Matching Pairs NASCAR Driver Accolades 2Online version Match the driver with their respective accolade/accomplishment, stat, record, etc. by Nick Rhodes 1 Holds the record for most Cup starts before winning their first race (463 Starts before winning) 2 Finished 2nd by 0.002 seconds to eventual winner Ricky Craven in one of the closest finishes in NASCAR history at Darlington Raceway 3 The highest on the NASCAR Cup wins list with only 1 Cup Championship 4 Additional Chase driver added after "Spingate" in 2013 5 Won the only All Star Race held at Bristol Motor Speedway; experimented with Choose Rule, underglow, and sliding the car numbers towards rear tires 6 The only driver to hold both an IndyCar Championship and a NASCAR Cup Championship 7 The first Rookie to make The Chase for the Cup (Chase years were 2004-2013) 8 Won a total 9 races in the 2020 Cup season but still missed out on making the Championship 4 9 Holds the record for most starts between two wins, having almost completed 8 seasons before going to Victory Lane again (226 starts between Cup wins) 10 Holds the record for most O'Reilly Series wins with 102 11 Won the NASCAR Cup Series Championship despite only winning one race all season long 12 Finished 2nd by 0.001 seconds to eventual winner Kyle Larson in the closest finish in NASCAR history at Kansas Speedway 13 This driver holds the record for most runner up finishes for the NASCAR Cup Championship (finished 2nd in the standings 5 times) 14 The winningest driver at Auto Club, Texas, Dover, and Charlotte Motor Speedway. Tied for most at Martinsville Speedway. 15 The most recent driver to finish 1st in their very first Cup Series start Chris Buescher Kevin Harvick Tony Stewart Bobby Allison Jimmie Johnson Kurt Busch Chase Elliott Shane van Gisbergen Kyle Busch Denny Hamlin Mark Martin Matt Kenseth Michael Waltrip Bill Elliott Jeff Gordon
