Buck Baker was a bus driver before he got started as a stock car driver. He raced in his first NASCAR race in 1949 at the Charlotte Speedway. Three years later, he won his first race at the Columbia Speedway. Baker proceeded to have a long 27-year career during which he raced in over 600 races, won two championships and 46 races, and started in the pole position 45 times.
He also finished in the top ten in 372 of the races. At least three of the wins he had were at the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway in 1953, 1960, and 1964. In 1976, Baker called it quits and decided to retire from the sport. But, like many other fellow drivers, he didn’t leave the sport far behind him.
Joey “Sliced Bread” Logano- 52 Wins
Joey Logano is a current full-time racer in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and a part-time racer in the Xfinity Series. You can find him driving the No. 22 Ford Mustang GT. Although he’s still shy of 30, he’s managed to win an impressive 52 races. Logano’s first big win was in the 2008 Nationwide Series during the Meijer 300 at Kentucky Speedway.
At 18 years old and 21 days, he was the youngest driver to win a Nationwide Series race. 2016 was one of Logano’s most successful seasons. He finished in the top five in 22 races and in the top ten in 28 races. Logano is the current champ of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Champion and he plans to defend that title for the 2019 season.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.- The "Pied Piper" of Daytona
Being born to the great Dale Earnhardt Sr. leaves you little choice but to be a great racer yourself, especially when you have the same name. While he’s known for being the son of one of NASCAR’s best drivers in history, he has made his own name for himself. Dale, otherwise known as the “Pied Piper” of Daytona, won the Daytona 500 twice; in 2004 and 2014.
He also won the Most Popular Driver Award fifteen times in a row, from 2003-2017. If that doesn’t impress you, maybe his $400 million net worth will. Earnhardt has won 26 Cup Series. Despite his wins, he chose to retire in 2017. Nowadays, you can find him as an analyst for NASCAR on NBC.
Carl Edwards- 75 Wins
Although Edwards is still so young, he already retired from racing in 2017 at the age of 37. But, with 75 wins to his name, maybe he felt like it was enough for him. In 2015 when he won the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Bojangles’ Southern 500 at the Darlington Raceway, he celebrated by holding up the checkered flag.
Edwards was recognized for the No. 19 Toyota Camry that he drove for Joe Gibbs Racing during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. He was also known for performing his famous backflip off of his car every time he won a race. In 2009, he married Katherine Downey and the couple have two children together.
Rusty Wallace- 697 Consecutive Starts
Rusty Wallace had a long career that spanned 25 years. In 1980, Rusty raced in his first NASCAR race in the Atlanta 500. Besides being known for his charismatic personality and for being a close rival to Dale Earnhardt, Wallace also experienced a number of severe crashes.
Rusty Wallace was known as one of the best road course drivers in NASCAR. He had 697 consecutive starts, falling short of Ricky Rudd’s 788. Wallace won only one Cup championship in 1989, however, he longed to win another one until finally retiring in 2005. At the end of his long career, Wallace finished in the top ten in 349 races, winning 55 of them and starting from the pole position in 36 of the races.