Palone, Dave Dave Palone wins his 19,000th race of his career. Dave Palone, harness racing's "winningest" driver, made another historic stride into new territory Tuesday at The Meadows with career victory No. 19,000. Southwind Warsaw reached the mile marker in Race 10. He led all the way to win by 4 1/4 lengths over Second Chance and Little Star. Little Star had been 0-for-99 before this race.
The top three drivers in victories have a lock on the title. That means that only one driver can win the season finale in November if he holds onto first place through the end of the year.
But there is some debate about who is best qualified to win the championship. Most observers say Johnny Longden of California is ahead of the field after winning the season opener at Del Mar. But others point to West Coast drivers David Palone and Jerry Bailey as being the men to beat. Last year's champion Josh Gibson is injured and will not be able to defend his title.
Gibson was driving for third place Driver's Edge Farm when he suffered an injury at the start of last month's $1 million Pacific Classic at Del Mar. He was taken to the hospital where it was determined he had broken two bones in his back. He is expected to make a full recovery but won't be able to drive for at least six months.
25 races Rusty Wallace, 55, is the winner. Rusty Wallace, a 2013 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee and 1989 premier series champion, excelled on NASCAR's short tracks, winning 25 races and always seemed to be one of the drivers to beat. He retired after the 2005 season but returned for two more seasons before retiring for good.
He was one of the first popular drivers among both fans and journalists, often appearing in top-five lists of most influential people in NASCAR. His on-track success combined with his friendly personality and educational commercials made him one of the most beloved drivers of his time. In 2004, he became only the second driver to win the Daytona 500, the Brickyard 400, and the World Series Championship when he captured the title for Ford. That same year he also became the first driver to win the championship without ever leading a single lap during the race season.
Before becoming a driver, Wallace got his start in racing as a crew member on his family's truck in local competitions. When he turned 15, he bought a part-time job working the light tower at South Boston Speedway so he could drive the trucks in the events. He went on to work his way up through the amateur ranks, starting out at South Boston before moving on to larger venues like Stafford Springs, Connecticut where he finished third in the national championship.
Here are the six drivers with the most Martinsville victories.
The event was renamed the Pennzoil 400 for the 2018 season. The reigning race winner is Kyle Larson. 400 Pennzoil (Las Vegas)
| NASCAR Cup Series | |
|---|---|
| Most wins (driver) | Jimmie Johnson (4) |
| Most wins (team) | Roush Fenway Racing (7) |
| Most wins (manufacturer) | Ford (12) |
| Circuit information |
200 triumphs Richard's figures are incomprehensible after all these years: 1184 career starts; 123 poles; 200 triumphs; 555 top-five finishes; 712 top-10 finishes; 7 Cup Series championships and 18 additional top-10 point seasons; 9 Most Popular Driver honors; 1959 Rookie of the Year; and the most important...he was still winning races when he retired in 2009 at age 44.
He won his first championship in 1969 at the age of 22 with Donnie Allison as his driver. He went on to win six more titles over the next seven seasons with Larry Myers, Lee Irwin, and Dave Marcis as his drivers. He returned to victory lanes in 1978 at the age of 25 with a 20-year-old Ricky Rudd driving for him in a regular NASCAR chassis. He ended up winning nine more races that season with three different drivers including Elliott Sadler who drove some of those races with Richard Petty Motorsports.
In 1979, Richard Petty joined forces with brother Bobby to form the biggest name in NASCAR history: The Petty's. They dominated the sport for several years by running all their races together using identical cars built by Joe Garagiola's team with just two exceptions: One car was sponsored by Kellogg's while another one was driven by Bobby Petty. In 1984, Richard Petty broke away from the family business and formed his own team called Richard Petty Motorsports. Since then, he's become the winningest active driver in NASCAR history with 1452 victories across all divisions.
Matt Crafton, who won his third title in 2019, is the most recent driver's champion. The championship has been won by fourteen different drivers, with Ron Hornaday Jr. holding the record with four titles. Crafton holds the record for the most consecutive Drivers' Championships, having won two in 2013 and 2014.
Kyle Busch broke Ron Hornaday Jr.'s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win record in 2019, collecting his 52nd career victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Now that Busch has 60 wins in the series, let's see who else has at least 10 victories.
Richard Petty has the most career victories and is tied for the most championships with Dale Earnhardt and Jimmie Johnson, at seven. He won almost 1,000 races in his 35-year career, and no one will ever match his 200 victories.
But the most winning race car is hard to say because there are so many great drivers and teams over the years. In terms of raw speed, it's hard to beat the #3 Chevy driven by Richard Petty in the 1970s and 1980s. He won more than 100 races during that time frame.
Of all the winners over the years, only three cars have been named after themselves: the #43 Chevrolet driven by Rick Hendrick, the #77 Ford driven by Jack Roush, and the #88 Lowe's Chevrolet driven by Michael Waltrip.
All three cars are still raced today by their owners or drivers who complete tribute drives before each race start. They are considered some of the greatest race cars in history.
Petty's #43 car was built by Harry Hyde of North Carolina. It had a 426 HEMI engine and could run up to 180 mph. The car received multiple wins in its first two seasons and finished second in the 1979 season behind the #24 of Darrell Waltrip.
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