Harry Gant was a mere 670 points back of Waltrip at season’s end.
Photo: FanSided.com
Dale Earnhardt (1987)
Dale Earnhardt’s ‘87 may be my favorite season in the history of NASCAR. There’s this narrative in sports about how you can’t win a race, tournament, championship or anything else right away; but you sure can lose it. Yeah, Earnhardt begs to differ. Let’s take a look at the first eight races, shall we? After a fifth-place finish at the Daytona 500, Earnhardt won Rockingham and Richmond, before an issue at Atlanta relegated him to 16th. After that, he simply won the next four races. Six wins in the first eight races, already a full race ahead of Bill Elliott in the points.
My favorite stat through the opening eight races is the number of laps led. Elliott led the second most laps on the season, leading 1,399 in 29 races. Between Rockingham and the eighth race at Martinsville, the Intimidator led an unreal 1,598 laps in a seven-race span. He went on to win 11 total races on the year, leading 3,357 laps, have a ludicrous 5.9 average finish and winning his third cup by 489 points. I didn’t even mention the Pass in the Grass, that’s how ridiculous his season was. After 1987, Earnhardt switched from Wrangler colors to the black GM Goodwrench look; and he continued to set unbelievable records.
Photo: NASCARHall.com
Jeff Gordon (1998)
When you were a kid, did you ever read something and think it was a typo because what you read just seemed impossible? Well, that was me. When I read the NASCAR 2007 Preview and Press Guide, I saw Jeff Gordon’s page and really didn’t think 13 wins was real. When you look at the stats more closely, it seems even more impossible.
The first 13 races for the Rainbow Warriors were uncharacteristically inconsistent. They were still sitting third in points, which should tell you everything about how good they were in the late ‘90’s. Jeremy Mayfield was leading the points at the time, which is as odd as anything else about this season; but it wouldn’t last long. From race no. 14 at Michigan to the finale at Atlanta went on a 20-race run that I still don’t have the right words for. Here’s how I’ll explain Gordon’s run: Mark Martin ran his best season ever in 1998, winning seven times and having an 8.6 average finish. He lost the title by 364 points.
Let’s just run through Gordon’s results race-by-race. From Michigan to Atlanta, Gordon’s results are this: 3-2-1-3-1-1-1-1-5-1-1-2-2-2-5-2-1-7-1-1. That’s 10 wins, with a worst finish of seventh, with an average finish of 2.7. He won at every type of track, road-course, superspeedway, mile-and-a-half, short-track and whatever the hell you classify Rockingham and Darlington as. There has never been, and never will be, a driver and team as good as Gordon and the Rainbow Warriors from 1995-98, as they won 40 races in four years. Their 1998 is quite arguably the best season anyone has had since Petty’s aforementioned 1967.
Photo: NASCAR.com
Jimmie Johnson (2009)
Honestly, I had a real hard time picking a single season from Jimmie Johnson, as he was so dominant for that five-year stretch that it’s hard to single one season out. Looking more into it, 2009 definitely takes the cake as the finest season for both the no. 48 but also Hendrick Motorsports as a whole.
Johnson was usually pretty hot to start the season, which he proved as he won Martinsville and nearly Texas the next week. Wins at Dover and the Brickyard 400 suggested a fairly routine season for the no. 48; but slump to close the regular season was a bit of a concern. However, Johnson and Knaus were known for finding another gear that made them unbeatable during the Chase; and nowhere was that more obvious in 2009. After a top-five at Loudon, Johnson put on another clinic at Dover, leading 271 laps en route to the win. Johnson had his most dominant season in laps led as well, as he paced the field for 2,238 circuits in ‘09, which showed with performances like that. He won Auto Club and Charlotte back-to-back, taking the points lead and driving away with it.
Disaster nearly struck at Texas, as Johnson was collected in a wreck with Sam Hornish Jr. on the third lap; but the team went to Phoenix and dominated once more. 141 points over Mark Martin was Johnson’s biggest points gap; and Jeff Gordon’s third-place finish made it a Hendrick 1-2-3. Hendrick in the late 2000’s was simply the best, and with Stewart-Haas running their equipment and sending two drivers to the Chase, there was no doubt who the best team in NASCAR.
Photo: MRN.com
Martin Truex Jr. (2017)
The last season on our list is by far the most surprising. Nobody expected a team out of Denver, Co. to win a Cup title, especially not in the way that they did. After an abysmal 2014, the pieces were slowly being put into place, with a Championship appearance in 2015 followed by four wins and over 1,700 laps led in 2016. But nobody predicted what was going to happen in 2017.
Before the 2017 season, NASCAR introduced stages, designed to reward teams for running well throughout the race. At the end of each stage, the top-ten in the running order would get points from 1-10, with the winner also getting a playoff point. It was a confusing process, but the no. 78 figured it out better than anybody.
They came out of the gates strong, being the first team to sweep all three stages and win at Las Vegas. They were fast everywhere, winning Kansas, Kentucky and Watkins Glen before the Playoffs. On top of the four wins, Truex also accumulated 19 stage wins along with the regular season title. With 53 playoff points, nearly a full race of leverage, Truex was all but a guarantee to make it to Homestead. Just to be safe, he added wins at Chicagoland, Charlotte and Kansas once more. He went up against Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski in the Championship. He didn’t win a stage, but was in the thick of things all day. When he passed Busch with 51 laps to go, he survived a restart, and drove away to the Championship.
While the Championship was dramatic, there was no doubt who the best driver was. Truex’s 2253 laps led and 9.4 average finish were far-and-away the best in the series. He would’ve won the old Chase format by a full race; and without any Playoffs of any kind, Truex is the Champion by 167 points. While the Playoff system adds drama and the chance of an upset, the best driver won in 2017.
While these are some of the best seasons ever run in NASCAR, there are plenty of other seasons that could make a case for being the best. What’s your favorite individual season in NASCAR history? Feel free to leave a comment, or tweet me @HBLoomis. Let’s talk racing!
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