Make no mistake, Nascar died to me in 2004 when the Chase became the method for deciding a "champion" in Nascar. I use "champion" in quotations because due to the majority of these titles (5 of 8) being awarded to people who didn't win them outright over a season. But this isn't a rant against Nascar. Most people reading this know my positions and if you don't, I'll explain them another time.
This list is based on drivers that I have seen which basically means there may well be guys from the 40's and 50's who don't make this list. I'm not discounting people like Jim Roper, Red Byron, Cotton Owens, etc., I've just never seen them before but I am familiar with many of their accomplishments. My list concerns accomplishments, legitimate driving ability (judgement based) as well as factors such as what the competition was like for them. So, the top 10 drivers, in my opinion, in Nascar history are as follows:
10. Alan Kulwicki - The last owner/driver to win a championship. Sorry, that abomination from 2011 doesn't count because it wasn't legitimate and Tony Stewart is only a 51% owner of his team and has significant financial backing whereas Alan Kulwicki was 100% owner of his team and funded the entire team out of his own pocket. What this man did on the racetrack with very little money and average equipment will likely not be equalled again in the future because the scope of Nascar has changed so much since he won his title in 1992. Alan had many chances to drive for the top teams. Junior Johnson, who fielded one of the top teams in the sport in the 70's, 80's and early 90's, tried to sign Alan no less than two times and Alan turned him down both times because of his desire to do things "his way." Perhaps it was fitting that the man he defeated by a mere 10 points was driving a car owned by none other than Junior Johnson. Alan Kulwicki unfortunately did not get a chance to properly defend his championship as he was killed on April 1, 1993 in a private plane crash just outside Bristol Tennessee.
9. Joe Weatherly - The "clown prince of Nascar." Little Joe has an accomplishment that no other Nascar champion that I'm aware of could boast and that is he won championships driving for many teams in the same year. In Weatherly's days of the late 50's and early 60's, most teams didn't run full seasons because they didn't have the financial backing from the automakers. Weatherly won his two championships driving for an average of 10 teams a year. Many of these teams had 2nd and 3rd rate equipment but Joe managed to take the lesser equipment, run up front on skills and determination and was rewarded with the 1962 and 1963 championships. Like Alan Kulwicki, Joe Weatherly didn't get a chance to properly defend his 1963 championship. He was killed instantly during a race at Riverside California on January 19, 1964. Joe died when his car came into turn 6 which was a very hard right hand turn and slammed the wall flush on the driver's side. This was before window nets had been mandated by Nascar and Joe died on impact due to his head going out the window and slamming into the wall.
8. Junior Johnson - Many people consider Junior Johnson to be the greatest driver of all time. I can't necessarily agree with that but I can say he belongs here. His career spanned 313 races and he won 50 times. There aren't many drivers with such a high winning percentage. There really isn't much I can say because I've not seen much video of him during his driving career but in looking at his accomplishments, he's worthy of making this list but he's not worthy of being called the greatest ever.
7. Richard Petty - Sure to cause controversy among lifelong Petty fans due to such a relatively low ranking. There is no denying his accomplishments. 200 wins, 7 championships, 7 Daytona 500 wins, 27 wins in a single season, 10 wins in a row. So why is the King so low here? By his own admission, Richard won most of his races during a time when several things were happening. First, Petty Enterprises was by far the best funded and backed team in Nascar in the late 50's and 60's. Richard has admitted many times that he wouldn't have won as many races as he did if he hadn't had such an advantage. Bear in mind that in a race with 40 cars at this time, maybe 10 of them had legitimate backing from the automakers. Secondly, this was during a time when there were over 45 races a year and when many races were very short races i.e. 100 miles, 250 laps on a half-mile track, etc. By the 70's, there were less than 35 races a year, many teams had full support from the automakers and every race was at least 250 miles long. When these things happened, Richard's wins dropped off. Taking these into account, I just can't in good conscience rank him above the names to come on this list although he was my first "favorite" driver growing up from the ages of 3-7.
6. Darrell Waltrip - Jaws, as he was known in his prime, raced his way to 84 wins and 3 championships. His 1985 championship win ranks among what I consider to be one of the best examples of Nascar's old points system done correctly. Bill Elliott had won 11 races that year to Waltrip's 3 but Waltrip had a much more consistent season with more top 5's, more top 10's and less DNF's than Elliott and thus won the title. This is the way a Nascar champion should be crowned and Darrell Waltrip in 1985 proved why such a system works. His feud in the mid 80's with Dale Earnhardt was one of the best feuds of that time period.
5. Lee Petty - Winner of the first Daytona 500 in 1959, Lee Petty began the Petty dynasty that for all intents and purposes ended in 1979 with Richard's last championship. I personally consider Lee to have been the most talented of the Petty's because, while he did have a similar advantage as I mentioned for Richard earlier, Lee was the one who built the team and established it. I'm honestly not convinced Richard on his own could've done that in the manner that Lee did in the late 1940's. I also met Lee in the early 90's at Monroeton Golf Club but at the time, I didn't realize who he was. My dad played golf with him and I rode with both of them but as I said, I didn't learn until later who he was. After his forced retirement following a crash in 1961, Lee Petty essentially shunned anything related to the spotlight and tried to draw as little attention to himself as possible. He was a humble man but I wish he'd have told me who he was when I was there. Lee died on April 5, 2000 at the age of 86. Less than 6 weeks after Lee's death, his great-grandson Adam Petty was killed in a practice crash at New Hampshire. I mentioned that to me, the Petty dynasty ended in 1979 and for the record, most historians don't agree with that. Most believe that it officially ended with Adam's death as he was intended to be the Petty that would lead Petty Enterprises into the 21st century.
4. Cale Yarborough - The only driver to legitimately win 3 consecutive Cup championships in 1976, 77, and 78. Cale Yarborough racked up 83 wins, and among them were 4 Daytona 500s. This was a man who won nearly everything the sport had to offer. The only crown jewel he never picked up was a win at the Coca-Cola 600. Cale was a man who was gonna drive the car until the wheels fell off and more often than not, his efforts were well rewarded. He, along with our next driver, played a very important role in what was arguably the most important race in Nascar history, the 1979 Daytona 500. For the record, I personally believe that if he and Donnie Allison hadn't crashed, Cale would've won the race. He was already under him before Donnie forced him to the wet grass which caused Cale to slide up into Donnie and eventually caused them both to crash.
3. Bobby Allison - The leader of Nascar's Alabama Gang. Depending on who you ask, Bobby racked up either 83, 84, or 85 wins. You'll have to read Wikipedia to learn why because it's a rather complicated mess. He was only a champion 1 time, in 1983, but he racked up wins in all 4 of the sport's crown jewel races including 3 Daytona 500's. One of my favorite all time moments in Nascar was the 1-2 father-son finish in 1988 between Bobby and Davey Allison. Same as I mentioned with Cale, in the footage I've seen of Bobby racing, he certainly ranks in the top 2 or 3 for most determined racers in Nascar history. For an example of this, go and look up the 1982 Daytona 500 "trick bumper incident." Depending on what you believe, this was either a lucky accident or it was a man who would literally do anything to win. As I mentioned in Cale's post, Bobby was also involved in the 1979 Daytona 500 but as a secondary character. After Donnie and Cale's crash, Bobby went to the backstretch to pick up Donnie and give him a ride to the pits. A shouting match ensued and Cale and Bobby ended up throwing punches(or as Bobby Allison tells it, Cale threw his nose into Bobby's fist several times). Combined with the outcome of the race itself, these 2 events propelled Nascar into the national spotlight and signaled the beginning of Nascar's golden age. Bobby's career was unfortunately cut short in June 1988 after being t-boned in the driver's side. Bobby survived but suffered severe head and brain injuries and to this day, he still has amnesia problems. Bobby has stated many times that he has no memory of his and Davey's 1-2 finish at Daytona. He only knows what he's been told.
2. David Pearson - The Silver Fox. David Pearson is the only man aside from Richard Petty to win more than 100 races. He was a 3 time champion and quite honestly, he could've been a champion more times over had he chosen to run more full seasons than he did. The Silver Fox's nickname was well-earned because this was a man who could beat you with his mind just as easily as he could his car and his skill. To me, he may have been the most crafty driver that's ever been. I've rarely seen drivers who were so focused and determined yet were calm and collected at the same time. You would literally get the impression that David had ice water flowing through his veins. He won all the crown jewels including the 1976 Daytona 500 which many people state was the best finish to the Daytona 500 that's ever been. The only other ones typically mentioned with it are 1979 and 2007.
1. Dale Earnhardt Sr. - The Intimidator. That pretty much says it all about Dale Earnhardt. This was a man who literally could and would drive anything to the front. There are so many examples of him taking cars that anyone else would've crashed because they handled so bad and running up front with them. There are many people who still like to say that he was a dirty driver. This excuse is the most common detractor that people use against him and it holds no water. I personally challenge anyone to find evidence of him purposely attempting to crash someone. No doubt the 1999 night race at Bristol would be mentioned and it still doesn't hold. The video in this instance clearly shows that Terry Labonte slowed way down with the purpose of having Dale hit him. The intention is that Dale would have to back off the gas or damage his car and thus Labonte could drive away and win. It obviously didn't work that way but the point is that it was not his intention to crash Terry Labonte. I'd also challenge that if anyone really tried, you could find just as many examples of people getting bumped by any other driver out there but because of Dale's popularity and his position in Nascar, his got more attention. Regardless of whatever people say about it, there is no one out there who can legitimately deny the man's talent and as I said, there are countless examples out there which prove his abilities. Dale Earnhardt was experiencing a career resurgence going into the 2001 season and looked to finish 3rd in the Daytona 500. As we all know, he didn't make it out of the race alive and February 18, 2001 became the day that Nascar "lost its greatest driver ever." That is a direct quote by the way from Bill France Jr. Dale Earnhardt's passing signaled the end of Nascar's golden era but it was not what killed the sport. Nascar could've survived and possibly even thrived in the post-Earnhardt era but in the winter of 2003, that changed forever when the Chase was implemented and Nascar became auto-racing's version of professional wrestling in that it's championships became worthless and bogus.
Note 1: People like AJ Foyt and Mario Andretti are not on this list because, while both were great drivers, most of their accomplishments came outside the Nascar realm and this list focuses on accomplishments in Nascar. Yes they both won the Daytona 500 but so have guys like Ryan Newman and Trevor Bayne and neither of them belong anywhere near this list. Point being, winning a big race despite your accomplishments outside the world of Nascar doesn't guarantee a spot on this particular list.
Note 2: You'll notice the absence of the following people who most will argue belong on this list: Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Rusty Wallace and Bill Elliott. I will explain myself as follows:
Jeff Gordon doesn't make this list because, while his accomplishments would rank him somewhere in a top 50 list, Gordon's accomplishments have come less due to ability and more due to superior equipment. I will however be the first to admit that he should be a 6 time champion but he isn't due to the sham that is the Chase. Doubt me? Look at the 2007 points standings as kept traditionally. Gordon's margin of victory would've been one of the largest in Nascar history and it's things like this that have made Nascar's championship absolutely worthless and bogus because clearly the best driver didn't win it.
Jimmie Johnson doesn't belong anywhere near this list. His accomplishments are completely based on equipment rather than skill, not to mention that 3 of his 5 championships are not legitimate and when he doesn't have the very best of equipment, he's not very good. If you ever saw Johnson drive before he joined Hendrick Motorsports in 2002, most of the time he couldn't keep the car on the track. Jimmie Johnson has literally been handed by Rick Hendrick everything he's ever won in Nascar and it truly disgusts me that his name is listed as a 5 time champion when it's not only not deserved, but it pisses all over Cale Yarborough's accomplishment as the only man to LEGITIMATELY win 3 championships in a row. 2 of these 3 illegitimate championships have come during seasons (2007 and 2010) when he would've lost the championship by an average of over 300 points which is just an unbelievable margin of victory. It leaves no doubt as to who the champions were in these years (Jeff Gordon and Kevin Harvick respectively) but Nascar's record book doesn't recognize these men for their accomplishments and instead honors a false champion who won them through a gimmicked system. For the record as well, Jimmie Johnson is not the man who ruined Nascar despite what many people seem to believe though he certainly hasn't done the sport any favors.
Rusty Wallace has 50 wins and a championship in 1989 but he doesn't make this list because he was essentially a one-dimensional driver. Rusty Wallace was one of the best short track drivers that's ever been but he was mediocre at best on larger race tracks. I don't think I've seen many drivers with his accomplishments that had worse records at Daytona and Talladega especially because, particularly at Daytona, it was clear that he wasn't comfortable on these tracks and arguably he didn't belong on those tracks because of his lack of ability on huge tracks.
Bill Elliott with 44 wins and a championship in 1988 is the same as Wallace. He was a one-dimensional driver who was great on super-speedways but was terrible on short tracks. In his entire career he only won 2 races on short tracks. One at Bristol in 1988 and the biggest reason for that was because most of the guys who typically dominated short-tracks at that time either crashed out or had mechanical problems. The second came at Richmond in 1992 in which he dominated the race but it must also be mentioned that he ran many races on the original Richmond Fairgrounds track before it was expanded to its current layout in 1988 and he was abysmal on this track.
