Drivers With 150+ Cup Starts and 0 Career Top-5 Finishes

In all of NASCAR Cup Series history, there are just 11 drivers who have had over 150 career starts without a single top-5 finish. Here are the details on each of their careers:

Jimmy Means [455 starts from 1976 to 1993] was an owner/driver for most of his career, with almost half of his races ending in DNFs. He did manage to earn 17 top-10s, but simply didn't have the equipment to compete for better finishes.

Travis Kvapil [271 starts from 2004 to 2015] started out driving fairly good equipment, driving 1 season each for Penske-Jasper, Cal Wells, and Yates Racing. But after only scoring a combined 6 top-10s during that time period, the 2003 truck series champion was relegated to under-funded equipment for the remainder of his Cup career. Even then, he managed to add 2 more top-10 finishes to bring his career total to 8 top-10s.

Tommy Gale [246 starts from 1968 to 1986] drove mediocre equipment for much of his Cup career that was often capable of top-15 finishes, but not much better. He scored 4 career top-10s (with a best of 7th), but earned a total of 45 top-15s.

Michael McDowell [217 starts since 2008] has mostly driven subpar equipment during his Cup career, accumulating an 86% DNF rate from 2009 through 2012. But since teaming up with Leavine Family Racing in 2014, he has steadily improved, and stands perhaps the best chance of anyone on this list of earning his first top-5 finish sometime this season. In the latter part of 2016, he had impressive finishes of 12th at Richmond, 14th at Charlotte, and 10th at Homestead.

David Stremme [200 starts from 2005 to 2014] drove top-level or mid-level equipment for Ganassi and Penske for 3 full seasons, but was never able to finish better than 8th. He was then relegated to under-funded teams for the remainder of his Cup career. Out of everyone on this list, his career is perhaps the most similar to Patrick's, but he was not given as long of an opportunity as she has been given after failing to perform at a high level.

Ronnie Thomas [197 starts from 1977 to 1989] had subpar equipment throughout his career, which included racing as an owner/driver in about half of his starts. Just under half of his races ended in DNFs, but he still managed to earn 9 top-10s, with a career-best finish of 7th.

Dick May [185 starts from 1970 to 1985] had subpar equipment throughout his career and had DNFs in just over half of his races. He still managed to earn 8 top-10s with a career-best finish of 6th.

Tony Raines [180 starts from 1998 to 2013] drove mediocre equipment throughout his Cup career, never getting a shot in top-level equipment but doing the best he could with what he had to work with. He nearly removed himself from this list with an outstanding run at Rockingham in 2003 in an unsponsored car, but slipped to 6th in the closing laps.

E.J. Trivette [178 starts from 1959 to 1971] had subpar equipment throughout his career and had DNFs in just under half of his races. Even so, he didn't have a terrible career, earning 29 top-10 finishes--the most of anyone on this list.

Danica Patrick [158 starts since 2012] has driven top-level equipment throughout her career. She has accumulated 20 DNFs, but only 2 of those were due to equipment (engine) failures. Her other 18 DNFs were due to crashes. She has by far had the best opportunities and the best equipment of anyone on this list.

Josh Wise [156 starts since 2009] has primarily driven for under-funded teams throughout his Cup career, some of which were start-and-park operations. Still, he has manged to earn 1 top-10 finish and 9 lead-lap finishes, which isn't bad considering the poor equipment he has driven.

To summarize, we can break these drivers into 3 categories.

Kvapil and Stremme both had opportunities to succeed, but ultimately they did not perform and they were each out of their top/mid-level rides after 3 seasons.

Means, Gale, Thomas, May, Raines, Trivette, and Wise never really had a good opportunity to earn a top-5 finish, given the poor equipment they drove. They generally did the best they could with the equipment they had.

That leaves McDowell and Patrick for the third group. McDowell has generally driven mid-level or lower-level equipment for much of his Cup career, and while he has not yet earned a top-5 finish, both he and his #95 team are continually showing improvement. Patrick, on the other hand, has driven top-level equipment for her entire career--better equipment for a longer period of time than anyone on this list, though she has not shown any improvement over the last couple of seasons. Most other drivers would not have been able to keep a top-level ride for as long as she has with such poor results, and we see evidence of that here with both Kvapil and Stremme. Yet she has, as she begins her fifth full-time season in Cup.