In racing lore, Damon Bradshaw's 1992 season always gets some play because he won a then-record nine races in a season, but still lost the title to Jeff Stanton, who only won three events. Due to a dramatic final round, and Bradshaw's famous dust ups with Jeff "Chicken" Matiasevich during the season, 1992 sticks out as the ultimate cautionary tale that winning races doesn't always result in winning the title. (We even referenced it as the last time someone won the most races but didn’t win the title. We were wrong about that, as you’ll see below.)
As it turns out, there are less-heralded seasons where this has happened, as well. Since 2003, it has actually happened three times, as in 2003, 2006, and 2010, the series’ champion was not the rider than won the most races.
- In 10 of the last 14 seasons, at least four different riders have won at least one race.
- In six of the last 14 seasons, at least five different riders have won at least one race.
- The least amount of race winners since 2003 is three, which happened in 2003, 2004, 2006, and 2007.
- Six straight seasons (2010 through 2015) saw at least five different race winners.
- The most race winners since 2003 came in 2015, when six different riders won at least one race.
- Since 2003, the eventual champion has won an average of 8.42 races per year.
- The most wins in a season (since 2003) came in 2007 when James Stewart won 13 races.
- The least amount of wins from the eventual champion is six, which has happened three times: Ricky Carmichael in 2006, Ryan Dungey in 2010, and Ryan Villopoto in 2011.
- Since 2003, Chad Reed has won at least once in 11 of 14 seasons. He failed to grab a win in 2010, 2013, and 2016.
| Winners |
Number of Wins |
Champion |
| Ricky Carmichael |
7 |
Ricky Carmichael |
| Chad Reed |
8 |
|
| Ezra Lusk |
1 |
|
| Winners |
Number of Wins |
Champion |
| Chad Reed |
10 |
Chad Reed |
| Kevin Windham |
5 |
|
| Mike LaRocco |
1 |
|
Reed DQd for fuel in Irving, Texas and lost points, but kept the win.
| Winners |
Number of Wins |
Champion |
| Ricky Carmichael |
7 |
Ricky Carmichael |
| Chad Reed |
5 |
|
| James Stewart |
3 |
|
| Kevin Windham |
1 |
|
| Winners |
Number of Wins |
Champion |
| Ricky Carmichael |
6 |
Ricky Carmichael |
| James Stewart |
8 |
|
| Chad Reed |
2 |
|
| Winners |
Number of Wins |
Champion |
| James Stewart |
13 |
James Stewart |
| Ricky Carmichael |
2 |
|
| Chad Reed |
1 |
|
| Winners |
Number of Wins |
Champion |
| Chad Reed |
9 |
Chad Reed |
| Kevin Windham |
4 |
|
| Davi Millsaps |
2 |
|
| Josh Hill |
1 |
|
| Winners |
Number of Wins |
Champion |
| James Stewart |
11 |
James Stewart |
| Chad Reed |
3 |
|
| Ryan Villopoto |
2 |
|
| Josh Grant |
1 |
|
| Winners |
Number of Wins |
Champion |
| Ryan Dungey |
6 |
Ryan Dungey |
| Ryan Villopoto |
7 |
|
| Kevin Windham |
2 |
|
| James Stewart |
1 |
|
| Davi Millsaps |
1 |
|
| Winners |
Number of Wins |
Champion |
| Ryan Villopoto |
6 |
Ryan Villopoto |
| James Stewart |
5 |
|
| Trey Canard |
3 |
|
| Chad Reed |
2 |
|
| Ryan Dungey |
1 |
|
| Winners |
Number of Wins |
Champion |
| Ryan Villopoto |
9 |
Ryan Villopoto |
| Ryan Dungey |
4 |
|
| James Stewart |
2 |
|
| Andrew Short |
1 |
|
| Chad Reed |
1 |
Chad Reed - 1 |
| Winners |
Number of Wins |
Champion |
| Ryan Villopoto |
10 |
Ryan Villopoto |
| Justin Barcia |
2 |
|
| Davi Millsaps |
2 |
|
| Ryan Dungey |
2 |
|
| James Stewart |
1 |
|
| Winners |
Number of Wins |
Champion |
| Ryan Villopoto |
7 |
Ryan Villopoto |
| James Stewart |
5 |
|
| Ken Roczen |
2 |
|
| Chad Reed |
2 |
|
| Ryan Dungey |
1 |
|
| Winners |
Number of Wins |
Champion |
| Ryan Dungey |
8 |
Ryan Dungey |
| Eli Tomac |
3 |
|
| Ken Roczen |
2 |
|
| Trey Canard |
2 |
|
| Chad Reed |
1 |
|
| Cole Seely |
1 |
|
| Winners |
Number of Wins |
Champion |
| Ryan Dungey |
9 |
Ryan Dungey |
| Ken Roczen |
5 |
|
| Jason Anderson |
2 |
|
| Eli Tomac |
1 |
|
