List of NASCAR Cup Series champions (Jayverse)

The NASCAR Cup Series Drivers' Championship is awarded by the chairman of NASCAR to the most successful NASCAR Cup Series racing car driver over a season, as determined by a points system based on race results. The Drivers' Championship was first awarded in 1949 to Red Byron. The first driver to win multiple Championships was Herb Thomas in 1951 and 1953. The current Drivers' Champion is REDACTED
The NASCAR points system has undergone several incarnations since its initial implementation. Originally, races awarded points by a complicated system based upon final positioning and weighted by prize money purses, such that higher-paying events gave more points. Soon after the advent of the modern era in 1972, the championship was decided by a more basic cumulative point total based solely upon a driver's finishing position in each race. In order to reduce the possibility of a driver clinching before the final event, NASCAR implemented the "Chase for the Cup" in 1981 which 16 drivers with the most points are reset to 5 points behind the leader, With these changes, the last Drivers' Champion to clinch before the final race was Richard Petty in 1974.
== The Champions ==
1949 - Red Byron
1950 - Bill Rexford
1951 - Herb Thomas
1952 - Tim Flock
1953 - Herb Thomas (2)
1954 - Lee Petty
1955 - Tim Flock (2)
1956 - Buck Baker
1957 - Buck Baker (2)
1958 - Lee Petty (2)
1959 - Lee Petty (3)
1960 - Rex White
1961 - Ned Jarrett
1962 - Joe Weatherly
1963 - Joe Weatherly (2)
1964 - Richard Petty
1965 - Ned Jarrett (2)
1966 - David Pearson
1967 - Richard Petty (2)
1968 - David Pearson (2)
1969 - David Pearson (3)
1970 - Bobby Isaac
1971 - Richard Petty (3)
1972 - Richard Petty (4)
1973 - Benny Parsons
1974 - Richard Petty (5)
1975 - Richard Petty (6)
1976 - Bobby Allison
1977 - Bobby Allison (2)
1978 - Buddy Baker
1979 - Buddy Baker (2)
1980 - Buddy Baker (3)
1981 - Richard Childress
1982 - Tim Richmond
1983 - Bobby Allison (3)
1984 - Ricky Rudd
1985 - Mark Martin
1986 - Dale Earnhardt
1987 - Mark Martin (2)
1988 - Darrell Waltrip (Also won the NASCAR IBM Grand National Series That Year)
1989 - Lake Speed
1990 - Rusty Wallace (Won the Cup Series Title without winning a Single Race That Year)
1991 - Geoff Bodine (2)
1992 - Terry Labonte (Won The Cup Series Title by competing in all but one race in the whole season)
1993 - Terry Schoonover
1994 - Geoff Bodine (3)
1995 - Mark Martin (3)
1996 - Terry Labonte (2)
1997 - Michael Waltrip
Category:Jayverse