The ones that got away: The most heartbreaking losses in NASCAR history

NASCAR is unique in the sense that no lead is insurmountable. Whether you lead second place by a full lap or only half a second, a flat tire, blown motor or any other variable can take you from victory lane to the garage area in a heartbeat. 

Thanks to the inherent, heartbreaking nature of racing, NASCAR has had its fair share of gut-wrenching losses over the years. Here are some of the most heartbreaking losses in NASCAR history, and the context behind them. 

Dale Earnhardt, 1990 Daytona 500

For a man billed as the greatest NASCAR driver of all time, Earnhardt always seemed to run into trouble at the sport's biggest race. He managed to lose the 500 on fuel mileage, while flipping down the backstretch and due to a seagull hitting his car. But his worst Daytona defeat had to be in 1990. Earnhardt was just two turns away from his first Daytona crown when he had a tire go flat entering turn three, handing a Daytona 500 trophy to Derrike Cope. In the end, however, everything worked out; not only did Earnhardt go on to win the 1990 Winston Cup championship, but he finally won the Daytona 500 in 1998. 

Regan Smith, 2008 AMP Energy 500 

Talladega has always been a track famous for producing underdog winners, and it seemed another was set to experience the glory of NASCAR victory lane in the fall of 2008. Driving for a dying Dale Earnhardt Inc., the then 25-year-old Smith initially won his first career race — until he didn't. NASCAR ruled that Smith passed race winner Tony Stewart below the double-yellow line on the apron, when it looked like Stewart had forced Smith below the line. Smith ended up getting his only Cup Series win at Darlington in 2011, but the sting of Talladega likely never went away. 

Carl Edwards: 2016 Ford Ecoboost 400

The 2016 NASCAR Cup Series championship race at Homestead ended with a historic storyline as Jimmie Johnson won his seventh NASCAR championship, tying the record set by Earnhardt and Richard Petty. However, the story could've been much different on that November evening as Carl Edwards' poor block on Joey Logano ended Edwards' hopes at winning his first championship. Like in 2011, it seemed Edwards just wasn't destined for a championship crown, and he would end up retiring over the offseason. 

Mark Martin, 2007 Daytona 500

As good of a man and driver as Martin was, the sport's biggest prizes seemed to have a vendetta against him. If he couldn't have a Cup Series championship, a Daytona 500 was surely in his future. Unfortunately, fate thought otherwise, as a last-lap charge by Kevin Harvick on the final lap of the 2007 Great American Race forever ensured that Martin would be the bridesmaid in one of the greatest NASCAR finishes of all time. 

Aric Almirola, 2018 Daytona 500

It's fitting that NASCAR's biggest race produces the most heartbreaking losses, but it makes it all the more painful when fans and drivers revisit the moment where eternal glory was stripped from them. Almirola put together a respectable NASCAR career, winning three Cup Series races and making the playoffs five times. His fourth win, however, could've been the 2018 Daytona 500, if it weren't for Austin Dillon. Dillon turned Almirola from the lead on the race's final lap, leaving the best car in Daytona Beach as a hunk of scrap metal smoking on the infield grass.