30 With 30: The Birth of Another Seven-Time Cup Champion

The last 25 years of competition in the NASCAR Cup Series have provided the sport with some of its most talented drivers; ranging from the birth of a third seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion to a driver finally surpassing Richard Petty’s 200 wins (at least when it comes to NASCAR’s National Series, combined).

Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, and Kyle Larson are just some of the most notable drivers from the 2000s, 2010s, and 2020s, and with the series getting increasingly competitive, and having a consistent 36-race schedule, more drivers are reaching the 30-win mark.

In fact, the 10 NASCAR Cup Series drivers that have most recently reached the 30-win mark have all done so since the start of the 2007 campaign. Let’s take a look at some of NASCAR’s most recent superstars:

READ PART 1 - 30 With 30: NASCAR's First 10 Drivers to Cross the 30-Win Mark
READ PART 2 - 30 With 30: Gordon, Earnhardt Highlight More Competitive Era of NASCAR

Jimmie Johnson

When it was revealed that NASCAR Cup Series legend Jeff Gordon had personally endorsed Jimmie Johnson to his team owner Rick Hendrick, that probably should have been a sign of the terror that was about to be inflicted on the series in the mid-to-late-2000s.

Upon joining Hendrick Motorsports, Johnson made the mid-2000s, one of the most competitive eras of NASCAR competition, look like the 1960s, and put a butt-whooping on the field reminiscent of Richard Petty. For a half-decade, the El Cajon, California-native was (literally) the only series champion, winning five consecutive titles from 2005 to 2010.

Another two championships were won by Johnson, his sixth coming in 2013, and his record-tying seventh NASCAR Cup Series championship coming under NASCAR’s currently post-season format, in 2016.

With 83 NASCAR Cup Series victories, Johnson has raked in some pretty substantial win totals in NASCAR’s crown jewel events, with four NASCAR All-Star Race wins (2003, 2006, 2012, 2013), four Coca-Cola 600 wins (2003, 2004, 2005, 2014), four Brickyard 400 wins (2006, 2008, 2009, 2012), two DAYTONA 500 wins (2006, 2013), and two Southern 500 wins (2004, 2012).

For Johnson, win No. 30 came right smack dab in the middle of his half-decade of dominance, collecting the landmark victory in the 2007 Subway 500 at Martinsville Speedway – the half-mile paperclip where the Hendrick Motorsports driver won an incredible nine races at.

Once the record-breaker decided that his full-time career was over in NASCAR, Johnson took a shot at competing in the NTT IndyCar Series, and after a two season stint in Indianapolis, elected to return to the NASCAR scene as owner of LEGACY MOTOR CLUB.

Matt Kenseth

Even though he spent more than two decades competing full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, and winning races at that, Matt Kenseth somehow had a very quiet Hall of Fame-worthy career.

Kenseth was a 39-time winner in the NASCAR Cup Series, a NASCAR Winston Cup Series champion (2003), a two-time DAYTONA 500 champion (2009, 2012), a Coca-Cola 600 winner (2000), a Southern 500 winner (2013), and a winner of the NASCAR All-Star Race (2014), so technically, there wasn’t much quiet about him.

With a record eight victories in the prestigious Slinger Nationals at Slinger Speedway, Kenseth was a short-track racer at heart, that was brought into the world of NASCAR in the late 1990s and early 2000s and found success – first with Robbie Reiser and Reiser Enterprises and then with Roush Racing.

Kenseth was a very old-school driver and a true measure of consistency, and after winning the 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup Series title with only a single victory, some believe he was the reason that NASCAR adopted a post-season format starting in 2004.

The popular driver’s 30th career victory in the NASCAR Cup Series came in the 2013 GEICO 400 at Chicagoland Speedway, after Kenseth made his transition from Roush Fenway Racing to Joe Gibbs Racing and had a career-best seven victories in a single season.

After his departure from Joe Gibbs Racing after 2017, Kenseth was set to be done with NASCAR Cup Series competition, but returned twice more – once with Roush Fenway Racing in 2018 to split the No. 6 with Trevor Bayne, and again in 2020 with Chip Ganassi Racing to replace the suspended Kyle Larson in the No. 42.

Kevin Harvick

Kevin Harvick’s time in the NASCAR Cup Series can really be broken down into a tale of two different careers – both of which ended up being reasonably successful.

The first part of his career in the NASCAR Cup Series began on the heels of tragedy, with the Bakersfield, California-native being tapped by Richard Childress Racing (RCR) to replace Dale Earnhardt after a fatal accident in the 2001 DAYTONA 500.

From 2001 to 2013, Harvick piloted the now-iconic No. 29 Chevrolet on the circuit of the NASCAR Cup Series and collected 23 victories while doing so, carrying iconic brands like Shell-Pennzoil and Budweiser in the process.

Then, it was time for change.

In 2014, Harvick joined forces with Tony Stewart and Gene Haas to pilot the newly created No. 4 Chevrolet for Stewart-Haas Racing, with crew chief Rodney Childers on board. The chemistry was present instantly, and the run of success the team went on over the next decade was unmatched.

Together, from 2014 to his retirement from full-time competition at the end of 2023, Harvick and Childers collected 37 wins in the NASCAR Cup Series, bolstering an already impressive resume with more crown jewel victories, and in the first-year of their partnership, a championship (2014).

Harvick’s 30th NASCAR Cup Series victory came during the second chapter of his Cup Series career, in the 2015 CampingWorld.com 500 at Phoenix Raceway – a racetrack he won at nine times, more than any other circuit during his career.

Now, with Harvick retired from NASCAR Cup Series competition, the former driver is focused on his FOX broadcasting efforts, as well as his son Keelan’s racing efforts, as he climbs through the ranks of short track racing, at just 12 years old.

Kyle Busch

There’s no question that Kyle Busch has always been recognized as a superstar-level talent, but in the beginning, his NASCAR career faced some major hurdles. In 2001, Busch was hired by Roush Racing (at 16 years old) to compete in the NASCAR Truck Series, but was quickly prohibited from doing so, due to rules that prohibited drivers under 18 to compete in events sponsored by tobacco companies.

After that slight bump in the road, Busch returned to NASCAR’s National Series as an 18-year-old in 2003, as a development driver for Hendrick Motorsports. After a season in the NASCAR Busch Series, Busch was tossed into the NASCAR Cup Series in 2004 and immediately sowed prowess – scoring two wins in his first full-time season.

Entering the Cup Series at the age of 20, Busch set a number of records, but little did everybody know the caliber of driver that they were dealing with, and the sheer impressive list of accomplishments that the Las Vegas, Nevada-native would have two decades later.

Busch is a two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion (2015, 2019) and a 63-time NASCAR Cup Series race-winner, but the buck doesn’t stop there. The now 39-year-old driver is also the all-time winningest driver in both the NASCAR Xfinity Series (102) and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (67 and counting), and surpassed Richard Petty with the most NASCAR National Series wins.

Throw in some crown jewel events like the Southern 500 (2008), Brickyard 400 (2015, 2016), Coca-Cola 600 (2018), and the NASCAR All-Star Race (2018), plus a streak of 19 consecutive seasons where Busch won a NASCAR Cup Series event (which ended in 2024) and you have one of the greatest drivers of all-time.

Busch’s 30th win in the NASCAR Cup Series turned out to be a pivotal one for his championship hopes in 2015, as his victory in the Toyota / Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway was ultimately what locked him into the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, after missing much of the first part of the season due to a broken leg sustained at Daytona International Speedway.

Now at Richard Childress Racing, Busch is hoping to continue his winning pedigree at NASCAR’s top-level, after a bit of an off-year in 2024.

In 2018, when Kurt Busch earned his 30th career NASCAR Cup Series victory, the Busch brothers became the first pair of siblings to each win 30 NASCAR Cup Series events.

Denny Hamlin

Denny Hamlin doesn’t NEED to win a championship in the NASCAR Cup Series to solidify his position in the NASCAR Hall of Fame, his career accolades have likely already done that for him. But that doesn’t mean the Chesterfield, Virginia-native doesn’t WANT to hoist the Bill France Cup.

It’s the one thing that has eluded the Joe Gibbs Racing driver throughout his two-decade tenure at NASCAR’s top-level, and despite three DAYTONA 500 wins (2016, 2019, 2020), three Southern 500 wins (2010, 2017, 2021), a Coca-Cola 600 win (2022), and a career total of 54 Cup Series wins, there’s still an empty space in the trophy case.

Hamlin’s 30th victory in the NASCAR Cup Series came during the Summer of 2017, when the driver of the No. 11 Toyota Camry captured the victory in the Overton’s 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, beating out Kyle Larson and Martin Truex, Jr. for the victory.

Now, as Hamlin gets closer to the tail-end of his driving career, the 44-year-old is expanding his horizons, becoming a partial owner of NASCAR Cup Series team 23XI Racing with NBA Superstar Michael Jordan and Curtis Polk. The organizations fields three full-time entries for Bubba Wallace, Tyler Reddick, and Riley Herbst.

While it’s possible a championship might not be in the cards for Hamlin as a driver, there’s a legitimate possibility that 23XI Racing, which has proven to be on the forefront of ingenuity, placing Tyler Reddick in the Championship 4 at Phoenix Raceway last season.

Hamlin’s legacy, both on and off the racetrack, is destined to make him one of the sports all-time most influential figures.

Kurt Busch

In the early-to-mid-2000s, Kurt Busch stormed onto the scene of the NASCAR Cup Series and found immediate success with Roush Racing, laying down four-win seasons in his second and third full-time campaigns with the organization, and securing a NASCAR Cup Series championship in his fourth (2004).

After winning his first championship the young age of 26, Busch spent the next two decades of his career at NASCAR’s top-level seeking a second title, but wasn’t successful, with his career coming to an abrupt halt in June 2022.

The Las Vegas, Nevada-native spent time with several major organizations throughout his two-decade tenure in the NASCAR Cup Series, including Roush Racing, Team Penske, Stewart-Haas Racing, Chip Ganassi Racing, and 23XI Racing, but also had his share of underdog periods, including periods with Phoenix Racing and Furniture Row Racing.

In the 2018 Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, Kurt Busch hit his landmark 30th win in the NASCAR Cup Series after beating Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott for the victory. The 2018 season continued a streak of consecutive seasons with a victory that would eventually reach nine seasons.

After suffering a concussion in a qualifying crash at Pocono in 2022, Busch has officially confirmed his retirement from the NASCAR Cup Series, but has just recently returned to a racecar in the 2025 Race of Champions, leaving some fans hopeful that a NASCAR return may eventually be in the cards.

When Kurt Busch notched his landmark 30th win in 2018, he and his younger brother Kyle Busch became the first pair of siblings in NASCAR history to each win 30 NASCAR Cup Series events.

Brad Keselowski

Although his days of competition in the NASCAR Cup Series aren’t quite finished yet, Brad Keselowski has elected to follow in the footsteps of several legendary racecar drivers before him, taking on partial ownership of Roush Fenway Racing (now known as RFK Racing) in 2022.

When his career in NASCAR’s National Series got started in the mid 2000s, Keselowski was driving first for his family-owned NASCAR Truck Series team and then for underfunded NASCAR Xfinity Series team Keith Coleman Racing, before getting discovered by Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

The Rochester Hills, Michigan-native was then a development driver for JR Motorsports (and eventually Hendrick Motorsports), before his career took a turn to the iconic motorsport’s empire of Team Penske, where he stayed for much of his career – winning a NASCAR Xfinity Series championship (2010) and a NASCAR Cup Series championship (2012) for the organization.

Win No. 30 for Keselowski dates a half-decade back in the 2019 Digital Ally 400 at Kansas Speedway, where the driver of the No. 2 Ford Mustang made a late-race pass on Alex Bowman to clinch the victory. The driver-turned-owner has won six NASCAR Cup Series events since, the most recent of which was at Darlington Raceway in 2024.

Despite only capturing one victory in RFK Racing equipment, Keselowski has been an integral part in turning the organization around, with Chris Buescher collecting five victories in the last three seasons, and the team picking up a major sponsorship deal from grocery chain Kroger.

Martin Truex, Jr.

Martin Truex, Jr. spent nearly two decades competing on a full-time basis in the NASCAR Cup Series, but in reality, it wasn’t until the second half of his career that the Mayetta, New Jersey-native turned into a superstar, collecting several victories and a NASCAR Cup Series title (2017).

Carrying Furniture Row Racing, a former backmarker and start-and-park team at NASCAR’s top-level in the late 2000s, to a NASCAR Cup Series championship is definitely the claim-to-fame for Truex, who in his final nine seasons managed to collect a staggering 31 of 34 victories.

His 30th NASCAR Cup Series victory, though, came after being crowned a champion in the NASCAR Cup Series, winning the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway on May 9, 2021, after leading a staggering 248 of the race’s 293 laps around the iconic 1.366-mile racetrack.

After spending six seasons with championship-winning organization Joe Gibbs Racing, Truex has recently retired from full-time competition – but will still run a partial schedule in NASCAR’s National Series in 2025. The 44-year-old driver recently competed in the DAYTONA 500 for TRICON Garage, but hasn’t run anything else since.

Joey Logano

In 2009, 18-year-old Joey Logano was thrown into the top-echelon of NASCAR competition while driving for a championship-winning organization in Joe Gibbs Racing, all despite having very little experience in anything that resembled a stock car.

He ended up capturing a victory in his rookie season – albeit a rain-shortened strategy win – making him the youngest-ever winner in the NASCAR Cup Series at 19 years, 1 month, and 4 days. Then, the hype kind of wore out, and the driver once described as “better than sliced bread” was left to reassess his career.

Now, 15 years after the beginning of his journey at NASCAR’s top-level, Logano has turned himself into a household name, collecting three championships in the NASCAR Cup Series (2018, 2022, 2024), as well as a victory in the DAYTONA 500 (2015) and a pair of wins in the NASCAR All-Star Race (2016, 2024).

Most of his successes have come with Team Penske, who hired the Middletown, Connecticut-born driver at the start of the 2013 NASCAR Cup Series campaign and helped to shape the young man into a formidable championship contender.

With 36 (and counting) NASCAR Cup Series victories, it’s safe to say that the NASCAR Hall of Fame has a spot with Joey Logano’s name once he chooses to retire – after all, he is still only 34 years old.

Logano took his landmark 30th NASCAR Cup Series victory just two seasons ago, winning the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on October 16. The event turned out to be significant for the driver of the Team Penske No. 22, advancing him to the Championship 4 at Phoenix, where he would eventually hoist his second championship trophy.

Kyle Larson

Is Kyle Larson the best race car driver in the world? The answer will likely depend on who exactly you ask, but the 32-year-old driver from Elk Grove, California is no doubt at the top of the heap in the NASCAR Cup Series -- collecting his 30th win Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Larson is the first graduate of the NASCAR Drive for Diversity program to win a NASCAR Cup Series championship (2021) and has been setting the world on fire since moving over to Hendrick Motorsports at the beginning of the 2021 season, collecting 24 victories in the last five years -- which already ranks third on the organization's all-time wins list.

With the winningest NASCAR Cup Series team of all-time in his corner, this will not be the final victory for Larson, who is bound to be a perennial championship contender for as long as he chooses to remain competing at the top-level of stock car racing in the world.

That isn't even the full extent of his motorsports endeavors, either, as Larson frequently competes in sprint car and other dirt track events across the globe, and is set to make his second start in the Indianapolis 500 -- one of the most prestigious events in the world -- this May.