This past weekend, Cup Series driver Kyle Larson earned his third win of the season on the road course at Sonoma Raceway; but finishing a race near the top of the field each week is not an easy event.
The odds are that a driver is just as likely to finish the race at the back of the field as they are the front.
While not much was noted at the end of the race, Chase Elliott notched a feat of his own…extending his list of top 20 finishes. In fact only eight drivers in the history of NASCAR have achieved the feat for at least 16 consecutive races!
Petty racing patriarch Lee was the first to accomplish the feat in 1959 when he had 24 straight races with a finish in the top 20.
It would be another 23 years before another driver would see such a streak when Buddy Arrington had 16 top 20 finishes in 1982.
In 1987, dale Earnhardt Sr went 22 races before finishing outside the top 20.
The following year, Bill Elliott spent all 29 races in the season finishing in the top 20. He is the only driver to achieve such an accomplishment.
In 1991, Ricky Rudd had 25 consecutive top 20 finishes to come up a little short of matching Bill Elliott
For a whole season in the top 20.
NBC broadcaster Jeff Burton is known more for his efforts to make the sport safer; but in 2008 he had 17 straight races where he finished in the top 20.
In 2016, Kevin Harvick started the season with 16 straight races in the top 20.
So far the drivers have run just 16 races in the 2024 season. With his fourth place finish at Sonoma Raceway, Chase Elliott joins his father on this very exclusive list of top 20 finishers with his 16th straight race in the top 20. Can the younger Elliott also join his father as a top 20 finisher the whole season…or will he fall short of the mark?