Daytona 500: The 15 Best NASCAR Drivers Ever Who Haven't Won It

[wvafan3]

The most coveted win in NASCAR racing results in the driver hoisting the Harley J. Earl trophy in Victory Lane symbolizing a Daytona 500 win.

NASCAR kicks off their season with the biggest race on the schedule at the end of Speedweeks in Daytona each and every February.

The race known as the "Great American Race" was first run in 1959. There are 52 Daytona 500s in the history books, leaving some drivers still wondering why they could never capture a win on the high banks of Daytona.

Other drivers have multiple wins which seems so unfair to those who have spent perhaps 20 years or more trying to win the prestigious race.

Many drivers have finished well, won the July race at Daytona and have wins at the other high-banked superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama, yet for whatever reason, they can't be the one who crosses the finish line first at the Daytona 500.

There are drivers with amazing statistics who have driven for high-profile teams with great equipment, but, be it fate, accidents, equipment failure or just that little bit of horsepower that wasn't there on the last lap, they see another year slip by without a win at the event.

As we look ahead to the 53rd running of the Daytona 500, 43 drivers will be hoping they will be the one to stand in Victory Lane. Reality tells some of them they have no chance.

For other drivers, just being able to say they finished the race is an accomplishment at the restrictor-plate track that can be so unpredictable, especially this year with the new racing surface.

Looking back through the history of the Daytona 500, there are drivers who just should have been able to claim victory at the big race. Let's take a look at 15 drivers in no particular order, who had the credentials to win but just couldn't deliver.

 

[wvafan3]

Terry Labonte
Texas" Terry Labonte was the 1984 NASCAR Winston Cup (Sprint Cup) Champion, and he has 22 Cup wins to his credit.

For nearly 30 years, he has tried and failed to win the coveted Daytona 500. Once again this year, he will attempt to qualify a Toyota fielded by Prism Motorsports.

Labonte has had his share of quality rides, and his best chance of ever winning the "Great American Race" has probably long since passed him by.

 

[wvafan3]

Mark Martin
Mark Martin made history when he qualified as the oldest pole winner last year for the Daytona 500. He has been trying to capture a win for just over a quarter of a century.

Martin has amassed 40 wins in NASCAR's top series of racing. He has never won the February or July race, but he has been a runner-up for the series title, and he found himself finishing second in the 2007 Daytona 500.

With the 2011 season bringing an end to his full-time driving in the Cup series, at least for Hendrick Motorsports, the NASCAR statesman would like nothing better than to finally capture a win.

 

[wvafan3]

Rusty Wallace
Rusty Wallace has made 23 attempts to win the Daytona 500, but his best finish was third.

Wallace was the NASCAR Winston Cup (Sprint Cup) Champion in 1989 and has a record that shows 55 wins in the Cup series, yet Daytona eluded him.

This year, the Wallace family will make history with a fourth member running the Daytona 500. Rusty's son, Steve Wallace, will debut in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. His brothers, Mike Wallace and Kenny Wallace have both driven in the big race, but failed to win.

Wallace retired as a driver in 2005, so he must look to the future and hope one day his son can do what he was never able to do.

 

[wvafan3]

Bobby Labonte
Bobby Labonte, the 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup (Sprint Cup) Champion has raced in 18 Daytona 500s. His record shows 21 wins in the top series of NASCAR.

This year, he will replace Marcos Ambrose as the driver of the No. 47 JTG/Daugherty Toyota in hopes of capturing a win for his new team.

Labonte has driven for top team owners including Joe Gibbs Racing. His credentials show he has the talent to win the big race.

He ran second to Dale Earnhardt in 1998, when the "Intimidator" finally secured his first Daytona 500 win.

 

[wvafan3]

Jeff Burton
Jeff Burton has raced in the Cup Series of NASCAR since 1993 and has 21 wins to his credit in that series.

Burton has started on the pole for the Daytona 500 and has finished second in the race. His equipment has come from the best in the business including Jack Roush and now Richard Childress.

The talent of the respected driver is unquestioned, but in 17 attempts, winning the Daytona 500 is something Burton has not been able to do.

 

[wvafan3]

Tony Stewart
Tony Stewart has two NASCAR Nextel (Sprint Cup) titles from 2002 and 2005. The driver has 39 wins to his credit in the Cup series.

Stewart has 12 starts in the Daytona 500, finished second in 2004 and has won the July race at the track three times.

With the record the owner/driver has at Daytona, it is somewhat amazing he has not been able to win the Daytona 500.

Perhaps this will be the year the driver known as "Smoke," will take his No. 14 Chevy to Victory Lane at the sport's biggest race.

 

[wvafan3]

Kurt Busch
Kurt Busch has been the runner-up three times out of his 10 attempts to win the Daytona 500. Twice he was racing for Jack Roush and once with his Penske "Blue Deuce."

Busch has 22 career wins in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. He was the 2004 NASCAR Nextel (Sprint Cup) Series champion.

He hands over his ride in the famous No. 2 Dodge to Brad Keselowski this year. Perhaps, he will take his Penske Shell/Pennzoil ride to Victory Lane at long last this year.

 

[wvafan3]

Ned Jarrett
Ned Jarrett won the NASCAR Grand National (Sprint Cup) Championship in 1961 and 1965. The soft-spoken driver known as "Gentleman Ned" had 50 wins in the top series of NASCAR during the 13 years he raced beginning in 1953.

Jarrett was a fierce competitor on the short tracks which were his specialty. He had 20 starts at Daytona in the various races there, with seven top-five finishes.

Despite his talent behind the wheel, he was unable to win the Daytona 500. Who can forget his calling of the race for television, when his son Dale Jarrett fought off Dale Earnhardt in the "Dale and Dale" show during the 1993 Daytona 500?

 

[wvafan3]

Harry Gant
Harry Gant was best known as the driver of the No. 33 Skoal Bandit. The driver known as "Handsome Harry," won 18 Cup events during the 474 races he ran over a 22-year period.

At Daytona, he made 32 starts, 17 of which were for the Daytona 500. He seemed to do better in the other Daytona race where he had two top-five finishes.

Gant scored a win on the high banks of Talladega Superspeedway, but he was denied a win at the Daytona 500 despite his many attempts and quality equipment.

 

[wvafan3]

Neil Bonnett
Alabama native, Neil Bonnett, had 15 starts in the Daytona 500 during his career that spanned 18 years. His statistics show 18 victories in the Cup series, one of which was the July race at Daytona.

Bonnett drove for two of the best NASCAR team owners, Junior Johnson and Wood Brothers during most of his career. It wasn't lack of equipment or driving talent that caused the driver to be denied a win at the prestigious race.

Bonnett nearly lost his life in a crash at Darlington in 1990, but he was able to return to racing in 1992 at Talladega Superspeedway. His return was marred by an accident that sent his car airborne and crashing into a spectator fence.

Racing was Bonnett's life, and in one last cruel turn of fate, he was practicing for the 1994 Daytona 500 when a right front tire failed, and he hit the fourth turn wall head on. He lost his life at nearly the same spot as his good friend, Dale Earnhardt, did in the 2001 Daytona 500.

 

[wvafan3]

Kasey Kahne
The first NASCAR Cup race for 30-year-old Kasey Kahne was the 2004 Daytona 500. Since then, he has gone on to win 11 times in that series.

His best finish in the big race has been seventh, and last year, he was able to attain the runner-up position during the July race at Daytona last year.

Kahne drove a Dodge for Ray Evernham in the beginning of his career in the top-tier of NASCAR. The teams went through mergers with Kahne driving a Ford for Richard Petty Motorsports until he split for Red Bull Racing late last year.

This year, he will take his RBR No. 4 Toyota Camry to Daytona with hopes of securing a win at the big race before he begins his tour of duty with Hendrick Motorsports in 2012.

 

[wvafan3]

Greg Biffle
Greg Biffle began racing in the NASCAR top series in 2002 for Jack Roush and has been racing for him since then.

He has 16 starts at Daytona with eight of them being in the Daytona 500. He seems to run better in the summer heat at Daytona where he has one win. His best finish was third last year for the February race.

Biffle has a total of 16 Cup wins to his credit. He will once again try to take his 3M Ford to the lead on the last lap at the 53rd Daytona 500.

 

[wvafan3]

Tim Richmond
The one-of-a kind NASCAR Winston Cup (Sprint Cup) driver who came from wealth and was nicknamed "Hollywood," ran his first race in the top series during 1980.

Richmond showed amazing talent behind the wheel of a stock car. In the brief eight-year span that he raced, his record shows 13 wins and 178 top-10 finishes. Several of those years, he did not run full seasons.

At Daytona, his record was lackluster for whatever reason until he finally won the July race in 1986 after his move to Hendrick Motorsports. He had five starts in the Daytona 500, but the best he finished was 20th for Hendrick in 1986.

There is little doubt Richmond might have been one of the sports most talented drivers and who knows what his record would have reflected had he not died at age 34 from complications of HIV/AIDS.

 

[wvafan3]

Donnie Allison
Donnie Allison, brother of NASCAR Champion Bobby Allison, was a driver who did not run full seasons in the Cup series every year. He still won 10 races and had 115 top-10 finishes during the 20 years he raced.

At Daytona, he had 29 total starts including qualifiers. He ran in 13 Daytona 500s with his best finish being third. He started on the pole four times, twice in February and twice for the July race.

Allison was leading the 1979 Daytona 500 when Cale Yarborough tried his signature slingshot pass. Allison would not yield to him forcing Yarborough's tires into the muddy infield and then he came spinning into Allison.

The resulting fight between Allison, Yarborough and Bobby Allison was the highlight of the first live broadcast of a NASCAR race in 1979. Richard Petty who had been half a lap behind the leaders won the race.

 

[wvafan3]

Charlie Glotzbach
Charlie Glotzbach was another driver who chose not to run full seasons during the entire period he raced in the Winston Cup (Sprint Cup) series that went from 1960 until 1992. He only ran a total of 124 races with four wins and 38 top-five finishes.

Glotzbach knew speed and tested for Chrysler in Michigan at cars that ran up to 243 miles per hour. He drove the winged "Daytona Superbirds" at Talladega Superspeedway and Daytona International Speedway.

At Daytona, he had a total of 18 starts, seven of which were for the Daytona 500. He started on the pole for the July race at the high-banked Florida track. His best finishes for the big race were runner-up for the win in 1969 and 1972.

Given the time Glotzbach spent testing and some impressive runs at Daytona, it is a wonder he did not garner a win. Perhaps had he run a few more Daytona 500s, he would have been destined to win one.