The next two weeks, NASCAR’s top three series will race at its “home track” at Charlotte Motor Speedway. With most NASCAR teams now based in the Charlotte area and most of the sport’s top drivers living nearby, Charlotte is the unofficial home of NASCAR. Though Daytona Beach, Fla.

Is the birthplace of the sport and still the base of operations for NASCAR and its top officials, Charlotte has had strong ties to the sport from the very beginning. The very first NASCAR “Strictly Stock” race was held at the old Charlotte Speedway on June 19, 1949. Since then, Charlotte and North Carolina have played a big role in the sport, with more NASCAR drivers coming from North Carolina than any other state. More than 700 drivers grew up in North Carolina, including some of the sport’s very best and all-time greats. So who are the greatest NASCAR drivers from the state of North Carolina? He’s a look at the top 10. Petty, a native of Randleman, N.C., is the undisputed “King” of stock-car racing and one of the most important figures in NASCAR history.

Denny Hamlin is a full-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver who also competes on a limited basis in the XFINITY Series. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has 31 career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series wins, including the 2016 Daytona 500. Hamlin was the 2006 Sunoco Rookie of the Year. He also has 17.

Petty’s numbers on the track are unmatched as he holds nearly every significant record—200 career wins, seven Cup championships, 27 wins in one season, 10 consecutive victories and seven Daytona 500 wins. But perhaps more importantly, Petty is one of the most popular drivers in the sport’s history and set a standard for NASCAR being a fan-friendly sport. He put NASCAR on the map in the 1960s and ‘70s and is still one of the most recognizable stars in all of sports. Only one man has ever matched Petty in popularity, success on the track and impact on the sport, and that is Earnhardt. The Kannapolis, N.C. Native, whose father, Ralph, was a short-track legend throughout the Carolinas, burst onto the NASCAR scene in 1979 and won his first Cup championship just a year later.

Known for his aggressiveness and spectacular moves on the track, he went on to win 76 races—including the 1998 Daytona 500 and the 1995 Brickyard 400—and tied Petty with seven Cup championships. Lervia 564 Manuale here. One of the sport’s most popular and influential stars, Earnhardt’s death in the 2001 Daytona 500 rocked the sport, and his loss is still being felt today. Many were surprised when the Ronda, N.C. Native joined Petty and Earnhardt in the inaugural class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

But Johnson’s accomplishments and legacy speak for themselves. He won 50 races as a driver, including the 1960 Daytona 500 (in which he invented the art of drafting), and 132 races and six championships as a team owner. But Johnson was perhaps better known as a folk hero and iconic figure. Having honed his racing skills as a moonshine runner—for which he spent time in federal prison—Johnson was made famous when author Tom Wolfe coined him the “Last American Hero” in a heralded story in Esquire Magazine. Isaac, a native of Catawba, N.C., had both a strange and spectacular career.

A short-track legend, he won 37 NASCAR Cup races, including an incredible 17 and 20 poles in 1969. A year later, he won 11 races and the 1970 championship. Isaac abruptly retired in the middle of a race at Talladega in 1973, saying he heard voices telling him he would be killed if he continued. Four years later, he pulled out of a Late Model Sportsman race at Hickory Motor Speedway and collapsed on pit road.

He died of a heart attack a few hours later at age 45. Baker, a Charlotte native, followed in the footsteps of his father, Buck, a two-time NASCAR Cup champion.

Though Buck had better numbers, his son raced in a more competitive era, battling Petty, Pearson and the titans of the 1970s. Buddy burst onto the scene in 1970 when he became the first driver to exceed 200 mph on a closed course.

The same year he won the Southern 500, becoming the first driver to win the same race as his father. Baker won 19 races, including the 1980 Daytona 500. Windows Vista Starter Download Free. He is one of only eight drivers to have won the Daytona 500, the Coca-Cola 600, the Southern 500 and the spring race at Talladega. Baker also went on to become a popular TV commentator and still talks NASCAR on Sirius/XM’s NASCAR Channel. Though Earnhardt Jr.’s inclusion on this list may spark debate, no one can argue Junior’s enormous popularity and impact on the sport.

With the sport’s largest fan base, he has been named NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver nine straight years and most of his fans follow his every move. And though mired in a current 140-race winless streak, Earnhardt Jr.

Has 18 career victories, including the 2004 Daytona 500. He has seven career wins at Daytona and Talladega and won a career-high six races in 2004. He finished a third in points in 2003 and is third in the current standings for Hendrick Motorsports.