In honor of NASCAR’s 75th anniversary, NASCAR has announced its full list of drivers added to the 75 Greatest Drivers throughout its history, with seven having significant current or former ties to Jack Roush and RFK Racing.
Naming the 75 Greatest Drivers is a continuation of the popular program established in 1998 recognizing the 50 Greatest Drivers for NASCAR’s golden anniversary. Mark Martin, a NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee in 2017, was a member of the original list of 50 greatest drivers.
Over the last four weeks, NASCAR has announced the new set of 25 drivers that joined the 50 already announced, as the entire group will be honored this weekend as part of NASCAR Throwback weekend at Darlington Raceway.
Joining the prestigious list of 75 is Hall of Famer Matt Kenseth, and what is likely six future Hall of Famers in Greg Biffle, Ryan Newman, Carl Edwards, Jeff Burton and Brad Keselowski. Kenseth, Biffle, Edwards and Busch are responsible for five of Roush’s eight NASCAR Championships all-time (Kenseth – 2003, Cup; Busch – 2004, Cup; Biffle – 2000, Truck; Biffle – 2002, Xfinity; Edwards – 2007, Xfinity) and contributed to 168 wins for Roush across NASCAR’s three major series.
Fresh off his Hall of Fame induction earlier this year, Kenseth, the 2003 Cup Champion, was a mainstay at the front of the field during the sport’s rise to mainstream prominence in the early 2000s. His 2003 Championship marked the final title in the non-playoff era, as his 39 Cup wins tie him for 21st on the all-time winner list. Kenseth piloted the famed No. 17 entry for Roush for an impressive 13 seasons, and delivered Jack his only two Daytona 500 crowns in 2009 and 2012, the latter being the team’s record 300th NASCAR victory.
Biffle, a two-time NASCAR Champion with Roush, broke onto the scene in 1998 earning Truck Series Rookie of the Year honors. He earned the Truck Series title two years later, and then another year later, was the 2001 Xfinity Series Rookie of the Year. In 2003 he began full-time in the Cup Series, a tenure that spanned an impressive 14 seasons with 19 wins. Having driven nearly his entire career for Roush, Biffle also won 20 times in Xfinity, and 17 times in Trucks.
Busch, the first champion of the Cup Series’ playoff era in 2004, established a long career with wins in 19 of his 22 seasons as a Cup regular. It marked Jack’s second consecutive title, at the time, as Busch won a total of 14 Cup races for Roush in his five full seasons in the No. 97 entry. Busch also finished second in points to Biffle in the 2000 Truck Championship, amassing four wins in the No. 99 entry.
Burton – nicknamed ‘The Mayor’ – earned Rookie of the Year honors in a crowded 1994 class, and went on to score 21 Cup Series victories. He drove for Roush from 1996 through 2004, earning 17 of his wins in that tenure, and also totaled 27 Xfinity Series victories, 16 of which came with Roush.
Edwards, a 28-time winner in Cup competition, spent a decade alone in the iconic No. 99 and No. 60 entries for Roush from 2004 through 2014, amassing 61 combined wins and multiple championships. He delivered Roush Xfinity Series owner titles in 2007 and 2011, and finished runner-up in four other seasons.
Newman, the ‘Rocketman,’ earned his nickname with a reputation for scorching qualifying laps, posting 51 pole positions in his career, ninth all-time in Cup Series history. He filled the seat of the famed No. 6 entry for Roush from 2019-21, powering the team back into the playoffs in 2019 and totaling 21 top-10s in the span as he joined an elite list of drivers to surpass the 750 starts mark in Cup competition.
Keselowski, a now veteran who recently branched into Cup Series team ownership at RFK, makes the 75 Greatest list with a long record of success. The Michigan native won the 2010 Xfinity Series title, and has since won 35 races in Cup action including the 2012 series title. His 39 Xfinity wins also rank fourth all-time in that series.
RFK Racing PR
