Matt Kenseth clinched the 2003 Winston Cup championship despite winning just one race through the season's first 35 events. Listed below are past Winston Cup champions, the number of races they won in their title seasons, the points margin of their championships and the driver who won the most races that year. The chart begins tracks champions since 1975, the year the current points system was implemented.

Winston Cup champions under current points system
Year	Champion	Points margin	No. of wins	Driver w/most wins
2003	Matt Kenseth	90	1	Ryan Newman (8)
2002	Tony Stewart	28	3	Matt Kenseth (5)
2001	Jeff Gordon	349	6	Jeff Gordon (6)
2000	Bobby Labonte	265	4	Tony Stewart (6)
1999	Dale Jarrett	201	4	Jeff Gordon (7)
1998	Jeff Gordon	364	13	Jeff Gordon (13)
1997	Jeff Gordon	14	10	Jeff Gordon (10)
1996	Terry Labonte	37	2	Jeff Gordon (10)
1995	Jeff Gordon	34	7	Jeff Gordon (7)
1994	Dale Earnhardt	444	4	Rusty Wallace (8)
1993	Dale Earnhardt	80	6	Rusty Wallace (10)
1992	Alan Kulwicki	10	2	D. Allison/B. Elliott (5)
1991	Dale Earnhardt	195	4	Davey Allison (5)
1990	Dale Earnhardt	26	9	Dale Earnhardt (9)
1989	Rusty Wallace	12	6	R. Wallace/D. Waltrip (6)
1988	Bill Elliott	24	6	B. Elliott/R. Wallace (6)
1987	Dale Earnhardt	489	11	Dale Earnhardt (11)
1986	Dale Earnhardt	288	5	Tim Richmond (7)
1985	Darrell Waltrip	101	3	Bill Elliott (11)
1984	Terry Labonte	65	2	Darrell Waltrip (7)
1983	Bobby Allison	47	6	B. Allison/D. Waltrip (6)
1982	Darrell Waltrip	72	12	Darrell Waltrip (12)
1981	Darrell Waltrip	53	12	Darrell Waltrip (12)
1980	Dale Earnhardt	19	5	Cale Yarborough (6)
1979	Richard Petty	21	5	Darrell Waltrip (7)
1978	Cale Yarborough	474	10	Cale Yarborough (10)
1977	Cale Yarborough	386	9	Cale Yarborough (9)
1976	Cale Yarborough	195	9	David Pearson (10)
1975	Richard Petty	722	13	Richard Petty (13)