Nascar Nextel Cup Champions statistics

NASCAR Nextel Cup Champions charts (graphs) stats

1979 - Darrell Waltrip had a 2 point lead going into the final race for the 1979 Championship over Richard Petty. Petty finished 5th and with 5 bonus points totaled 160 points . Waltrip finished 8th and with 5 bonus points totaled 147 losing the Championship by 11 points, this would be Richard Petty`s 7th and final Winston Cup Championship

1980 - Dale Earnhardt headed into the final race of the 1980 season with a 29 point lead over Cale Yarborough.Yarborough finished 3rd and with 5 bonus points total 170, while Earnhardt with his 5th place finish and 5 bonus points gave him a total of 160, and the 1980 Championship was his by 19 points. This would be the first of seven Championships for Dale

1981 - Leading Bobby Allison by 83 points going into the final race Bobby would need a bit of help from Darrell, but it wasn't quite enough. It was not for the lack of trying , Bobby won the race and with 10 bonus points had a total of 185, Darrell came in 6th and with 5 bonus points he totaled 155, winning the Championship by 53 points.

1982 - Darrell Waltrip leads Bobby Allison by 22 points going into the final race of 1982. Darrell Finishes 3rd with 175 points which included 5 bonus points, while Bobby Allison finished 16th with 125 points which included 5 bonus points and unfortunately also included a blown engine with 8 laps to go, Darrell wins the championship by 72 points

1983 - With a 69 point lead on the final day of the season Bobby Allison holds off Darrell Waltrip for the Championship. Bobby finished 9th with 148 points which included 5 bonus points, while Darrell Finished 6th with 170 including 10 bonus points.

1984 - With a 42 point lead Terry Labonte holds off Harry Gant to win his first Winston Cup Championship. Terry finished the final race with a 3rd place finish and Harry was 8th.

1985 - Darrell Waltrip with a 20 point lead held off Bill Elliott to win the Championship. Darrell finished the last race in 7th while Bill finished 31st, 23 laps down.

1988 - With a 79 point lead Bill Elliott held off Rusty Wallace for the 88 Championship. Rusty won that last race while Bill finished 11th, but that still left Bill with a 24 point margin.

1989 - Leading Dale Earnhardt by 42 points entering the last race, Rusty holds on with a 16th place finish as Dale gets a 6th , Dale falls short by 12 points and Rusty Wins his first Winston Cup Championship.

1990 - Dale Earnhardt had a 6 point lead going into the final race over Mark Martin. Mark finished 6th while Dale went on to finish 3rd and win another Championship by 26 points

1992 - Dave Allison went into the final race of 1992 with a 30 point lead over Allen Kulwicki and a 40 point lead over Bill Elliott. Bill Elliott won the race and totaled 180 pts including 5 bonus points. Allen Kulwicki came in second and also totaled 180 pts which included 10 bonus points. Davey Allison had been involed in an accident (not caused by him) and finished 27th 43 laps down and got 87 points including 5 bonus pts.Allen won the championship by 10 pts over Bill and 63 over Davey. Alan Kulwicki would be killed in a plane crash near Bristol TN just before the 6th race of the 1993 season at Bristol.

1993 - Dale Earnhardt and Rusty Wallace enter the final race with Dale leading by 126 points. Rusty wins the race and 185 points, Dale finishes in 10th with 139 points winning his 5th Winston Cup Championship by 80 points

1995 - Jeff Gordon heads into the final race leading Dale Earnhardt by 113 points, Dale wins the race and with the 185 points closes the gap to 34 points. Jeff finishes 32nd 14 laps down but its good enough to win his second Winston Cup Championship.

1996 - With a 47 point lead over the defending champion Jeff Gordon Terry Labonte wins is first Championship. Jeff finished 3rd with 170 points and Terry finished 5th with 160 points.

1997 - A nice three way run for the championship, its Jeff Gordon leading Dale Jarrett by 77 points and Mark Martin by 87 in the final race. Dale Jarrett gets a 2nd place and 175 points Mark Martin is 3rd with 170 and Jeff finishes 17th 3 laps down but the championship is his by 14 points over Jarrett and 29 points over Martin

2002 - Tony Stewart leads Mark Martin by 89 points in the final race at Miami-Homstead, a track where Tony has won twice. Tony is starting 6th and Mark 34th. As the race progressed Mark kept moving to the front and Tony kept sliding to the rear with an ill handling car. In the end Mark finished 4th and Tony 18th but the Winston Cup Championship would go to Tony Stewart by 38 points, it would be his first.

2004 - First Champioship under the new format. When the final yellow flag came out for Ryan Newmans flat tire and trip into the wall Stewart was leading Greg Biffle and Dale Jarrett. The points battle was coming down to the wire with Gordon, Johnson and Busch all close together. About the only way Busch could lose at this point was if Johnson or Gordon won the race. On the restart Stewarts car sputtered due to low fuel pressure and everyone momentarily stacked up behind him. In the ensuing melee that could have caused a huge wreck Biffle went high and took the lead from Stewart while everyone else followed Biffle. Gordon got stuck behind Joe Nemechek, who was a lap behind and literally pushed him out of the way. Johnson got second and Gordon third as Busch followed them. Stewart fell back to fourth. As long as Biffle kept the lead Busch was in the championship seat, however Biffle was chased by Gordon's teammate Johnson. Gordon needed to win the race to win the championship. As they raced to the checkered it was Biffle, Johnson, Gordon, Stewart and Busch finishing fifth, winning the Nextel Cup Championship by 8 points, it was his first.