NASCAR’s all-time best road-course drivers

Chase Elliott's second consecutive victory on Charlotte's Roval in the 2020 NASCAR Playoffs was part of a larger road-course streak for the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports driver -- four wins in a row on NASCAR's twisty layouts. While that streak came to an end in February at the Daytona Road Course, he owns road-course winning percentage of an extraordinary 38.5 percent, with five road-racing wins in 13 starts overall.

While impressive, Elliott is still writing the story of his NASCAR Cup Series career, and his highlight-filled chapter on road courses is not fully complete. With the ascension of a current road-course king, let's look at NASCAR's all-time list (in no particular order) of rulers of the road. before this weekend's inaugural Cup Series race at Circuit of the Americas (pictured from a March test Elliott participated in).

Catch all the action Sunday at 2:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

Jeff Gordon

Cup Series road-course wins: 9

The scoop: Between the two road courses (Sonoma, Watkins Glen) on the schedule during his era, Gordon netted a combined nine wins, eight poles and top-10 finishes in more than half of his starts. He was especially brilliant in his home state at Sonoma, where his average finish of 8.3 ranked the venue as the third-best track of his career.

Tony Stewart

Cup Series road-course wins: 8

The scoop: Smoke won just one road-course pole, but made it count on race day with five wins at Watkins Glen and three at Sonoma. His career average finish of 9.9 at Watkins Glen places the New York circuit as his second-best track. He capped off his farewell season in 2016 with a dramatic Sonoma victory, the last of his 49 Cup Series wins.

Ricky Rudd

Cup Series road-course wins: 6

The scoop: The NASCAR Hall of Fame nominee landed six of his 23 career wins on road courses -- two each at Riverside, Sonoma and Watkins Glen -- along with six poles. Among those triumphs was a breakthrough at Riverside in 1983: His first career win, which was also a first for team owner Richard Childress. His first Sonoma win also marked the series' debut in wine country in 1989.

Rusty Wallace

Cup Series road-course wins: 6

The scoop: Wallace may be most remembered for his blistering pace at short tracks, but his road-racing acumen ranked among the best of his era. He also closed the book on Riverside International Raceway, winning its last two races before its closure.

Richard Petty

Cup Series road-course wins: 6

The scoop: Six wins out of a career 200 is a pretty slim percentage, but the No. 43 didn't drive itself to five wins and four poles at Riverside. Petty's road-course resume also includes a victory and two poles at the 2.85-mile Bridgehampton (N.Y.) Raceway, which hosted the Cup Series four times.

Bobby Allison

Cup Series road-course wins: 6

The scoop: The highlights of Allison's road-racing career all emerged at Riverside, where he won six times and landed five pole positions. He also finished among the top six in 11 consecutive Riverside starts from 1970-75.

Chase Elliott

Cup Series road-course wins: 5

The scoop: Elliott won four straight road races from Watkins Glen in 2019 to the Charlotte Roval race in 2020. He has two wins a piece a those tracks and one on the Daytona Road Course.

Dan Gurney

Cup Series road-course wins: 5

The scoop: The versatile sports-car ace made just 16 Cup Series starts -- seven on ovals, nine of road courses -- but five of those were sweeping victories at Riverside (Calif.) International Raceway. That quintet of wins came in dominant fashion from 1963-68, four of them with Wood Brothers Racing and one with the Holman-Moody operation.

Tim Richmond

Cup Series road-course wins: 5

The scoop: Tim Richmond's brief, remarkable career included a tendency for victories at outlier tracks -- four at the unique Pocono triangle and five on road courses. His first and last of his 13 career wins came at Riverside, where he won four times. He also netted two career road-course poles.

Darrell Waltrip

Cup Series road-course wins: 5

The scoop: Riverside was the Cup Series' only road course for much of DW's heyday, and he made the most of it. All of his five wins and nine poles on road courses came there. In an especially hot streak from 1980-83, he qualified for the front row in an astounding nine straight races.

Mark Martin

Cup Series road-course wins: 4

The scoop: Interestingly, all four of Martin's road-course victories came from the pole position. That includes a brilliant streak of three straight Watkins Glen wins (1993-95), part of a larger string of 10 consecutive top-five finishes there.

Martin Truex Jr.

Cup Series road-course wins: 4

The scoop: Truex has won four road races including the last two at Sonoma (he has three wins there total). He's also got a win at Watkins Glen and been a runner-up there to Chase Elliott twice.

Marcos Ambrose

Cup Series road-course wins: 2

The scoop: Ambrose's only two Cup Series victories came at Watkins Glen (2011-12), and the latter of those came in a last-lap classic with Brad Keselowski. The Aussie's career also included two Cup Series poles on road courses, but also five Xfinity Series wins on the winding roads.

AJ Allmendinger

Cup Series road-course wins: 1

The scoop: His Cup Series win column may not reflect it, but Allmendinger was among the most skilled in the Cup Series garage at road courses, thanks to his extensive open-wheel and sports-car background. He also landed two Cup poles on road courses, and has four Xfinity Series road-course wins -- a figure he's still adding to as a full-timer with Kaulig Racing.

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Ron Fellows scored four Xfinity Series wins on road courses, three at Watkins Glen and one at Montreal. ... Terry Labonte was stealthy good at road courses, with two Riverside wins and a career total of eight road-course poles. ... Boris Said, maybe the last of the road-course "ringers," won two national-series races on road courses, one in Xfinity (Montreal, 2010) and one in Gander Trucks (Sonoma, 1998). ... Robby Gordon swept the Cup Series' road courses in 2003, notching the final two of his three career wins. ... David Pearson proved he could turn right and left, posting four career road-course wins (three at Riverside, one at Bridgehampton). ... Give a call to Ray Elder, a West Coaster who only made 31 Cup Series starts, but two of those were Riverside wins against NASCAR's regulars. ... Kyle Busch is still carving out Hall of Fame stats, but those include two wins each at Sonoma and Watkins Glen. ... Martin Truex Jr. , Busch's teammate, has proven his road-racing worth with three Sonoma wins and one at Watkins Glen. ... Ernie Irvan registered 15 career Cup Series wins, and three came on road courses -- two at Sonoma and one at The Glen.