Want proof that road racing the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series is hard? Check this out: The last eight Toyota/Save Mart 350 Cup races at Sonoma Raceway in Northern California’s lush wine country have produced eight different winners. 

And the retirements from NASCAR of Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Marcos Ambrose and Juan Pablo Montoya has left a vacuum among skilled road racers. Those four drivers alone combined for 21 Cup road-course wins. 

The field for Sunday’s race at Sonoma? Collectively, the 38 drivers entered for this year’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 have won a total 13 Cup road-course races, with only one driver — Kyle Busch — winning more than once at Sonoma and Watkins Glen, the two road courses on the Cup circuit. 

All of which begs an interesting question: Who are the best active drivers who are winless on road courses? We looked it up, so you don’t have to.

NASCAR via Getty Images Chris Trotman

When you think of good road racers, McMurray’s name comes to mind and with good reason: He has won three road-course poles and posted three top-five finishes in 28 starts at Watkins Glen and Sonoma. But none of his seven career Cup wins came at either of those two tracks.

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For his career, Newman has won 18 races and an amazing 51 poles with Team Penske, Stewart-Haas Racing and now, Richard Childress Racing. But not a single one of those race victories, nor any of the 51 poles, came at a track where he had to turn right as well as left.

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This one is tough to believe. Keselowski, the 2012 Cup champion, has finished second three times and third once in the last six races at Watkins Glen, but has not been able to find Victory Lane. At Sonoma, on the other hand, he has zero top fives and an average finish of 19.14, making it his second-worst track, statistically. For his career, Keselowski has won 23 Cup races.

© John Harrelson / LAT Photo USA John K Harrelson

Two seemingly contradictory points to be made here: The first is that on numerous occasions throughout his career, Earnhardt has said he doesn’t like road races much. Despite his protestations, Earnhardt has finished in the top 12 in each of the last four Sonoma races. Still, none of his 26 Cup wins has come at Sonoma or Watkins Glen and his best road-course finish is third.

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No doubt, Kenseth checks all the boxes. In his career, Kenseth has won an impressive 38 Cup races, and he’s a past champion, having taken the title in 2003. And since he joined Joe Gibbs Racing in 2013, Kenseth has been a constant contender. But in 34 road-course Cup starts, Kenseth has never finished better than fourth, surprising for a driver of his obvious talent.

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