Top 5 most successful father-son duos in NASCAR history

Keelan Harvick, son of Kevin Harvick, works on his dad's car in the garage area during practice for the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series New Hampshire 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire. (Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty Images)
Keelan Harvick, son of Kevin Harvick, works on his dad's car in the garage area during practice for the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series New Hampshire 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire. (Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty Images)

Owing to the high cost of entry and competition in the world of motorsports, a lot of people never get a chance to showcase their talent in a car, and NASCAR is no different. If you are a stock car racing or motorport fan in general, you probably already know how family-oriented this industry can be.

Hence, it is easy to see why there have been multiple family connections in the world of motorsports. NASCAR's most popular connection comes in the form of father-son duo Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Jr., who even had the opportunity to race each other on track.

Several such father-son duos have competed in the highest echelon of stock car racing and have achieved varied levels of success.


5 most successful father-son duos in NASCAR history

The following five father-son duos have had the most success in their respective NASCAR careers:

#5 David Pearson and Larry Pearson

NASCAR Hall of Famer David Pearson visited Victory Lane 105 times in his Cup Series career, which spanned more than 25 years and 574 races. He also has three championships to his name and is regarded as one of the most versatile drivers of all time.

His son Larry Pearson never found his groove in the Cup Series. He, however, had a successful career in the Xfinity Series (then known as the Busch Series) with 15 wins over 17 years of racing.

#4 Ned Jarrett and Dale Jarrett

Ned Jarrett became a Cup Series champion twice in his career that spanned over 13 years. The elder Jarrett has 35 poles and finished in the top ten 239 times in 352 races, highlighting the consistency of his abilities.

Dale Jarrett, who works for ESPN as an analyst, had a successful Cup Series career before he took to the world of media. He overcame his father's career in terms of longetivity and drove over 24 years. winning 32 races and the championship in 1999.

#3 Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

The most popular father-son duo of all time, Dale Earnhart Sr. and Jr., come in third place in terms of combined wins between the two drivers.

Earnhardt Sr. has claimed victory 76 times in 677 races over 27 years. He also has seven Cup Series (then known as Winston Cup) championships to his name.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., on the other hand, has run 631 races over 19 years and won 26 times. He now competes part-time in the Xfinity Series along with being an avid entreprenuer.

#2 Bobby Allison and Davey Allison

NASCAR Hall of Famer Bobby Allison won the Cup Series championship in 1983. He has 85 race wins to his name from 718 total races and 58 pole positions.

Davey Allison was named rookie of the year in 1987 and won 19 races in his nine-year-long career. He was tragically killed in a helicopter accident in 1993.

#1 Lee Petty and Richard Petty

Three-time Cup Series champion Lee Petty won 54 races in his 16-year-long career and is one of the few drivers to win in five different decades.

Richard Petty, popularly known as 'The King', has 200 race wins to his name along with seven championships. Petty also boasts seven Daytona 500 victories, the most of any driver till date.

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