The longest waits in NASCAR history before first Cup Series win
The 210th different winner in the history of the NASCAR Cup Series is Ryan Preece, breaking through in his 249th career start at Daytona International Speedway. The victory came on the same weekend where another Ryan -- Ryan Sieg, earned his first NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series win in his 424th career start. That's a record for the secondary level of NASCAR, but what about Cup? Well ... Keep…
Ryan Preece achieved NASCAR's longest wait before winning the Cup Series, starting his career in 2015 and finally securing his first victory at Daytona in 2026. Three drivers have run more races than Preece before their first Cup win: Ty Dillon (307 starts), J.J. Yeley (399 starts), and Preece himself (249 starts). Other notable drivers with long waiting times include James Hylton (187 starts), Daniel Suarez (195 starts), AJ Allmendinger (213 starts), Buddy Baker (216 starts), Johnny Benson Jr. (226 starts), Dave Marcis (227 starts), Sterling Marlin (279 starts), Michael McDowell (358 starts), and Michael Waltrip (463 starts).
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