Ranking 7 NASCAR Cup Series drivers with the most laps led in series history without a win ft. Mike Skinner

Winning in the NASCAR Cup Series has always been a steep challenge. While lap times lead to dominance, they don’t always result in victories. And it leads us to the question of who has led the most laps without ever winning a points-paying Cup race?

Of the 2,654 NASCAR Cup points races held historically, 146 races (mostly from before 1974) lack complete data, so these rankings are based on the available records. That caveat means the list could look slightly different if more historical lap data surfaces.

Using available historical records, here are seven drivers who all spent significant time at the front of the field, and their careers serve as reminders that in NASCAR, dominance and timing don’t always align for a win.

7 NASCAR Cup Series drivers who led the most laps without a win

#1 Mike Skinner - 1,029 laps led

Mike Skinner during the NASCAR Sprint Showdown at Charlotte Motor Speedway, 2011. Source: Getty

Mike Skinner tops this list. A full-time Cup regular for Richard Childress Racing from 1997–2001, Skinner led 1,029 laps across 286 Cup starts. He led the most laps in four races and came painfully close to victory more than once. His best Cup finish was second at Talladega in April 2000, losing to Jeff Gordon by two car lengths. Skinner did capture non-points exhibition races in Japan, but a points-paying Cup win eluded him.

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#2 Ty Gibbs - 831 laps led

Ty Gibbs (54) during the NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Source: Imagn

A promising young star, Ty Gibbs, has already led 831 Cup laps early in his career. The 2022 Xfinity Series champion moved up to full-time Cup duty and, through his first roughly 117 races, has shown flashes of dominance without a points win so far. Gibbs led the most laps at the 2024 Chicago Street Course and posted a career-best second at Darlington in 2024. He’s led 300 laps this season alone and remains one of the likeliest names on this list to remove himself from it soon.

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#3 Joe Ruttman - 807 laps led

Joe Ruttman(4), Ron Bouchard (47), Eddie Bierschwale (6), and Neil Bonnett (12) during the 1985 Atlanta Journal 500. Source: Getty

Joe Ruttman’s NASCAR Cup Series career stretched across five decades, and he clocked 807 laps led across 225 starts. He led the most laps in two races and has three career runner-up finishes. Ruttman recorded 19 top-5s in his career before stepping away in 2004.

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#4 Banjo Matthews - 495 laps led

Banjo Matthews led 495 laps in just 51 Grand National (now Cup) starts in the 1950s and early 1960s. He was a part-time driver and owner for ten years in an era when team structures were different and part-time runs were common.

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#5 Rick Mast - 478 laps led

Bobby Hamilton (L) and Rick Mast before the NASCAR Cup Series at Phoenix, 1997. Source: Imagn

Rick Mast led 478 laps in a 364-race Cup career that ran mainly from the late 1980s into the early 2000s. Much of his lap-leading came behind the wheel of the Precision Products Racing No. 1. Mast posted a handful of strong seasons and picked up multiple podiums (four top-3s in 1994), but a win never came.

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#6 Hut Stricklin - 476 laps led

NASCAR Cup Series driver Hut Stricklin (8) during the Dura Lube 500 at Phoenix International Raceway. Source: Imagn

Hut Stricklin led 476 laps in 328 career Cup starts. He recorded eight top-five finishes and had several moments where victory looked close, including Michigan (June 23, 1991) and a 143-lap stint leading at Darlington on Sept. 1, 1996, when he eventually lost to Jeff Gordon.

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#7 Tommy Irwin - 350 laps led

Tommy Irwin led 350 laps in 99 Grand National Series starts in the late 1950s. Despite notching 23 top-five finishes, he was repeatedly stung by mechanical failures and bad luck, which kept him from converting those runs into a NASCAR Cup Series victory.