With his third career victory at the Chicago Street Course in 2025, Shane van Gisbergen became the winningest foreign-born driver in the history of the NASCAR Cup Series.
Of course, NASCAR is a deeply American form of auto racing, so non-Americans winning isn't exactly commonplace. Until the top level of the sport raced in Mexico City in 2025, there hadn't been a points-paying Cup race outside of the United States since 1958.
Daniel Suarez, who won the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship in 2016, is the only foreign-born driver to ever win a national-level title in the sport.
But in recent years, NASCAR has slowly become more international in both events and on-track talent. For example, the 2022 Cup race at Watkins Glen featured drivers from seven different countries -- a series record. And of the 11 NASCAR Cup races won by drivers born outside of the US, five of them have occurred in the last five years.
Drivers from seven different countries have won NASCAR races at the national level, including six in the Cup Series. In total, 41 races across all three major divisions have been won by foreign-born drivers, with 13 coming from Canada. But here's a look at them all:
Shane van Gisbergen -- Auckland, New Zealand (7 wins)
Cup wins: 3 / Xfinity wins: 4
SVG burst onto the scene in 2023 by winning on debut with Trackhouse Racing in the inaugural running of the Chicago Street Course race. Since then, he has left behind his career as a Supercars driver (where he was a three-time champion) to pursue a full-time NASCAR career. While 2025 is not yet over, we already know he will be part of the Cup Series playoffs and will likely win Rookie of the Year honors.
Daniel Suarez -- Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico (7 wins)
Cup wins: 2 / Xfinity wins: 4 / Truck wins: 1
Suarez, who became a naturalized US citizen in 2024, holds the special distinction of being the only driver born outside of the US to have won in all three national levels, but even more impressively, he is the only one to become a champion. Driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, he won the 2016 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship over veteran driver Elliott Sadler. He's also made the playoffs twice as a Cup driver, placing as high as tenth in the championship standings. Additionally, Suarez has managed to win Cup races at both a road course and on an oval, which no other driver on this list has done.
Marcos Ambrose -- Launceston, Tasmania, Australia (7 wins)
Cup wins: 2 / Xfinity wins: 5
Ambrose is another Supercars champion, winning the title twice before making the move to NASCAR. He placed as high as 18th in the Cup standings during his career, but managed to win a lot of road course races -- especially at Watkins Glen. He won three consecutive Xfinity races at WGI, and both of his Cup wins came there as well. He was very close to snagging several other wins, including some oval races, but it never quite went his way. Ambrose also has more wins than any other foreign-born driver in Xfinity Series history, but both Suarez and SVG are close to matching him.
Ron Fellows -- Windsor, Ontario, Canada (6 wins)
Xfinity wins: 4 / Truck wins: 2
Fellows was a true road course ringer and an accomplished sports car racer, showing up whenever NASCAR arrived at a road course to teach stock car's best a lesson or two. He nearly won at the Cup level as well, finishing as high as second, but his true success came in the lower two divisions. He won three times at Watkins Glen in the Xfinity Series and twice in the Truck Series. He also earned an Xfinity win at Montreal for his final win in 2008.
Stewart Friesen -- Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada (4 wins)
Truck wins: 4
Friesen is a full-time driver in the NASCAR Truck Series with dual citizenship in both the US and Canada. Along with an impressive career in the dirt racing scene, he has started 200 Truck races, making the Championship 4 once and winning four races between 2019 and 2025. He is currently the winningest foreign-born driver in Truck Series history.
Juan Pablo Montoya -- Bogotá, Colombia (3 wins)
Cup wins: 2 / Xfinity wins: 1
It's no surprise that one of the most versatile racers on the planet has had success in stock car racing. He is a two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500, a proven race winner in F1, as well as an IMSA champion, but Montoya is also a very capable NASCAR driver. He first won at Sonoma in 2007, going on to collect Rookie of the Year honors. He won again at Watkins Glen in 2010, but he was also agonizingly close to winning the prestigious Brickyard 400 on more than one occasion. He placed as high as eighth in the NASCAR Cup Series championships standings, which is tied for the highest ever for a non-American driver.
Nelson Piquet Jr. -- Brazilian but born in Heidelberg, West Germany (3 wins)
Xfinity wins: 1 / Truck wins: 2
The son of a Formula 1 World Champion and an ex-F1 driver himself, Piquet managed to win two of his three races on ovals. He placed seventh in the 2012 NASCAR Truck Series championship after two oval victories, but in that same year, he also won in the Xfinity Series at Road America. Piquet's time in NASCAR was rather brief, making his final start when he was just 30 years old.
Mario Andretti -- Montona, Istria, Kingdom of Italy (1 win)
Cup wins: 1
The patriarch of the most legendary family in American racing originally came from Italy. Where he was born is now part of modern-day Croatia but he spent most of his life as an American citizen. His accomplishments are seemingly endless, winning everything from the Indianapolis 500 to the Formula 1 World Championship, but in NASCAR, he only won a single race. However, there is no bigger race he could have won in the sport, as he was victorious in the 1967 running of the Daytona 500. He led over half the crown jewel event, beating teammate Fred Lorenzen for the win.
Earl Ross -- Fortune, Prince Edward Island, Canada (1 win)
Cup wins: 1
The Canadian driver won at Martinsville in 1974, driving for the legendary Junior Johnson. He beat Buddy Baker by over a lap in that race. He also ended the season eighth in the championship standings, which is tied with Montoya for the best points finish by a non-American driver in Cup Series history. And to top it all off, he earned Rookie of the Year honors in '74 too.
Larry Pollard -- Victoria, British Columbia, Canada (1 win)
Xfinity wins: 1
Pollard was a crew chief for some of the sport's top drivers, but also a fairly capable driver himself. He placed inside the top ten in the championship standings twice as an Xfinity Series driver, winning his one and only race during the 1987 season at the Langley short track. He was also the first foreign-born driver to ever win an Xfinity Series race.
Raphaël Lessard -- St-Joseph-de-Beauce, Quebec, Canada (1 win)
Truck wins: 1
Lessard was just a teenager when he earned his only victory in the NASCAR Truck Series. While competing full-time in 2020, he led just the final lap at Talladega Superspeedway. He was side-by-side for the lead with Trevor Bayne as they battled through the final set of corners, and when the race-ending caution flew, he narrowly ahead and claimed the victory.
