During the 1950s there was a North Carolina-born native who took the auto racing world by storm. The former farmer developed an interest in auto racing in the late forties and in 1949 he partook in NASCAR’s Strictly Stock race. His first win came at Martinsville Speedway in a privateer Plymouth.
This picture was snapped in 1955 and it shows Thomas posing with his Fish Carburetor 1939 Plymouth Modified that he came in fifth place with at a NASCAR event. Thomas drove Plymouth but after a fellow driver suggested that he switch to a Hudson Hornet, Thomas made the switch and quickly proceeded to win six races. Over Thomas’ 13-year career, he won 48 races, which ranks him 14th.
Mark Martin- 882 Races
Despite never having won a Cup championship, the Arkansas-born native has nonetheless been described by ESPN as one of the best drivers. He’s not the best there ever was, but with 40 wins, 51 pole positions, and a career that spanned more than 31 years, he is definitely deserving of a spot on our list. Plus, there’s that minor fact that he managed to make an earning of over $85 million by the time he retired.
In 2017, Martin received the honor of being inducted in the NASCAR Hall of Fame along with Richard Childress, Rick Hendrick, Raymond Parks, and Benny Parsons. Since retiring from racing, Martin has switched to the back end and now is the owner of several car dealerships in Arkansas.
Joe Weatherly- 153 Top-Tens
Joe Weatherly was known for his sometimes crazy antics, like once showing up in a peter pan costume to do practice laps. His racing career started in 1950 and over the course of his 12-year career, he raced in 230 races. In 1950, he won more than half of the races that he competed in. Two years after that, he won the NASCAR Modified National Crown.
By the second half of the ’50s, he began competing in the NASCAR Grand Nationals, where he drove a Ford for Pete DePaolo Engineering. Tragically, Weatherly died in 1964 during a racing accident in 1964 after his head was hit by a retaining wall at the Riverside International Raceway.
Dale Jarrett- Three-Time Daytona 500 Champion
As we’ve already seen, race car driving runs deep in the family blood. Well, the Jarretts seem to know all about this. Dale Jarrett has followed close behind his father’s footsteps, winning the Daytona 500 NASCAR Winston Cup a total of three times. He first won in 1993, 1996, and 2000. Those weren’t Jarrett’s only big wins.
In 1999, he won a NASCAR Winston Cup Series championship. Nowadays, Jarrett prefers to work behind the tracks as the lead racing analyst for ESPN. In 2014, he was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame, joining his father who was inducted three years before.
Bobby Labonte- 932 Races
Bobby Labonte got his start in racing like many other big-time NASCAR guys, by racing quarter midgets when he was just five years old. Since then, he has competed in an impressive 932 races. If his last name sounds familiar, that’s because he’s the brother of Terry Labonte. These two brothers are one of the only pairs of brothers along with the Buschs to both win the Cup championship.
Bobby is the first driver to win both the Winston Cup Championship in 2000 and the Busch Series Championship in 1991. He’s also the first driver to complete the NASCAR Triple Threat, meaning he won three of NASCAR’s top races at the same track at Martinsville. Nowadays, Bobby can be found on FOX Sports working as an analyst for NASCAR RaceDay.