When you come right down to it, winning a championship comes down more to having your best season in the right year than anything else. Some years have a lower bar to clear than others. So using the standard Latford from '75-'03, here's a list of every driver who has had a year that would beat the lowest ever championship season, Tony Stewart's 2002 which averaged 133.3 points per race. I used 10 starts as the minimum cutoff point.

1. Richard Petty 1971 (168.1)
   
2. Tim Flock 1955 (166.6)
   
3. Cale Yarborough 1977 (166.6)
   
4. Fireball Roberts 1958 (165.6)
   
5. Bobby Allison 1972 (165.2)
   
6. Marvin Panch 1963 (163.6)
   
7. David Pearson 1969 (162.5)
   
8. Herb Thomas 1953 (162.2)
   
9. Lloyd Dane 1957 (162.1)
   
10. Dale Earnhardt 1987 (161.9)
    
11. Buck Baker 1957 (161.7)
    
12. Ned Jarrett 1965 (161.5)
    
13. Jeff Gordon 1998 (161.4)
    
14. Joe Weatherly 1962 (159.3)
    
15. Lee Petty 1953 (158.6)
    
16. Darrell Waltrip 1981 (157.4)
    
17. Dick Rathman 1954 (156.5)
    
18. Bobby Isaac 1970 (156.3)
    
19. Fred Lorenzen 1963 (155.2)
    
20. Buddy Baker 1971 (155.2)
    
21. Dale Jarrett 1999 (154.7)
    
22. Bill Elliott 1988 (154.7)
    
23. Eddie Pagan 1957 (154.0)
    
24. Rusty Wallace 1988 (153.9)
    
25. Curtis Turner 1954 (153.7)
    
26. Mark Martin 1990 (153.4)
    
27. Kevin Harvick 2020 (152.8)
    
28. Rex White 1960 (152.7)
    
29. Benny Parsons 1977 (152.3)
    
30. Red Byron 1949 (152.0) (My one exception to the 10 start rule for obvious reasons)
    
31. Dick Hutcherson 1965 (151.9)
    
32. Ernie Irvan 1994 (151.3)
    
33. Bobby Labonte 2000 (150.8)
    
34. Terry Labonte 1984 (150.2)
    
35. Kyle Busch 2018 (150.1)
    
36. Kyle Larson 2021 (149.0)
    
37. Pete Hamilton 1970 (149.0)
    
38. Denny Hamlin 2021 (148.3)
    
39. Harry Gant 1984 (148.1)
    
40. Jim Reed 1958 (147.4)
    
41. Martin Truex, Jr. 2017 (147.0)
    
42. Speedy Thompson 1956 (146.8)
    
43. Fonty Flock 1951 (146.8)
    
44. LeeRoy Yarbrough 1969 (146.8)
    
45. Joey Logano 2015 (146.4)
    
46. Carl Edwards 2008 (145.7)
    
47. Emanuel Zervakis 1961 (145.5.)
    
48. Cotton Owens 1961 (145.2)
    
49. James Hylton 1970 (145.1)
    
50. Jack Smith 1962 (144.8)
    
51. Dave Marcis 1978 (144.5)
    
52. Tom Pistone 1959 (144.4)
    
53. Tim Richmond 1986 (143.9)
    
54. Hershel McGriff 1954 (143.9)
    
55. Tony Stewart 2005 (143.7)
    
56. Jimmie Johnson 2008 (143.0)
    
57. Matt Kenseth 2006 (142.6)
    
58. Jim Paschal 1961 (142.5)
    
59. Billy Wade 1964 (142.4)
    
60. Dick Linder 1950 (142.4)
    
61. Jeff Burton 2000 (142.2)
    
62. Junior Johnson 1965 (141.8)
    
63. Bob Welborn 1955 (141.6)
    
64. Brad Keselowski 2020 (141.5)
    
65. Gober Sosebee 1954 (141.4)
    
66. Darel Dieringer 1963 (141.2)
    
67. Ricky Rudd 1991 (141.1)
    
68. Davey Allison 1991 (140.9)
    
69. Bill Amick 1955 (140.7)
    
70. Sterling Marlin 1995 (140.6)
    
71. Alan Kulwicki 1992 (140.6)
    
72. Shorty Rollins 1958 (140.5)
    
73. Bill Blair 1952 (140.2)
    
74. Jimmie Lewallen 1951 (139.5)
    
75. William Byron 2023 (139.3)
    
76. Neil Bonnett 1985 (139.3)
    
77. Greg Biffle 2012 (138.9)
    
78. Geoff Bodine 1990 (138.5)
    
79. Donnie Allison 1969 (137.8)
    
80. Chase Elliott 2021 (137.6)
    
81. Joe Eubanks 1954 (137.6)
    
82. Paul Goldsmith 1957 (136.8)
    
83. Clint Bowyer 2012 (136.5)
    
84. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 2012 (136.5)
    
85. Scotty Cain 1957 (136.5)
    
86. Paul Lewis 1966 (136.2)
    
87. Kurt Busch 2015 (136.1)
    
88. Kyle Petty 1992 (136.0)
    
89. Jimmy Massey 1955 (136.0)
    
90. John Sears 1967 (135.6)
    
91. Lennie Pond 1978 (135.5)
    
92. Neil Cole 1952 (135.1)
    
93. Tiny Lund 1963 (134.8)
    
94. Bill Rexford 1950 (134.8)
    
95. Larry Thomas 1964 (134.3)
    
96. Lloyd Moore 1950 (134.0)
    
97. Marshall Teague 1951 (133.8)
    
98. Nelson Stacy 1963 (133.7)
    
99. Ken Schrader 1989 (133.6)
    
100. Neil Castles 1969 (133.3)
     

And for what it's worth, Ryan Blaney's best year was 2021, at 132.9.
I hope you all enjoyed this little diversion, which if nothing else might add some fuel to best driver who never won a championship debates. Who's inclusion of exclusion surprised you the most?

My partner is an avid collector of diecasts, and I'm looking for any fun ideas for gifts for him. He has so many already and it's hard because he already orders stuff like a year in advance 🙃 (Lionel graces our mailbox often) and I don't want to get something he already has coming.
My question is, what are some unique, fun things you've received or bought for yourself that you really enjoy? Something cool to add to a display wall for example.
He isn't into autographs. He has some favorite drivers both classic #24 and current #12.
My budget is probably 100 or less. Thank you! 😊

I have an autographed Dave Mathew band tribute dale junior diecast car I see them online selling for a couple hundred but was wondering if it is actually worth anything or not

To qualify to race in F1 one would need to get 40 FIA points within 3 years. In Nascar 1st place in a championship nets you 15 2nd nets you 12 and 3rd nets you 10 points. This is a list of Nascar drivers that would have qualified. I don't know what year this system was put in place for Nascar but I am going to calculate it as if it was in place from the beginning.
Herb Thomas would be the first driver to qualify finishing 1st 2nd and then 1st in the points from 51-53
Buck Baker would qualify twice finishing top two in the points 4 times in a row and getting back to back championships all in the span of 55-58
Richard Petty did it once with championship wins in 74 and 75 followed up by a 2nd in 76
Cale Yarborough did it only once with 3 titles from 76-78
Darrell Waltrip did it with back to back titles in 81 and 82 and a 2nd in the points in 83
Dale Earnhardt did it the first time by scoring championships in 86 and 87 and a 3rd in 88 a second time with a 2nd in 89 and titles in 90 and 91 and a third time with titles in 93 and 94 with a runner up in 95
Jeff Gordon did it two years in a row with a title in 95 runner up in 96 and titles in 97 and 98
Jimmie Johnson did it 3 times in a row during his consecutive title streak from 2006-10
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Notable drivers:
Lee petty got two consecutive championships in 58 & 59 but did not get enough points. (3 points off)
Joe Weatherly got the title in 62 & 63 but did not get enough points (3 points off)
David Pearson titles in 68 & 69 (8 points off)
Brad Keselowski got 30 fia points with a title in 2012 a 5th in 2011 and a busch title in 2010
Kevin Harvick came within 3 points with a 3rd in 2013 a 1st in 2014 and a 2nd in 2015
Tony stewart got 50 Fia points (which is more than enough) from 1998 to 2000 but that is including an indycar title
TLDR;
These are the drivers who did it and what years they could have raced in f1
Herb Thomas 1954 (42pts)
Buck Baker 1958 & 1959 (42pts both times)
Richard petty 1977 (42pts)
Cale Yarborough 1979 (45 pts)
Darrell Waltrip 1984 (42pts)
Dale Earnhardt 1989 1992 1996 (40 pts 42pts and 42pts)
Jeff Gordon 1998 1999 (both with 42pts)
Jimmie Johnson 2009 2010 2011(each time with 45 pts)
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