Winning a title in NASCAR used to be about math. You’d spend 36 weeks grinding out top-ten finishes, keeping the fenders clean, and slowly watching your points lead grow until the finale was basically a victory lap.
Then came the "Game 7" era. Everything changed.
If you look at the list of NASCAR cup championship winners, you’ll see the legends like Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt with their seven trophies. But you’ll also see recent runs that make those old-school purists lose their minds. Take Joey Logano in 2024. He finished the regular season 15th in points. Honestly, he wasn't even the best car on his own team for most of the summer. But he won when it mattered, survived the eliminations, and took home his third Cup.
That’s the beauty—or the frustration—of modern NASCAR.
The 2025 Shift and the Return of "The Chase"
We literally just saw Kyle Larson reclaim the throne in 2025. It was a heavyweight battle at Phoenix where Larson managed to secure his second title, holding off a surging Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe. It felt right. Larson had been the class of the field all year, and for once, the fastest car actually took home the Bill France Cup.
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But here’s the kicker. As of January 2026, NASCAR has officially scrapped the "winner-take-all" elimination format.
Starting this season, we are going back to a version of "The Chase." No more knockout rounds. No more one-race crapshoots for the title. NASCAR is moving back to a 10-race postseason where points actually accumulate over two months. They've even boosted the reward for winning a race to 55 points. Basically, they're trying to find a middle ground between the 1970s "marathon" style and the 2014-2025 "sprint" chaos.
The Seven-Timer Club: Petty, Earnhardt, and Johnson
You can't talk about NASCAR cup championship winners without bowing down to the big three.
- Richard Petty (The King): Won his seven titles between 1964 and 1979. He did it when the schedule was grueling—sometimes 60 races a year—and most of the competition was just trying to finish.
- Dale Earnhardt (The Intimidator): His reign from 1980 to 1994 defined the modern era. He won with aggression and a psychological edge that hasn't been matched since.
- Jimmie Johnson: Five in a row. Let that sink in. From 2006 to 2010, nobody else even had a look-in. He mastered the first iteration of the Chase format better than anyone in history.
Most people argue over who is the "Greatest of All Time," but the stats are weirdly lopsided. Jeff Gordon has four titles, but if the current playoff system existed in the 90s, he might have had six. If the old system existed in the 2000s, he definitely would have had seven.
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Recent NASCAR Cup Championship Winners
The last decade has been dominated by Team Penske and Hendrick Motorsports. It's kinda been a back-and-forth slugfest between Roger Penske’s "precision" and Rick Hendrick’s "superstars."
- 2025: Kyle Larson – Dominated the season with Hendrick Motorsports, winning his second title.
- 2024: Joey Logano – Won his third title, cementing his status as the best "clutch" driver of the playoff era.
- 2023: Ryan Blaney – Finally broke through for his first championship after years of being "the next big thing."
- 2022: Joey Logano – A masterclass in playoff strategy.
- 2021: Kyle Larson – One of the most dominant statistical seasons in the history of the sport (10 wins).
It's interesting to see how the "win-and-you're-in" culture changed the way these guys drive. In the 80s, you’d never see a leader get dumped for a win because the points penalty for a DNF was too high. Today? If a championship is on the line, they’ll drive through a brick wall to get to the start-finish line first.
Why Some Champions Face "Asterisk" Claims
Fans love to argue. It's part of the deal.
There’s a segment of the fanbase that looks at winners like Kyle Busch in 2015—who missed 11 races due to injury and still won the title—and thinks it’s illegitimate. Or Logano in 2024, who wouldn't have even been in the top 10 under an old-school points tally.
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But the reality is that every driver on that list played by the rules of their specific year. You can’t blame a driver for "gaming" a system that was designed to be gamed. If the goal is to win the final race, you build your car and your strategy for the final race.
The Manufacturers' Battle
It’s not just about the drivers. The "Big Three" manufacturers—Chevrolet, Ford, and Toyota—pour millions into these programs.
- Chevrolet has been the powerhouse lately, especially with the Hendrick and Trackhouse stables.
- Ford had a massive streak from 2022 to 2024, with Penske leading the charge.
- Toyota often has the fastest raw speed (look at Joe Gibbs Racing), but they’ve had a string of bad luck in the final four showdowns recently.
What to Watch for in 2026
With the new points system taking effect right now, the strategy for the 2026 season is going to look completely different. You can't just "steal" a win at a superspeedway and coast through the playoffs anymore. Consistency is back on the menu.
If you're following the title race this year, keep an eye on how drivers handle the middle of the season. Those 55-point wins are going to be massive for building a "cushion" before the final ten-race stretch.
The record for most titles—that magic number seven—seems safe for now. None of the active multi-time champions (Logano has 3, Larson has 2, Busch has 2) are particularly close to Petty or Earnhardt yet. But with the way Larson is driving, and the way Logano handles pressure, we might see someone get to four or five before this decade is out.
To stay ahead of the curve, keep a close eye on the weekly "Stage Points" tallies. Under the 2026 rules, those small mid-race points are the difference between a championship seed and missing the postseason entirely. Track the regular-season standings starting with the Daytona 500; the driver who leads the points entering the postseason now gets a 25-point premium, which is a massive head start compared to previous years.