In 1982, when the first race of the Sprint Cup Series, Daytona 500 was hosted in February that year. Since then, every February would be awaited eagerly by the racing fans even though there had been periods of decreased popularity. The award for the Most Popular NASCAR driver is presented every year by NMPA (National Motorsports Press Association). Of all the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series winners, there has been only a countable few below 25 years of age. This can be because it takes immense maturity, will power and patience which only a few young drivers were able to attain at their young age. Till date, there has been only about 17 drivers below 25 years old who have won in the 2,290 races.
The Wonder Boy and the Busch Brothers
The topper in the list of top 10 youngest NASCAR drivers is Jeff Gordon, who is popularly known as the 'Wonder Boy.' He has 15 wins in the NASCAR Cup series to his credit all before his 25 years of age. He also gained other feathers of recognition being the second youngest championship winner, and Dale Earnhardt fans had credited him with the ire of legions. In 1995 he won seven races before turning 25 in August that year. Standing by Gordon, Kyle Busch also known as 'Rowdy comes next in the list. He also has 17 victories in the NASCAR Cup Series and his peak period was in 2008 when he was 23 years old with eight impressive wins and highest points. Richard Petty made his name among the young winners of the NASCAR Cup way back in 1959 at the age of 22. He then added seven winnings to his credit list before his 25th birthday. The elder Busch brother, Kurt Busch has a tie position with Richard Petty with seven wins before 25 years of age. He had displayed his best in 2002 and 2003 seasons. In 2002 he won 4 races and another seven before he turned 25 in 2003 August and in 2004 he won the championship title too.
Even though Bill Rexford has only a single race win to his accomplishments list, his achievement of the championship title at 23 years in 1950 at Canfield Speedway brings his name to the list. He has participated in 35 NASCAR races in 5 seasons. The name of Junior Johnson is very popular among all racing fans as he has been a star in racing after making five victorious races in the 1955 NASCAR season. He had unusual personality and never challenged for the championship. He put a halt to his racing career in 1965 with 13 wins at the age of 34.
Significant ranking with Single Race Wins
Terry Labonte made his win at Southern 500 in Darlington in 1980 and was positioned eighth in the standing, his level rising by two from the previous year. Other than this well gained Nascar Cup, he has also achieved the Winston Cup in 1984 and 1996. Fireball Roberts was a furious driver and his life ended in a mishap in a crash in 1964.His position in the top 10 list would have been placed in the top 5 if his engine hadn't expired in the Championship season finale in 1950. When he won the race in 1950, he was the youngest winning NASCAR racer. As per the all-time wins list, he holds the seventh position. It wouldn't be complete without adding the name of Trevor Bayne who was a part of Daytona 500. He made his first win at 20 years and is the second youngest winner in the Cup series after Joey Logano, who made his first win at 19 years of age in 2009. Joey has 571 points and holds the 5th position in the Sprint Cup Series.
The last three racers in the list have made only a single win and have been evaluated based on their points, consistency, and performance in an overall. There are more young drivers in the current seasons like Danica Patrick, Alex Bowman, Jeb Burton, Brett Moffitt and many others who are top riders, and they have shown promising performance recently.
