NASCAR Cup Series

Winning drivers: A few good men

Published Mar. 23, 2011 6:01 p.m. ET

Jeff Hammond

In today’s NASCAR Sprint Cup series it is very difficult to win. There really are no ifs, ands or buts about it. When you have great drivers like Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch controlling a large percentage of Victory Lane appearances throughout a season, it simply doesn’t leave a lot of opportunities for the other drivers.

It’s not easy for these guys who have the talent and the backing to be able to pull off a single win. Look at veteran Mark Martin, who couldn’t buy a win in 2010 and is still searching for one in 2011. If you go to the record books and look at the numbers, they are pretty staggering.

Since 2006 there have been 184 races. There have been 118 Cup drivers who have tried to win over that period. Only 25 of them have won. Jimmie Johnson is the head of the class with 25 wins. Kyle Busch is second with 18.

Since 2001 there have been 364 races and 180 drivers. Of all those drivers, only 42 have won. Johnson is again at the top of the board with 53 wins. Jeff Gordon is second with 31 and Tony Stewart third with 30. Those are simply incredible numbers.

We talk about it every week in our NASCAR on FOX broadcasts. These drivers are the best of the best in the world. Remember that anyone who can prove to NASCAR they have the necessary experience can come race in our sport. While we stress that on any given Sunday, any of the 43 drivers out there can win, the reality is there are about 36 who could win.

Let’s face it, more times than not, the key to victory is the guy behind the wheel. Trust me on this one, because I have been there. When I was a crew member back on Cale Yarborough’s three consecutive championship teams, I saw firsthand the intangibles that a driver of Cale’s caliber brought to the table. Cale was tenacious. He could carry a car to Victory Lane like no one I ever knew.

When Cale moved on, Darrell Waltrip took his place behind the wheel of the No. 11. Darrell was the smartest driver I ever worked with. His car control was unbelievable. He would always take advantage of what a race car would give him. He was such a smart driver. He knew how hard to run. He knew when to run hard but, more important, when not to. Just look at the record books — 24 wins in the first two years driving for Junior Johnson.

I also worked with Terry Labonte, the late Bobby Hamilton and then, at the end of my career, a rookie by the name of Kurt Busch. When you’ve been around successful drivers, you can separate them from the “wanna-bes” pretty darn quick. They know what they are looking for and they know how to get there. Their numbers in the win column prove that.

That’s why we all get excited when we see someone like Trevor Bayne do what he did at Daytona this year. To us, it’s like we have a new member in the club. Now, can he parlay that into a multi-win situation?

You have guys like David Reutimann. He is a very likable individual on and off the track. Now he has earned the respect of his peers because he is a multi-race winner in the NASCAR Sprint Cup ranks. One win might get everyone’s attention and turn a few heads. When you do it more than once, then you've joined a pretty elite club. It is almost like being on the JV squad and then being promoted to the varsity. You’ve made it to the big time. The numbers bear that out.

Race fans are no different than any other sports fans — they want to be associated with winners. Go sit in the grandstands at one of our races and you’ll see Kyle Busch or Jimmie Johnson T-shirts and Dale Earnhardt Jr. T-shirts. It’s simple: People gravitate to winners.

Last Sunday we did a piece on NASCAR on FOX about building the perfect driver for Bristol. What is the common denominator there? They all were winners. You don’t achieve everything those guys have by accident. You don’t sustain it without desire and passion.

I really believe you can take a Jeff Gordon or a Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin or Kyle Busch for example and put them in another team’s car and they will find a way to win. These guys are winners. Again, you don’t become a winner by accident.

The downside is you can have guys that are winners but not be champions. My greatest example of that is Mark Martin. Mark is everything a champion has but he simply doesn’t have the crown. He’s smart, physical, plus he gives you 110 percent every Sunday. People love working with Mark. He’s finished second so many times in our sport but unfortunately never got the championship.

But going back to what I was saying earlier, I still believe the key to any team is the guy behind the wheel. If he can bring to a team whatever it is they are lacking, whether it is motivation, information, luck or, yes, even skill, well, you simply need that key.

Jamie McMurray proved that in 2010 when he stepped into the No. 1 car. Up until that point, that team had been good but simply was not a consistent threat to win every week. The team stayed pretty much intact except for putting Jamie behind the wheel.

That really started the motor over there. They came right out of the box at the very first race of the season and won the Daytona 500. Later in the year they won another of our marquee events, the Brickyard 400. Sure, they stumbled and didn’t make the Chase, but you simply can’t ignore the fact they had a lot of things go right last year.

Don’t forget that near the end of 2009, Jamie didn’t even know if he was going to have a job in 2010. The value of his stock was at an all-time low. Car owner Chip Ganassi rolled the dice on Jamie and rehired him, and the rest, as they say, is history. Now Jamie has solidified himself as a card-carrying member of the club. He’s a winner. It’s just been an amazing story for Jamie.

Again, it’s just not easy to win on the NASCAR Sprint Cup series. The guys who do basically are part of a Super Hero club called “A League of Their Own.” They are fierce competitors and the bottom line is they are winners.