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NASCAR Best driver of all time.

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Darkon's avatar

Darkon

Senior Member

3,476 posts
Feb 16, 2010 12:26 PM
Who is the best of all time.

I will throw out some names that I think should be in the discussion.

Richard Petty
David Pearson
Dale Earnhardt Sr.
Jeff Gordon
Jimmy Johnson

Whats your thoughts?
Feb 16, 2010 12:26pm
gerb131's avatar

gerb131

Senior Member

9,932 posts
Feb 16, 2010 12:37 PM
I cringe to say this and I'am a big Earnhardt fan but Jeff Gordon if we are strictly talking about Sprint Cup cars. If not than Robby Gordon is the best driver, he doesn't even need wheels to drive.
Feb 16, 2010 12:37pm
Darkon's avatar

Darkon

Senior Member

3,476 posts
Feb 16, 2010 12:55 PM
gerb131 wrote: I cringe to say this and I'am a big Earnhardt fan but Jeff Gordon if we are strictly talking about Sprint Cup cars. If not than Robby Gordon is the best driver, he doesn't even need wheels to drive.
Yeah that had to hurt for a Earnhardt fan. I'm a Gordan fan but my pick I think is David Pearson. I believe he only run a few complete seasons for money reasons and won three championships. He is second all time to Petty in wins with 105 and didn't run nearly the number of races.
Feb 16, 2010 12:55pm
G

Gardens35

Senior Member

4,929 posts
Feb 16, 2010 1:03 PM
I think that Tim Richmond falls into the shoulda/coulda list. If things had worked out differently he may have worked his way to NASCAR's poster child status.
Feb 16, 2010 1:03pm
Darkon's avatar

Darkon

Senior Member

3,476 posts
Feb 16, 2010 1:17 PM
Gardens35 wrote: I think that Tim Richmond falls into the shoulda/coulda list. If things had worked out differently he may have worked his way to NASCAR's poster child status.
Great talent but not in the discussion. 185 starts with only 13 wins. 5 of those wins were on a road course.
Feb 16, 2010 1:17pm
M

mtrulz

Senior Member

2,905 posts
Feb 16, 2010 1:22 PM
Jimmie Johnson cheats..no way he should be up there with the GOATs.
Feb 16, 2010 1:22pm
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GoChiefs

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16,754 posts
Feb 16, 2010 1:23 PM
Not even debatable. Lol The best driver ever is 1 of 3 guys...Petty, Pearson, Sr.
Feb 16, 2010 1:23pm
Terry_Tate's avatar

Terry_Tate

Senior Member

7,606 posts
Feb 16, 2010 1:51 PM
I'd have to go with this order:

Dale Earnhardt
David Pearson
Jeff Gordon
Richard Petty

Beyond that, I think Cale Yarborough is probably number 5, but could make strong cases for Darrell Waltrip and Jimmie Johnson(hard to believe he can be considered among the greats and just started in 2002).
Feb 16, 2010 1:51pm
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Speedofsand

Troublemaker

5,529 posts
Feb 16, 2010 2:21 PM
1. Richard Petty
2. David Pearson
3. Dale Earnhardt Sr
4. Cale Yarborough
5. Junior Johnson
6. Jeff Gordon
7. Jimmie Johnson
8. Mark Martin
9. Darrell Waltrip
10. Tony Stewart
Feb 16, 2010 2:21pm
Darkon's avatar

Darkon

Senior Member

3,476 posts
Feb 16, 2010 2:50 PM
GoChiefs wrote: Not even debatable. Lol The best driver ever is 1 of 3 guys...Petty, Pearson, Sr.
Some stats to think about.
Winning percentage.
David Pearson 18.3%
Richard Petty 16.9%
Jimmy Johnson 16.1%
Jeff Gordon 14.1%
Dale Earnhardt 11.2%

Top 5 finishes
David Pearson 52.4%
Richard Petty 46.9%
Jeff Gordon 45.2%
Dale Earnhardt 41.5%
Jimmy Johnson 40.2%

Top 10 finishes
David Pearson 63.8%
Dale Earnhardt 63.3%
Jeff Gordon 62.1%
Jimmy Johnson 61.8%
Richard Petty 60.1%

Winning the pole percentage.
David Pearson 19.7%
Jeff Gordon 11.7%
Richard Petty 10.3%
Jimmy Johnson 7.9%
Dale Earnhardt 3%


It's debatable. We also have to consider the different era's. The cars these days resemble more of an IROC series than 30-40 years ago.
Feb 16, 2010 2:50pm
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GoChiefs

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Feb 16, 2010 2:55 PM
Regardless of numbers...no way can you put Gordon or Johnson ahead of Sr. or Petty...Pearson..maybe.
Feb 16, 2010 2:55pm
Darkon's avatar

Darkon

Senior Member

3,476 posts
Feb 16, 2010 3:20 PM
Winning percentage
Junior Johnson 15.9%
Cale Yarborough 14.8%
Darrell Waltrip 10.4%

Top 5 %
Cale Yarborough 45.5%
Junior Johnson 38.6%
Darrell Waltrip 34.1%

Top 10 %
Cale Yarborough 56.9%
Darrell Waltrip 48.2%
Junior Johnson 47.3
Feb 16, 2010 3:20pm
Darkon's avatar

Darkon

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3,476 posts
Feb 16, 2010 3:25 PM
GoChiefs wrote: Regardless of numbers...no way can you put Gordon or Johnson ahead of Sr. or Petty...Pearson..maybe.
Numbers don't matter?
How do you determine the who the best is?
Feb 16, 2010 3:25pm
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SQ_Crazies

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Feb 16, 2010 3:30 PM
Dale. Not close for me.

Petty and Dale are on top though. Only number that matters is championships in this sport--both have 7. When 2nd place comes in at 4, you know 7 is unreal.
Feb 16, 2010 3:30pm
Darkon's avatar

Darkon

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3,476 posts
Feb 16, 2010 3:38 PM
SQ_Crazies wrote: Dale. Not close for me.

Petty and Dale are on top though. Only number that matters is championships in this sport--both have 7. When 2nd place comes in at 4, you know 7 is unreal.
Good point but if they had not changed the championship format Gordon would have 6.
Feb 16, 2010 3:38pm
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SQ_Crazies

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Feb 16, 2010 3:41 PM
That's a huge assumption. And 7 is still more than 6. Gordon is definitely one of the best ever, but Sr. and Petty are far ahead of everyone else IMO.
Feb 16, 2010 3:41pm
Darkon's avatar

Darkon

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3,476 posts
Feb 16, 2010 3:45 PM
Thats not an assumption.
I don't put Gordon as #1. I believe Pearson was the best. He ran limited schedules and posted great numbers.
Feb 16, 2010 3:45pm
P

pkebker

Senior Member

760 posts
Feb 16, 2010 4:00 PM
One thing to think about is that I believe today's NASCAR has the toughest competition. There's a lot of money in a lot of quality organizations. I think its harder to win a race these days.
Feb 16, 2010 4:00pm
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SQ_Crazies

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Feb 16, 2010 4:11 PM
Considering he has 4, that is an assumption.
Feb 16, 2010 4:11pm
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coyotes22

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11,298 posts
Feb 16, 2010 4:29 PM
Speedofsand wrote: 1. Richard Petty
2. David Pearson
3. Dale Earnhardt Sr
4. Cale Yarborough
5. Junior Johnson
6. Jeff Gordon
7. Jimmie Johnson
8. Mark Martin
9. Darrell Waltrip
10. Tony Stewart
This.
Feb 16, 2010 4:29pm
End of Line's avatar

End of Line

It's Clobberin Time!

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Feb 16, 2010 4:29 PM
Pearson
Feb 16, 2010 4:29pm
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GoChiefs

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Feb 16, 2010 4:32 PM
Darkon wrote: Numbers don't matter?
How do you determine the who the best is?
You can't get an accurate assumption from numbers from past drivers and drivers of today..look at Petty for example..his numbers are:

Races - 1184
Wins - 200
Top 5 - 555
Top 10 - 712

now you compare that to Gordon

Races - 582
Wins - 82
Top 5 - 263
Top 10 - 361

Gordon still needs 20 more races before he's raced in even HALF as many races as Petty. How are you going to reach a good assessment of the drivers based on that when one driver has twice as many races under his belt than the other? If you want to go by numbers...it's hands down Richard Petty. Nobody has come close to having the numbers he has.
Feb 16, 2010 4:32pm
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GoChiefs

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Feb 16, 2010 4:33 PM
SQ_Crazies wrote: Considering he has 4, that is an assumption.
Correct..it is an assumption..but I agree...he'd have 6 had the format not been changed..there was a couple times when the points were reset with 10 races to go...he had a 2 to 300 point lead on the rest of the field. That's almost impossible to make up in 10 races.
Feb 16, 2010 4:33pm
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GoChiefs

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Feb 16, 2010 4:37 PM
SQ_Crazies wrote: When 2nd place comes in at 4, you know 7 is unreal.
Agree with that as well..but then again..I think Jimmie's feat of 4 championships today are more impressive..especially being consecutive championships...the level of competition back then was no where close to being what it is today. Hell..back then..you'd only have 5 or 6 cars finish on the lead lap!
Feb 16, 2010 4:37pm
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SQ_Crazies

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Feb 16, 2010 4:52 PM
I'm not sure it's better or worse. One thing that was more impressive about past champions is that the whole season mattered more and consistency is what it's all about.
Feb 16, 2010 4:52pm