It is a rare event in professional baseball or football player to have a career that lasts 20 years or more; but in racing, it is not unusual to see a driver have a long career.  What is rare are the race wins.  Drivers can go as long as a few years between wins.

In NASCAR’s 75 year history there has been only eight drivers whose first and final wins came at least 20 years apart.

Kurt Busch earned his first win at Bristol Motor Speedway in March of 2002 with his last win coming at Kansas Speedway in May of 2022 shortly before a concussion ended his racing career.  Busch earned a total of 34 races during his racing career.

Cale Yarborough won the first of 83 wins in June of 1965 at Valdosta 75 Speedway.  His final win came 20 years later in October of 1985 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Kevin Harvick earned his first win in 2001 just a few short weeks after the death of Dale Earnhardt Sr.  Harvick replaced Earnhardt at Richard Childress Racing but in the number 29 car, not the iconic black number three.  Prior to his retirement at the end of the 2023 season, Harvick earned wins number 60 at Richmond Raceway in August of 2022.  While he will no longer be racing, Harvick will remain close to racing as a member of the FOX broadcast crew.

Known to many as “The Intimidator”, Dale Earnhardt Sr won the first of his 76 wins at Bristol Motor Speedway in 1979, a place he won nine times.  His final win came at Talladega in 2000; a place he won 10 times.

Bobby Allison won his first race at Oxford Plains Speedway in July 1966. It would be 21 years before he earned the last of his 84 wins in the 1988 Daytona 500.

Earning the name of “The Boy Wonder” when his career first started, Jeff Gordon earned his first win at the 1994 Coca-Cola 600.  Over the course of the next 21 years he would cross the finish line 93 times; the last coming in 2015 at Martinsville Speedway.

Terry Labonte only won 22 races during his 22 year career; earning his first at Darlington Raceway in 1980.  His final win also came at Darlington Raceway in 2003.  Those were the only two Darlington wins Labonte would earn.

Known as The King, Richard Petty racked up a total of 200 wins in his 24 year career with the first coming in 1960 at the Southern States Fairgrounds.  His final win came in 1984 at the Firecracker 400 in Daytona.