Winning races back-to-back in the Cup Series is no menial task. A driver would have to be at the top of his form and carry incredible momentum to perform better than his foes on two consecutive weekends. So naturally, it isn’t often that this happens. And the current situation in the 2024 season could be making way for a remarkable point in the sport’s history.
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The longest that the Cup Series has gone without a driver winning back-to-back events is 46 races. The streak was set in 1984/1985 and the person on its front end was Bobby Allison. The icon won three races in a row in September 1983. It was more than a year later that Bill Elliott nearly repeated the feat by winning two consecutive races, in Talladega and Dover.
This brings us back to 2024. The last time a driver won back-to-back races was in 2023 when Chris Buescher reached victory lane in Richmond and Michigan. It has been 44 races since. Should a driver fail to win consecutive races in one of the near upcoming weekends, NASCAR will have to rewrite its history book to accommodate the new record. But what does this all mean on a deeper scale?
What an awesome find
It has been 43 races since we’ve seen a driver win back-to-back races, the ALL-TIME record is 45 (set in 1984/1985),
Regardless of whether or not it happens, this is the already the 2nd long run ever recorded in the Cup Series. https://t.co/d6MUdA67gl
— Trey Ryan (@TreyRyan99) September 30, 2024
The higher parity that is seen on the field today makes it much harder for drivers to be at the top of their game twice in a row. Even if they are, there are an infinite number of variables that would almost certainly derail their chances of victory. All one has to do is look at the struggle that champions like Joey Logano and Kyle Busch face to get a single win under their belt in a season.
With this increase in the tier’s overall difficulty level, it is understandable that drivers find it hard to win consecutive races. But is there a chance for the Allison-Elliott record to not be broken in 2024? The latest winner in the show was Ross Chastain. He won at Kansas last weekend and spoiled the hopes of playoff drivers. He could help the active field save face by winning in Talladega on Sunday.
If he fails to do so, the Dega winner will get one final shot to get the job done in the Charlotte Roval. It will be too late to make amends beyond that. Interestingly, it has also been 21 races since a team won back-to-back races. Hendrick Motorsports drivers William Byron and Chase Elliott did it last when they won at Martinsville and Texas, respectively, earlier this year.
