NASCAR Best driver of all time.

• Darkon

  

  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?
• gerb131

  

  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.
• Darkon

  

  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.
• Gardens35

  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.
• Darkon

  

  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.
• mtrulz

  Jimmie Johnson cheats..no way he should be up there with the GOATs.
• GoChiefs

  

  Not even debatable. Lol The best driver ever is 1 of 3 guys...Petty, Pearson, Sr.
• Terry_Tate

  

  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).
• Speedofsand

  

  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
• Darkon

  

  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.
• GoChiefs

  

  Regardless of numbers...no way can you put Gordon or Johnson ahead of Sr. or Petty...Pearson..maybe.
• Darkon

  

  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
• Darkon

  

  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?
• SQ_Crazies

  

  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.
• Darkon

  

  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.
• SQ_Crazies

  

  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.
• Darkon

  

  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.
• pkebker

  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.
• SQ_Crazies

  

  Considering he has 4, that is an assumption.
• coyotes22

  

  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.
• End of Line

  

  Pearson
• GoChiefs

  

  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.
• GoChiefs

  

  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.
• GoChiefs

  

  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!
• SQ_Crazies

  

  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.