One hundred ninety-three drivers have won races in the NASCAR Cup Series. Of those drivers, 61 won only one race.
We’re diving into the National Speed Sport News archives to look back at some of these one-hit wonders and the races they won.
Many would argue that Regan Smith’s first NASCAR Cup Series victory should have come in 2008 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.
On that day at the 2.66-mile track, Smith got to the finish line first. However, NASCAR deemed his pass of Tony Stewart was illegal because he dipped below the yellow line on the bottom of the speedway.
As a result, Smith was credited with finishing 18th despite being the first competitor across the finish line in his No. 01 Chevrolet, and Stewart was declared the winner.
Fast-forward to May 7, 2011 and Smith was driving for the underdog Furniture Row Racing team as the NASCAR Cup Series circuit visited Darlington (S.C.) Raceway for the running of the Southern 500.
It was pit strategy call that pave Smith’s road to victory lane at one of NASCAR’s most challenging race tracks.
Smith remained on the race track when the leaders pitted for fresh tires following the 10th yellow flag of the race with 10 laps remaining. Carl Edwards was in the lead when the yellow flag waved and was one of many drivers to take on two tires while Smith, Brad Keselowski and Stewart did not pit.
The race resumed with five laps to go, but the yellow flag waved one lap later after Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer raced off the fourth turn three wide and Bowyer spun into the inside wall after contact between Busch and Harvick sent Harvick into Bowyer.
On the green-white-checkered restart, Smith pulled away from Edwards, who quickly closed the gap. But when Smith bounced off the second-turn wall on the final lap, Edwards cracked the throttle on his Roush Fenway Ford and Smith had the break he needed to drive his No. 78 Chevrolet to victory.
Not only was it the first triumph for Smith, but it was the first for the Denver, Colo., based team, which was one of the lower-budget NASCAR Cup Series teams at the time.
“These guys have stuck behind me for three years now and we have had some major ups and downs and this would be classified as a major up,” said Smith. “Pete (Rondeau, crew chief) made a great call there.
“We had a fast car, we just needed the track position. This is the Southern 500. Legends win this race, I’m not supposed to win this race.”
While the victory was the first of many for Furniture Row Racing, it was the only victory of Smith’s 224 NASCAR Cup Series starts. He did find success in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, winning six races between 2012 and ’16, but he never again stood at the top of the mountain at NASCAR’s top level.
Smith continues to make occasional starts in the Xfinity Series while also working as a pit reporter for FOX Sports during NASCAR broadcasts.