Crash Stats

In the 4 seasons I have completed so far 2014-2017 there have been 1798 crashes. The top 10 drivers with the most crashes in those 4 years are as follows.

1) Danica Patrick 68
2)Ricky Stenhouse Jr 65
3)Kyle Larson 56
4)Jimmie Johnson 54
5)Clint Bowyer 52
6)Kasey Kahne 51
7)AJ Allmendinger 49
8)Trevor Bayne 48
9) David Ragan 48
10)Kurt Busch 46
 
So the other day I decided to task myself with a long time consuming task for no reason. I decided to figure out what drivers have been in the most accidents. Because I always feel the need to over do things I decided to turn this into a Lastcar style project. So someday I will have a website with all this information organized better but so far I have completed the stats on crashes for the 2017 Cup Series season. My methodology for this is I count all races, points paying or not. I do not do practice or qualifying because I just don't think I would be able to find that information and this takes long enough to do already. What I consider a crash for a driver is based off of racing references reports for the race. It includes all numbers listed as involved in a caution causing crash, or listed out due to crash damage. If a wreck takes place but is not recorded because the race either ended or was not cause for a caution it is not included.

That being said here are some stats from 2017.

449 incidents

Most was 45 at the fall Talladega race

Fewest was 0 at Watkins Glen

Cole Whitt and Ryan Newman had the fewest wrecks out of full time drivers with 7.

and now listed below with the total number of incidents I counted them with is the full list of the 51 drivers involved with a crash at least once last year. Honestly wasn't that surprised with who popped up as number one.

  1. Danica Patrick 21
  2. Kasey Kahne 19
  3. Erik Jones 17
  4. Kurt Busch 17
  5. Trevor Bayne 16
  6. Ricky Stenhouse Jr 16
  7. Jimmie Johnson 16
  8. Dale Earnhardt Jr 14
  9. Austin Dillon 13
  10. Clint Bowyer 12
  11. Daniel Suarez 12
  12. Ty Dillon 12
  13. Denny Hamlin 11
  14. David Ragan 11
  15. Michael McDowell 11
  16. Paul Menard 10
  17. Corey LaJoie 10
  18. Ryan Blaney 10
  19. Matt Kenseth 10
  20. Gray Gaulding 10
  21. Martin Truex Jr 10
  22. Kyle Larson 10
  23. AJ Allmendinger 10
  24. Landon Cassill 10
  25. Kyle Busch 9
  26. Kevin Harvick 9
  27. Joey Logano 9
  28. Chase Elliott 9
  29. Jamie McMurray 9
  30. Jeffery Earnhardt 9
  31. Chris Buescher 8
  32. Aric Almirola 8
  33. Brad Keselowski 8
  34. Matt DiBenedetto 8
  35. Ryan Newman 7
  36. Cole Whitt 7
  37. Brendan Gaughan 6
  38. Reed Sorenson 6
  39. Joey Gase 6
  40. Darrell Wallace Jr 3
  41. DJ Kennington 3
  42. Ray Black Jr 2
  43. Elliott Sadler 2
  44. Brett Moffitt 2
  45. JJ Yeley 2
  46. Ryan Sieg 2
  47. Derrick Cope 2
  48. Carl Long 1
  49. Mark Thompson 1
  50. Cody Ware 1
  51. Regan Smith 1

Nice! I always felt that Erik Jones wrecked alot last year. He had a couple practice mishaps as well.

Not surprised one bit that Danica is at the top. Kasey Kahne being second did surprise me, however. I guess that could be one of the reasons Hendrick parted ways with him.
 
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2013 Cup Series Crash Stats
Lowest season crash totals so far with a total of 387
63 drivers were involved in accidents
Spring Talladega had the most with 29.
Several races had 0

Kyle Busch 16
Marcos Ambrose 14
Denny Hamlin 14
Travis Kvapil 13
David Reutimann 13
Jeff Burton 13
Dave Blaney 13
Kasey Kahne 13
Kurt Busch 12
Danica Patrick 12
Jeff Gordon 11
David Gilliland 11
Brian Vickers 11
Aric Almirola 10
Jimmie Johnson 9
Martin Truex Jr 9
Mark Martin 9
Ricky Stenhouse Jr 9
Juan Pablo Montoya 9
Casey Mears 9
David Stremme 8
Matt Kenseth 8
Jamie McMurray 8
Brad Keselowski 8
Tony Stewart 7
Ryan Newman 7
Bobby Labonte 7
Paul Menard 7
Clint Bowyer 7
Joey Logano 7
Dale Earnhardt Jr 5
JJ Yeley 5
Greg Biffle 5
Austin Dillon 5
Josh Wise 5
Carl Edwards 5
Kevin Harvick 4
Landon Cassill 4
David Ragan 3
Ken Schrader 3
Justin Allgaier 3
Regan Smith 3
Cole Whitt 3
Trevor Bayne 3
AJ Allmendinger 3
Michael McDowell 3
Joe Nemechek 3
Timmy Hill 2
Victor Gonzalez Jr 2
Kevin Swindell 1
Ryan Truex 1
Tony Raines 1
Ron Fellows 1
Tomy Drissi 1
Max Papis 1
Paulie Harraka 1
Alex Kennedy 1
Scott Speed 1
Michael Waltrip 1
Elliott Sadler 1
Sam Hornish Jr 1
Scott Riggs 1
Terry Labonte 1
 
Decided to jump away from Cup and did the 2017 Indycar crash stats
72 total crashes
Most was 17 at Texas
several races had 0

Tony Kanaan 6
J.R Hildebrand 5
Takuma Sato 5
Will Power 4
Mikhail Aleshin 4
James Hinchcliffe 4
Conor Daly 4
Josef Newgarden 3
Carlos Munoz 3
Charlie Kimball 3
Ryan Hunter-Reay 3
Scott Dixon 3
Max Chilton 3
Ed Carpenter 3
Ed Jones 2
Alexander Rossi 2
Graham Rahal 2
Sebastien Bourdais 2
Spencer Pigot 1
Marco Andretti 1
James Davison 1
Oriol Servia 1
Buddy Lazier 1
Jack Harvey 1
Jay Howard 1
Helio Castroneves 1
Tristan Vautier 1
Esteban Gutierrez 1
Sebastien Saavedrea 1
 
Jumped out of order to do the first season 1949. Stats are a little rough for this year and probably a lot of the early ones. So while I'm sure several other drivers crashed they weren't listed as out of the race due to a crash. So this is just drivers using crashed out as the reason.
Some fun facts the first driver ever listed as out of a race due to a crash is the legendary Lee Petty. We also have to first women to crash out of a Cup race with Sara Christian.
There were a total of 11 accidents.
11 different drivers were involved in crashes

Lee Petty 1
Buckshot Morris 1
Felix Christian 1
Sara Christian 1
Red Byron 1
Bob Smith 1
Walter Minx 1
Chick DiNatalie 1
Pepper Cunningham 1
Lee Schmidt 1
Slick Smith 1
 
1950 Cup Series Crash Stats
29 total crashes
27 drivers involved in crashes
Most was 4 at Darlington and Vernon

First time we had drivers with more then 1 accident listed

Louise Smith 2
Tommy Thompson 2
June Cleveland 1
Ray Erickson 1
Lyle Scott 1
Al Gross 1
Bob Wilson 1
Dick Burns 1
Ed Hamanard 1
Sterling Long 1
Johnny Mantz 1
Joe Merola 1
Ann Chester 1
Ken Warmington 1
Jack Smith 1
Curtis Turner 1
Tex Keene 1
Buck Baker 1
Tommy Coates 1
John Schelesky 1
Slick Smith 1
Herb Thomas 1
Frank Keller 1
Bill Burton 1
Felix Wilkes 1
Leon Sales 1
Jimmy Ayers 1
 
2012 Cup Crash Stats
345 total crashes
58 drivers involved in crashes
43 in July race at Daytona was the most
several races had 0

Kurt Busch 15
Juan Pablo Montoya 14
Marcos Ambrose 13
Kyle Busch 12
Tony Stewart 12
Regan Smith 11
David Gilliland 11
Casey Mears 10
Aric Almirola 10
David Ragan 10
Joey Logano 10
Jimmie Johnson 10
Carl Edwards 9
Jeff Gordon 9
Ryan Newman 9
Dave Blaney 9
Travis Kvapil 9
Paul Menard 9
Jamie McMurray 9
AJ Allmendinger 8
Clint Bowyer 8
Kasey Kahne 8
Bobby Labonte 8
Matt Kenseth 7
Denny Hamlin 7
Trevor Bayne 7
Sam Hornish Jr 7
Jeff Burton 6
Brad Keselowski 6
Martin Truex Jr 6
Kevin Harvick 5
Michael Waltrip 5
Greg Biffle 5
Dale Earnhardt Jr 4
Landon Cassill 4
Terry Labonte 4
Danica Patrick 4
David Reutimann 3
David Stremme 3
Ricky Stenhouse Jr 3
Ken Schrader 3
Reed Sorenson 3
Mark Martin 2
JJ Yeley 2
Michael McDowell 2
Robert Richardson Jr 2
Mike Bliss 1
Cole Whitt 1
Jason Leffler 1
Bill Elliott 1
Tomy Drissi 1
Tony Raines 1
Stephen Leicht 1
Scott Speed 1
Joe Nemechek 1
Josh Wise 1
Timmy Hill 1
Elliott Sadler 1
 
2012 Cup Crash Stats
345 total crashes
58 drivers involved in crashes
43 in July race at Daytona was the most
several races had 0

Kurt Busch 15
Juan Pablo Montoya 14
Marcos Ambrose 13
Kyle Busch 12
Tony Stewart 12
Regan Smith 11
David Gilliland 11
Casey Mears 10
Aric Almirola 10
David Ragan 10
Joey Logano 10
Jimmie Johnson 10
Carl Edwards 9
Jeff Gordon 9
Ryan Newman 9
Dave Blaney 9
Travis Kvapil 9
Paul Menard 9
Jamie McMurray 9
AJ Allmendinger 8
Clint Bowyer 8
Kasey Kahne 8
Bobby Labonte 8
Matt Kenseth 7
Denny Hamlin 7
Trevor Bayne 7
Sam Hornish Jr 7
Jeff Burton 6
Brad Keselowski 6
Martin Truex Jr 6
Kevin Harvick 5
Michael Waltrip 5
Greg Biffle 5
Dale Earnhardt Jr 4
Landon Cassill 4
Terry Labonte 4
Danica Patrick 4
David Reutimann 3
David Stremme 3
Ricky Stenhouse Jr 3
Ken Schrader 3
Reed Sorenson 3
Mark Martin 2
JJ Yeley 2
Michael McDowell 2
Robert Richardson Jr 2
Mike Bliss 1
Cole Whitt 1
Jason Leffler 1
Bill Elliott 1
Tomy Drissi 1
Tony Raines 1
Stephen Leicht 1
Scott Speed 1
Joe Nemechek 1
Josh Wise 1
Timmy Hill 1
Elliott Sadler 1

The jet dryer springs to mind.
 
F1 2017

36 crashes
most was 6 at Singapore
18 different drivers involved.

Carlos Sainz Jr 5
Stoffel Vandoorne 3
Max Verstappen 3
Daniil Kvyat 3
Marcus Ericsson 3
Lance Stroll 2
Romain Grosjean 2
Kimi Rikkonen 2
Pascal Wehrlein 2
Fernando Alonso 2
Daniel Ricciardo 2
Antonio Giovinazzi 1
Jolyon Palmer 1
Jenson Button 1
Felipe Massa 1
Nico Hulkenberg 1
Kevin Magnussen 1
Esteban Ocon 1
 
Going forward I'm going to put each different series in its own forum so its easier to keep track of them all for everyone.
 
2011 Cup Series Crash Stats

452 Total crashes
Most was 42 in the Daytona 500
Fewest was 0 at Pocono
58 different drivers were involved in crashes
Brian Vickers had the most thanks to his infamous day at Martinsville when he was in 5 crashes


Brian Vickers 23
Juan Pablo Montoya 19
Kurt Busch 17
Kasey Kahne 16
Mark Martin 15
Regan Smith 15
Bobby Labonte 14
David Reutimann 14
Kyle Busch 13
David Gilliland 13
Marcos Ambrose 13
Jimmie Johnson 13
Dale Earnhardt Jr 12
Ryan Newman 12
Clint Bowyer 12
Landon Cassill 12
Brad Keselowski 12
Joey Logano 12
Denny Hamlin 12
Travis Kvapil 11
Jamie McMurray 11
David Ragan 11
Andy Lally 10
Matt Kenseth 10
Paul Menard 9
Trevor Bayne 8
Robby Gordon 8
Jeff Gordon 8
Tony Stewart 7
Greg Biffle 7
AJ Allmendinger 7
Martin Truex Jr 6
Dave Blaney 6
Jeff Burton 6
Michael Waltrip 5
Casey Mears 5
Kevin Harvick 5
JJ Yeley 4
Geoffrey Bodine 4
Mike Bliss 4
Joe Nemechek 3
Hermie Sadler 3
Carl Edwards 3
Todd Bodine 2
Michael McDowell 2
Cole Whitt 2
David Starr 2
Boris Said 2
Mike Skinner 2
David Stremme 2
Terry Labonte 1
Scott Speed 1
Ron Fellows 1
Derrick Cope 1
Brian Keselowski 1
Robert Richardson Jr 1
Steve Wallace 1
Kevin Conway 1
 
2010 Crash Stats

413 total crashes
Most was 35 at Daytona in July
Fewest was 2 twice the spring race at California and the fall race at Dover
60 different drivers were involved in crashes.

Marcos Ambrose 19
Sam Hornish Jr 17
Kyle Busch 15
Elliott Sadler 15
Kurt Busch 14
Juan Pablo Montoya 14
Brad Keselowski 14
Joey Logano 14
Kasey Kahne 13
Mark Martin 12
Jimmie Johnson 11
Ryan Newman 11
Jeff Burton 11
David Reutimann 11
Jeff Gordon 11
Regan Smith 11
Greg Biffle 10
Martin Truex Jr 10
Jamie McMurray 9
AJ Allmendinger 9
Bobby Labonte 9
Tony Stewart 8
David Ragan 8
Clint Bowyer 8
Paul Menard 8
Denny Hamlin 7
David Stremme 7
Carl Edwards 7
Scott Speed 7
Robby Gordon 7
David Gilliand 6
Travis Kvapil 6
Kevin Conway 6
Mike Bliss 5
Brian Vickers 5
Max Papis 5
Michael Waltrip 4
Joe Nemechek 4
Matt Kenseth 4
Kevin Harvick 4
Reed Sorenson 4
Robert Richardson Jr 3
Boris Said 3
Dale Earnhardt Jr 3
Casey Mears 3
Bill Elliott 3
Ken Schrader 2
John Andretti 2
Dave Blaney 2
Patrick Carpentier 2
Brendan Gaughan 1
Aric Almirola 1
Tony Raines 1
Terry Labonte 1
Todd Bodine 1
Matthais Ekstrom 1
Michael McDowell 1
Johnny Sauter 1
Scott Riggs 1
Terry Cook 1
 
2009 Cup Series Crash Stats

447 total crashes
Most was 31 at Spring Talladega race
Fewest was 1 3 times and 0 in the Open.
56 different drivers were in accidents.

With his amazing team of Stremme, Hornish, and Kurt Busch I don't know how Roger Penske didn't go broke in 2009, he fired Stremme for the last 3 races and in those Keselowski wrecked several times.

David Stremme 24
Sam Hornish Jr 21
Robby Gordon 20
Michael Waltrip 18
Kurt Busch 15
Reed Sorenson 15
Scott Speed 15
Joey Logano 14
David Ragan 14
Bobby Labonte 14
Dale Earnhardt Jr 12
Martin Truex Jr 12
Elliott Sadler 12
Brian Vickers 12
Jeff Burton 11
David Reuitmann 11
John Andretti 11
Jamie McMurray 11
AJ Allmendinger 11
Kevin Harvick 10
Kasey Kahne 10
Paul Menard 9
Casey Mears 9
Greg Biffle 8
Denny Hamlin 8
Marcos Ambrose 8
Juan Pablo Montoya 8
Brad Keselowski 8
Jimmie Johnson 8
Ryan Newman 7
Clint Bowyer 7
Jeff Gordon 7
Kyle Busch 7
Mark Martin 6
David Gilliland 6
Matt Kenseth 5
Carl Edwards 5
Tony Stewart 5
Aric Almirola 5
Max Papis 3
Jeremy Mayfield 3
Dave Blaney 3
Todd Bodine 2
Regan Smith 2
Erik Darnell 2
Tony Raines 2
Sterling Marlin 2
Joe Nemechek 1
Robert Richardson Jr 1
Andy Lally 1
Patrick Carpentier 1
Brandon Ash 1
Scott Riggs 1
Bill Elliott 1
Travis Kvapil 1
Boris Said 1
 
2009-2018 Crash Stat totals
Up to date as off the 2018 All Star Race

128 Different drivers have been in accidents through the last 10 seasons.
There have been 4005 crashes in that time frame.
Obviously it skews towards drivers who have the most starts in that time frame, some day I'll figure out the number of crashes compared to the number of starts and other stats.

Kurt Busch 125
Kasey Kahne 116
Jimmie Johnson 111
Kyle Busch 109
Joey Logano 103
Jamie McMurray 100
David Ragan 99
Clint Bowyer 97
Martin Truex Jr 92
Brad Keselowski 91
AJ Allmendinger 91
Ryan Newman 91
Denny Hamlin 89
Danica Patrick 85
Paul Menard 85
Ricky Stenhouse Jr 84
Matt Kenseth 79
Marcos Ambrose 79
Dale Earnhardt Jr 76
Trevor Bayne 72
Tony Stewart 70
David Gilliland 69
Brian Vickers 68
Greg Biffle 68
Aric Almirola 66
Kevin Harvick 65
Kyle Larson 65
Juan Pablo Montoya 64
Carl Edwards 62
Sam Hornish Jr 62
Regan Smith 61
Bobby Labonte 58
Jeff Gordon 58
Casey Mears 58
David Reutimann 52
Austin Dillon 50
Jeff Burton 48
Landon Cassill 46
Travis Kvapil 46
David Stremme 45
Mark Martin 44
Michael Waltrip 39
Michael McDowell 38
Reed Sorenson 38
Robby Gordon 35
Dave Blaney 34
Ryan Blaney 33
Brian Scott 32
Michael Annett 32
Elliott Sadler 31
Cole Whitt 31
Alex Bowman 29
JJ Yeley 27
Justin Allgaier 26
Chase Elliott 25
Scott Speed 25
Chris Buescher 24
Matt DiBenedetto 23
Josh Wise 23
Erik Jones 22
Ty Dillon 21
Daniel Suarez 16
Jeffery Earnhardt 16
Joe Nemechek 15
Jeb Burton 14
John Andretti 13
Corey Lajoie 12
Mike Bliss 12
Brendan Gaughan 11
Andy Lally 11
Brett Moffitt 11
Gray Gaulding 10
Ryan Truex 10
Terry Labonte 10
Max Papis 9
Joey Gase 9
Ken Schrader 8
Alex Kennedy 7
Kevin Conway 7
Robert Richardson Jr 7
William Byron 6
Boris Said 6
Darrell Wallace Jr 6
Todd Bodine 5
Bill Elliott 5
Tony Raines 5
Parker Kligerman 4
Geoffrey Bodine 4
Derrick Cope 4
DJ Kennington 4
Scott Riggs 3
Timmy Hill 3
Hermie Sadler 3
Jeremy Mayfield 3
Patrick Carpentier 3
Ray Black Jr 2
Ryan Sieg 2
Cody Ware 2
Dylan Lupton 2
Kyle Fowler 2
Johnny Sauter 2
Ron Fellows 2
Tomy Drissi 2
Victor Gonzalez Jr 2
Erik Darnell 2
Sterling Marlin 2
Mike Skinner 2
David Starr 2
Harrison Rhodes 1
Ross Chastain 1
Chad Finchum 1
Carl Long 1
Mark Thompson 1
Ryan Ellis 1
Ryan Preece 1
Matt Crafton 1
Blake Koch 1
Mike Wallace 1
Morgan Shepherd 1
Paulie Harraka 1
Brandon Ash 1
Terry Cook 1
Matthais Ekstrom 1
Steve Wallace 1
Brian Keselowski 1
Jason Leffler 1
Stephen Leicht 1
Kevin Swindell 1

total 4005
 
2008 Cup Series Crash Stats

417 Total Crashes
Most was 28 at the spring Martinsville race
Fewest was 0 at the All Star Race
Fewest in a points race was 2 at Chicagoland

Sam Hornish Jr 20
Michael Waltrip 18
Joe Nemechek 16
Matt Kenseth 15
Jamie McMurray 14
Elliott Sadler 13
Juan Pablo Montoya 13
Patrick Carpentier 13
Reed Sorenson 12
Bobby Labonte 12
Kurt Busch 12
David Gilliland 12
Dave Blaney 11
Paul Menard 10
Robby Gordon 10
Tony Stewart 10
Dale Earnhardt Jr 9
Brian Vickers 9
Kyle Busch 9
Denny Hamlin 9
Casey Mears 9
Jeff Burton 8
Kevin Harvick 8
AJ Allmendinger 8
Ryan Newman 8
Martin Truex Jr 8
Jimmie Johnson 7
David Ragan 7
Kasey Kahne 7
Scott Riggs 6
Travis Kvapil 6
Dario Franchetti 6
Clint Bowyer 5
Carl Edwards 5
JJ Yeley 5
David Reutimann 5
Bill Elliott 5
Greg Biffle 4
Jeff Gordon 4
Regan Smith 4
Michael McDowell 4
Mike Skinner 4
Aric Almirola 3
Tony Raines 3
Chad McCumbee 3
Johnny Sauter 3
Ken Schrader 3
Dale Jarrett 2
Marcos Ambrose 2
Kyle Petty 2
Terry Labonte 2
Scott Speed 1
Mike Wallace 1
Jon Wood 1
Joey Logano 1
Sterling Marlin 1
Max Papis 1
Boris Said 1
Ron Fellows 1
Scott Pruett 1
Jason Leffler 1
David Stremme 1
Mark Martin 1
Jacques Villeneuve 1
Stanton Barrett 1
 
1951 Cup Series Crash Stats
As I've said before stats are incomplete at best for this era so I'm working with what racing reference gives me.
100 total crashes
81 different drivers were involved in crashes
Race with the most was Heidelberg with 13
Herb Thomas the Cup champion for that year ironically has the most recorded crashes for the season.

Herb Thomas 5
Fonty Flock 4
Fireball Roberts 2
Marshall Teague 2
Bob Flock 2
Red Byron 2
Andy Pierce 2
Bill Holland 2
George Seeger 2
Tommy Melvin 2
Ray Duhigg 2
Bob Greer 2
Bud Riley 2
Leonard Tippett 2
Hank Lee 1
Ted Tedrow 1
Robert Caswell 1
Pete Page 1
Jesse James Taylor 1
Jack Wade 1
Bob Walters 1
Lloyd Dane 1
Jim Byrd 1
Bill Amberg 1
Irv Leitch 1
Joe Skovron 1
Jim Delaney 1
Charles Gattilia 1
John McGinley 1
Frank Carlin 1
Bill Miller 1
Cotton Owens 1
Don Black 1
John DuBoise 1
Bill Remaly 1
Frank Holzhauer 1
Dawson Lechilder 1
Johnny Thompson 1
Roscoe Thompson 1
Gayle Warren 1
Johnny Yountz 1
Lee Connell 1
Don Bailey 1
Owen Jones 1
Iggy Katona 1
Jack White 1
Jack Smith 1
Billy Myers 1
Tom Suligoy 1
Elmer Wilson 1
Frank Mundy 1
Hershel McGriff 1
Victor Brunzell 1
Sam Thompson 1
Tim Flock 1
Wally Campbell 1
Dick Linger 1
Ralph Ligouri 1
Ed Massey 1
Jim Romine 1
Jack Goodwin 1
Pepper Cunningham 1
Ted Swaim 1
June Cleveland 1
Tommy Wells 1
Mike Klapak 1
Don Eggert 1
Bill Rexford 1
Earl Moss 1
Bill Joslin 1
Jim Fiebelkorn 1
Shorty York 1
Bub King 1
Chuck Meekins 1
Bill Cheesbourg 1
Al King 1
Danny Weinberg 1
Lloyd Dennis 1
Cliff Woodson 1
Carson Dyer 1
Joe Jernigan 1
 
1952 Cup Series Crash Stats
60 total crashes
Most in a race was 7 for the Southern 500 and the 2nd race at Langhorne
54 different drivers were in wrecks
Tim Flock wins the title after a crash in the final race of the year at Palm Beach

Tim Flock 3
Dick Rathman 2
Herb Thomas 2
Curtis Turner 2
Gene Darragh 2
Allan Clarke 1
George Bush 1
Bill Blair 1
Mike Magill 1
Paul Richardson 1
Jim Paschal 1
Bub King 1
Gene Comstock 1
Buddy Shuman 1
Jack Holloway 1
Ralph Ligouri 1
Bruce Atchley 1
Joe Eubanks 1
Larry Mann 1
Felix Wilkes 1
Nelson Applegate 1
Chuck Garrett 1
Stan Parnell 1
Cotton Owens 1
Jimmy Thompson 1
Weldon Adams 1
Jimmy Ingram 1
Paul Wensink 1
Zane Howell 1
Duke Heller 1
Eddie Lenz 1
Norman Lynch 1
Gober Sosebee 1
Ray Duhigg 1
Bob Shaw 1
Jack Reynolds 1
George Hufford 1
George Gallup 1
Paul Pettit 1
Roscoe Thompson 1
Bill Widenhouse 1
Leonard Trippett 1
Jimmie Lewallen 1
Fonty Flock 1
Frankie Schneider 1
Perk Brown 1
Harold Mays 1
Bill Miller 1
Joie Ray 1
Leon Sales 1
Chuck Mahoney 1
Pancho Alvarez 1
Jack Smith 1
Dick Eagan 1
 
1953 Cup Crash Stats
42 total crashes
37 drivers involved with crashes
5 crashes was the most at Darlington for the Southern 500 and Daytona Beach

Curtis Turner 2
Herschel Buchanan 2
Bill Blair 2
Gene Comstock 2
Elton Hildreth 2
Don Vershure 1
Lou Faver 1
Buddy Shuman 1
C.H Dingler 1
Lacy Jackson 1
Mike Magill 1
Junior Johnson 1
Johnny Patterson 1
Ralph Ligouri 1
Buck Baker 1
Dick Rathman 1
Keith Lucas 1
Fonty Flock 1
Buddy Krebs 1
George Clark 1
Pop McGinnis 1
Jimmie Lewallen 1
Ray Duhigg 1
Larry Schultz 1
Johnny Zeke 1
Chet Williams 1
Herb Thomas 1
Virgil Livengood 1
Lee Petty 1
Clyde Minter 1
Donald Thomas 1
Bub King 1
Tommy Boger 1
Charles Weilder 1
Bob Pronger 1
Dub Livingston 1
Al Keller 1
 
So I've decided to turn this into a book project since I'm already hundreds of hours into it. So I've stopped posting every season but I did just finish up the first decade of NASCAR 1949-1958.

There were 652 crashes among 365 drivers...248 of which only were listed as crashed once. At the top of the list it is dominated by the biggest names from the time with Herb Thomas having had the most with 18. Here is the top 16 which encompasses all drivers with more then 5 crashes.

Herb Thomas 18
Jack Smith 11
Lee Petty 10
Curtis Turner 10
Fonty Flock 10
Junior Johnson 10
Fireball Roberts 9
Billy Myers 7
Tim Flock 7
Ralph Ligouri 7
Jimmie Lewallen 7
Jim Reed 7
Ralph Moody 7
Marvin Panch 7
Cotton Owens 6
Speedy Thompson 6
 
I respectfully submit that known the raw number of crashs would be of more value if we knew the number of races the driver participated in. This is especially true in the early decades when many drivers didn't compete in all races, before NASCAR took steps to encourage drivers to run the entire season.

Obviously this is your labor of love, but expressing the crashes as a percentage of total races might be more revealing. Thanks either way.
 
I respectfully submit that known the raw number of crashs would be of more value if we knew the number of races the driver participated in. This is especially true in the early decades when many drivers didn't compete in all races, before NASCAR took steps to encourage drivers to run the entire season.

Obviously this is your labor of love, but expressing the crashes as a percentage of total races might be more revealing. Thanks either way.
That's an eventual part of the project, the goal at first was just to figure out who has been in the most crashes, then I will go back and figure out percentages. As you said some of these guys didnt make a lot of starts and some of them in the 50s made 1 start and crashed for a total of 100%. What will become difficult at least for me being bad at math is when I get closer to modern times and you have drivers crashing 2 to 4 times in one race and figuring out that percentsge.
 
I've finished up through 1968 so here is the top number of crashes for 1959 to 1968. Obviously it is heavily influenced by who ran the most races back then. A total of 273 drivers were in 1007 crashes.

Buddy Baker 26
Richard Petty 24
Junior Johnson 23
David Pearson 22
Cale Yarborough 19
Darel Dieringer 19
Bobby Isaac 17
Wendell Scott 17
G.C Spencer 16
Ned Jarrett 15
Tom Pistone 15
Bobby Johns 14
Tiny Lund 14
Dick Hutcherson 13
J.T Putney 13
Fred Lorenzen 13
Joe Weatherly 13
Jim Paschal 13
Earl Brooks 12
Rex White 12
 
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