"The REAL Top 50 NASCAR Drivers (2007 Update)"

David Pearson was my man when I was a kid :applause:

Now I root for Dale Jarrett. I guess he needs alot more help than just my rooting for him.:laugh:

 

if that is in order....

How on earth is Richard Petty seventh?

 

PastorSBC, you had to know I was going to comment on this one. :wavey:

What a terrible criteria to use because there is so much more money being paid out today than at any other time in Nascar's history. Not only is it a terrible criteria, the author never once mentions money again.

Remember that 5 year criteria when we look at the first driver.


#1. Fred Lorenzen

Fred Lorenzen? Seriously? Fred drove 158 races in his career and won 26 of them for a winning percentage of 16.4%, which is really very good. But, he won all his races in that span of 6 years. The author violated his own principle. He gave proportionately more credit to Fred for a mere 6 years of winning. The Golden Boy was a good driver, but he just didn't have the longevity needed for greatness. And, before I forget, finishing in the Top 10 wasn't that remarkable in those days.

Just as example, I chose 3 races completely at random. At Spartanburg, SC on March 4, 1961, Junior Johnson finished 18 laps down in 10th. At the next race in Weaverville, NC, EJ Trivette had a DNF in 10th. At the next race, Bob Perry finished 19 laps down in 10th. This was not uncommon for that era.

He dominated? How do you figure? Richard, Junior and Ned all won more races than Fireball. It's not hard to look up statistics on winning. Just head on over to www.racing-reference.info and look up the wins and come back and tell me how Fireball dominated anybody.

Oh, well, that's different. Any driver who inspires a poem certainly is worthy to land at #2. I wonder if any other drivers have inspired books and movies? :smilewinkgrin:



#3. David Pearson - no issue except that the Silver Fox was better than both Lorenzen and Fireball. Quick question. How many championships does DP have? 3. How many championships does The Golden Boy and Fireball have combined? 0. And, how do Lorenzen and Roberts land in front of Pearson again?


#4. Bobby Allison - as with DP, Allison was better than both FL and FR and he was better over a longer period. I just don't understand how drivers who win for 20+ years get slighted in favor of drivers who won for less than 10.


#5. Tim Flock - rated too high. Tim goes on the list of Top 50 drivers, but not at 5.

#6. Jeff Gordon -

ROFL!

Are you kidding me? The only driver? You're telling me Dale Earnhardt, Rusty Wallace and Tony Stewart couldn't win in any era? In an article full of stupid statements, this one tops them all.


#7 - Richard Petty

200 wins aren't enough to put him at #1? Yes, he's an automatic selection and those of us who know what we're talking about generally put Richard at #1 because nobody won more than he did.


Cale at #8, DW at #9 are probably spot on. I wouldn't put Herb Thomas at #10, but it's not an egregious error. Not like the ones we're going to see next.


#11 - Jimmy [sic] Johnson

This is just incomprehensible. I don't even have the words to describe the lunacy of picking Jimmie Johnson at #11 over Dale Earnhardt.


#12 - Dale Earnhardt

Ok, this guy is clearly not a fan of Dale Earnhardt. Jimmie Johnson better than Earnhardt? Come on. If he thinks today's drivers are more easily intimidated, he's deluded.


#14 - Davey Allison

We really missed out on what would have been some great battles in the late 90s between Davey and Jeff Gordon. I believe that Gordon wouldn't even have 4 championships if Davey hadn't died in 93.


#19 - Rusty Wallace

:laugh:

Has this guy been living under a rock? Rusty hasn't been in a car since 05, so he can hardly be called one of today's drivers. I don't think I need to say who the biggest legend of this era of Nascar racing is.


Other laughable entries include Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman, Greg Biffle and Kevin Harvick. Every one of those guys may land on the top driver list by the time their career is over, but they shouldn't be on the list now. To make room on the list for these 4, the author knocked Ralph Earnhardt, Richie Evans (!) and Alan Kulwicki (!!) off the list. Ridiculous.


Going back to the beginning of the article, we find this.

Greg Biffle and Kevin Harvick are superstars? I heartily disagree.

In fact, I pretty much disagree with just about everything in the article.

 

Some observations:

Fireball Robert's tragic death at Charlotte in 1964 led directly to the early retirement of several drivers including Fred Lorenzen, Ned Jarrett, and Jr. Johnson.

Putting Fred Lorenzen as #1 is an exercise in coulda, shoulda, woulda. Coulda won more, Shoulda stayed longer, Woulda been the best if he had. Bogus lists like this always make a CSW argument for their driver. Sorry. If you want to claim to be the all-time best, you gotta show up and you gotta win. If Lorenzen had stuck around, he might have been the best ever. But, he didn't stick around and therefore, he is not the best ever.

 

Is NASCAR sport enough to have real rankings?

 

To its fans it has rankings. To non-fans, it is just rank. What say you!?!

 

SaggyWoman, do you have anything of substance to add to Nascar discussions, or are you just going to continue with the drive-by insults of the sport?

 

ccrobinson is only 10 posts behind me. I gotta get my count up too!!!:laugh:

 

I didn't realize I was that close to you, swaim.

 

Don't look back, I'm gaining. :wavey:

 

I don't think I have any chance of catching you.

You have 14,000 posts and have been here for 49 months, for an average of 285 posts per month.
I have 2,100 posts and have been here for 32 months, for an average of 65 posts per month.
Swaim has 2,100 posts and has been here for 86 months, for an average of 24 posts per month.


I'm going to be zooming by swaim very soon, though. :type:

 

cc, I feel like the whole field at Talledega in 1985...and you're Bill Elliot!!!

 

Almost 2 laps down, and took it home, man that is moving!

 

I found a video tape on my shelf the other day that I have had since 1989 on the history of NASCAR. One of the races they highlighted was that 1985 Talledega race. Bill was sure awesome that day. It was just on my mind....

 

Here's a comparison of 2 drivers and their laps led at Daytona and Talladega in 2 separate years. Name these 2 drivers.

Driver 1
Daytona 500 - 136 of 200
Winston 500 - 60 of 188
Firecracker 400 - 103 of 160
Diehard 500 - 100 of 188

Driver 2
Daytona 500 - 155 of 200
Winston 500 - 107 of 188
Firecracker 400 - 127 of 160
Diehard 500 - 134 of 188

I've never heard what advantage the 2nd driver had, but nobody leads nearly 80% of the biggest race of the season without some sort of horsepower advantage. Do you know what advantage the 1st driver had over the rest of the field?

 

Hmmmm, let's see.... I'm gonna pick Bill Elliot for #1. I thought about Jr. for #2, but I think these race names probably preceed his era. Could be Earnhardt himself, but I don't particularly remember him dominating entire races at these tracks, though he certainly won his fair share. Could have been a Robert Yates powered car at some time, but I'm gonna guess Cale Yarborough late in his career when he ran the Hardees car.