1985
In a season dominated by Bill Elliott, consistency carried Darrell Waltrip to his third NASCAR Cup Series crown.
Driving the No. 9 Melling Racing Ford, Elliott enjoyed a phenomenal season that saw the driver from Dawsonville, Ga., win 11 superspeedway races. His rewards included a $1 million bonus – posted by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and known as the Winston Million – for winning three of the sport’s four marquee races in the same season.
Waltrip won only three times, but his 21 top-10 finishes were three more than Elliott could muster during the 28-race season.
Elliott saw any hope of winning the title evaporate after just six laps of the season finale at California’s Riverside Raceway when a bolt sheared off the transmission, and he had to pit for repairs. The final championship margin was 101 point.
“The thing that makes this title more exciting than the other two is that one guy has had so much success this season,” Waltrip said in Greg Fielden’s “40 Years of Stock Car Racing.” “Everybody was giving the championship to Bill after the Southern 500. But the way it turned out, it means two guys have had successful seasons.
1990
Dale Earnhardt, driver of the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, went into the 1990 season finale at Atlanta Motor Speedway with nine victories, 18 top-five finishes and 23 top-10 efforts.
Earnhardt finished third that Sunday afternoon at Atlanta while challenger Mark Martin ended up sixth in the No. 6 Roush Racing Ford, giving Earnhardt a 21-point championship margin. It was his third of seven Cup Series titles.
During final practice on Saturday. Earnhardt was dealing with a handling issue and used the opportunity to send a message to Martin and his team. Instead of running lap after lap during the practice session, Earnhardt’s team covered the car while the driver pulled out a lawn chair and propped his feet up on the rear spoiler.
Earnhardt’s mental games helped derail Martin’s title hopes.
Martin and team owner Jack Roush were penalized 46 points and fined after officials found an illegal engine spacer on the No. 6 car following Martin’s victory in the second race of the season at Richmond (Va.) Raceway.
Earnhardt’s championship margin was only 26 points.
1992
Two years later, a well-documented scenario saw six drivers enter the season finale at Atlanta Motor Speedway with a mathematical chance of winning the NASCAR Cup Series championship.
Bill Elliott and Alan Kulwicki swapped the point numerous times, with Kulwicki leading 103 laps to race-winner Elliott’s 102 during the 328-lap event. The fact Kulwicki led one lap more than Elliott, earned him the championship.
Davey Allison, driving a Ford for Robert Yates Racing, only needed a top-six finish to claim the title but was eliminated in a crash on lap 254.
Kulwicki became the first driver-owner to win the NASCAR Cup Series championship since Richard Petty in 1979. His small team prevailed against the sport’s mammoth organizations that had three times the number of employees.
Kulwicki was unable to defend his title. The driver from Greenfield, Wis., lost his life in an airplane crash on April 1, 1993, while traveling to Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.
2011
Tony Stewart won his third NASCAR Cup Series title in 2011 and became the first driver-owner to win the championship since Alan Kulwicki. Stewart claimed Cup Series titles with Joe Gibbs Racing in 2002 and ’05 before joining Gene Haas to create Stewart-Haas Racing in 2009.
Stewart has the distinction of winning the closest Cup Series championship. He topped five of the final 10 races in 2011, including the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Still, Stewart ended the year tied with Roush Fenway Racing driver Carl Edwards at 2,403 points.
The title went to Stewart on a tiebreaker, based on having won more races.
“No matter what the record books say at the end of the day and the greats that are a part of it, it’s a huge honor just to be in those record books with those guys,” Stewart said. “I don’t care how many races you win, how many championships you win, you never feel like you measure up to the greats of the sport. That’s what makes trying so much fun.”
This story appeared in the Oct 25, 2023 edition of the SPEED SPORT Insider.
