NASCAR drivers who have won a Cup race on their birthday feat. Kyle Busch

NASCAR is a competitive sport with high stakes, with 40 drivers racing in an oval to claim victory and make records. Yet, there are still some records that are untouched to this day. Richard Petty, a NASCAR legend, holds the record for most Cup Series wins and won 200 races throughout his career. He also holds the record for winning the championship seven times, and only Dale Earnhardt shares this record with him.

But there is one more record that only a few drivers hold: winning a Cup Series race on their birthdays. You might be surprised, but three drivers have achieved this rare feat in the past, including the 39-year-old two-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion Kyle Busch. Let's take a close look at all the drivers who won on their birthdays.

#1. Cale Yarborough in the NASCAR 400-lap race in 1977

Cale Yarborough was the first driver in the history of NASCAR to win a Cup Series race on his birthday. Yarborough won at the North Wilkesboro Speedway on March 27, 1977, and dominated the race by leading 320 laps in the 400-lap event. He even defeated the pole position winner, Neil Bonnett.

At the Coca-Cola 500 held at the Atlanta Motor Speedway in 1983, Yarborough raced for the Ranier-Lundy Racing team and won again on his birthday. He led 78 laps in the 328-lap race, defeating Neil Bonnett, who led 83 laps. Cale Yarborough held this record for the next 26 years until 2009.

#2. Kyle Busch in 2009 and 2021

Two-time Cup Series Champion Kyle Busch became the second driver in NASCAR history to win a Cup Series race on his birthday. Busch won first time on his birthday at the Richmond Raceway in 2009. Denny Hamlin led the 400-lap event and dominated the race, leading 124 laps.

However, Kyle Busch managed to take the lead from Hamlin and led 53 laps in total, winning the race on his birthday on May 2. Busch also won the same race held in 2010, but the race was held on May 1, robbing Kyle Busch of the chance of winning two times in a row on his birthday.

After the two Richmond races, Busch took more than a decade to win another race on his birthday. In 2021, almost twelve years later, Kyle Busch won the Kansas Speedway race, leading 20 laps while also dominating stage 1 of the race. This is the most recent race any driver has won on their birthday.

#3. Matt Kenseth

Matt Kenseth is the third driver on the list to win a NASCAR Cup Series race on his birthday. Kenseth won at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 10, 2013. He outperformed Kasey Kahne in the closing laps and got his first win for his new team, Joe Gibbs Racing.

The 2013 season was one of the best seasons Kenseth had; he won seven races and finished as the championship runner-up. Along with that, the Joe Gibbs Racing team driver won 15 of his 39 career Cup series wins with his new coach at the JGR facility.