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Nowadays, road course racing is a necessary skill for any Cup Series driver, but it wasn’t that way for most of the sport’s history. The Cup Series only visited one or two road courses per year, with none in the Playoffs until 2018, so series regulars often just skated through these races. As a result, some of the best NASCAR drivers of all time struggled mightily on road courses.
| Starts | Wins | Top-5s | Top-10s | Avg. Finish | Laps Led |
| 41 | 1 | 9 | 19 | 14.7 | 161 |
Jimmie Johnson was typically “Good enough” on road courses. He never really had to be great at them, as throughout his prime, there were only two per year, and neither was in the Playoffs. His only road course win came at Sonoma in 2010; even that win was strange.
Under a late cation, race leader Marcos Ambrose shut the engine off to save fuel while going uphill. That stalled the car, and he gave Johnson the lead. He never relinquished it.
| Starts | Wins | Top-5s | Top-10s | Avg. Finish | Laps Led |
| 47 | 1 | 20 | 31 | 10.4 | 237 |
Similar to Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt was always fine enough on road courses, but he couldn’t break through to get that win. He did have to contend with Riverside being the season finale in his 1986 championship season, but the title race wrapped up before that race started.
His only win on a road course came in 1995 at Sonoma. He passed a dominant Mark Martin in the carousel during the closing laps for the win. Earnhardt also won a pole at Watkins Glen with a broken collarbone in 1996.
| Starts | Wins | Top-5s | Top-10s | Avg. Finish | Laps Led |
| 35 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 20.3 | 46 |
Dale Earnhardt Jr. never found much success on road courses. Not only did he never win a road course race, he never even came close to winning one. Similar to his father, road course racing just was not his forte.
Dale Jr. tried to improve his road course skills by entering an American Le Mans Series (a precursor to IMSA) race in 2004. He ended up crashing and sustaining minor burns as the fuel cell burst. He didn’t miss any Cup Series races, but it was an omen that road course racing was not going to be a strength.
| Starts | Wins | Top-5s | Top-10s | Avg. Finish | Laps Led |
| 39 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 18.6 | 3 |
Fellow Hall of Famer Matt Kenseth only led a grand total of three laps on road courses. He never ran up front, just getting through these road course races, much like others on this list. He did nab a second-place finish in 2017 at Watkins Glen.
Kenseth’s most memorable moment at a road course came at Watkins Glen under a red flag in 2007. In the short chute, a fan jumped out of a spectator area and ran to Kenseth’s car, asking for an autograph. Kenseth declined, and the fan was apprehended.
| Starts | Wins | Top-5s | Top-10s | Avg. Finish | Laps Led |
| 43 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 20.0 | 43 |
Much like Kenseth and Earnahrdt Jr., Dale Jarrett was never great on road courses and never really improved. He didn’t need them to win the 1999 NASCAR Cup Series Championship. Some of these finishes were down to subpar equipment, particularly very early and very late in his career. However, even in his prime, he never finished better than fourth.
His most memorable moment came in 1995 when he did a half-rollover in turn seven at Sonoma. Amazingly enough, he finished the race on the lead lap and ended up 23rd.
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