5 NASCAR records that are almost impossible to break

NASCAR hosted its first-ever “Strictly Stock" race, which is now known as the Cup Series, in 1949 at Charlotte Speedway. Since then, thousands of drivers have competed and contributed to the development of the sport. In these years, the NASCAR world has witnessed several records that have been made and broken by drivers.

From Ricky Craven’s closest margin of victory to Kyle Larson’s most laps led in a race, we have seen many records being shattered over the years in the sport.

There’s a famous “saying — “Records are made to be broken” — and it's one that inspires that nothing is impossible on the racetrack of NASCAR. But some records in the sport might never be broken. On that note, let’s take a look at five NASCAR records that are so incredible that they might never be broken:

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Five NASCAR records that are unbroken

#1 Richard Petty - 200 career Cup wins

Richard Petty is NASCAR’s most successful driver. Known as “The King,” he captured an astonishing 200 career Cup Series victories between 1960 and 1984. This defines his greatness in the sport. To put that into perspective, the late David Person is a distant second with 105 victories. With 63 wins, the next closest active driver is Kyle Busch.

Richard Petty dominated during an era when NASCAR ran significantly more races per season, often competing in more than 50 races a year. Modern schedules are capped at 36 races, making it nearly impossible for any driver to accumulate that many wins, even with a long and successful career.

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#2 Richard Petty - 27 wins in one season

Petty had an impressive campaign in the 1966-67 season, winning more than half of the schedule’s 47 races. He won 27 races that season. He's also second on the most wins in a single season list, with 21 in 1971.

His 27-win season came during a time when there were more opportunities to race in a single season, and the competition level was different compared to the modern era. With current parity among teams, stricter rules and tougher competition, winning even 10 races in a season is a monumental feat.

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#3 Jimmie Johnson - Five consecutive championships

NASCAR legend Jimmie Johnson won seven NASCAR Cup Series championships during his career, including five consecutive titles from 2006 to 2010.

Winning five consecutive championships under the playoff format is arguably one of the biggest achievements in sports. The current playoff format is even more unpredictable, requiring a driver to survive three elimination rounds and win the final race of the season to become the champion.

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#4 Bill Elliott - 212.809 mph qualifying lap at Talladega

Chase Elliott’s father, Bill, set the Cup Series record for the fastest qualifying lap at Talladega Superspeedway with a speed of 212.809 mph to the pole for the Winston 500 in 1987. He took 44.998 seconds to complete a lap around the 2.66-mile superspeedway.

Bill Elliott’s second-fastest qualifying lap came at the Daytona International Speedway with a speed of 210.364 mph in the same season. With modern restrictor plate rules to limit horsepower and slow speeds, this record will likely never be touched.

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#5 Jeff Gordon – 797-start consecutive streak

Jeff Gordon made his first career Cup Series start at the Atlanta Motor Speedway in 1992. Since then, he raced in every Cup Series event for the next 23 years, through the 2015 season.

The streak of 797 consecutive starts likely will remain unbroken considering the physical toll, evolving safety protocols and driver contracts limiting full-time starts. It’s highly unlikely that anyone will match this streak.