ESPN.com Selects Top 25 All Time Drivers

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Personally I would have ranked Mario #1 and Foyt #2 and I wouldn't have ranked Earnhardt higher than both Schumacher and Senna but anyway here they are:

G

25. Steve Kinser
24. Nigel Mansell
23. Don Garlits
22. Niki Lauda
21. Shirley Muldowney
20. Darrell Waltrip
19. Emerson Fittipaldi
18. Alain Prost
17. Bobby Unser
16. Tony Stewart
15. Al Unser
14. Cale Yarborough
13. Jackie Stewart
12. John Force
11. Rick Mears
10. Jeff Gordon
9. Juan Manuel Fangio
8. Jim Clark
7. David Pearson
6. Richard Petty
5. Ayrton Senna
4. Michael Schumacher
3. Dale Earnhardt
2. Mario Andretti
1. A.J. Foyt

[slidinsideways]

As far as I'm concerned, not a single one of those straight liners deserves to be mentioned. Even Big Daddy...How about replacing them with Rodger Ward, Parnelli Jones and Curtis Turner? That's a lot more like it...

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Okay...I was going to let this one pass, but alas, I cannot.


I kind of agree with you on drag racing drivers. One bright an intelligent man once said to me, "That drag racing is for people that have an attention spans of 2.3 seconds." I also respect and acknowledge the accomplishments of Don Garlits and Shirley Muldowney, both who were great drivers in their field....THEIR FIELD!!!!!!!!!

I agree...Parnelli Jones was one of the very best ever...driving anything! He was better than Bobby Unser for crying out loud. No matter what car it was on whatever track, if Parnelli Jones got into the same car, he would make it go faster. I look at this the same way I did when the morons at Racer Magazine once voted Mario Andertti the "Greatest Indy Car Driver of All-Time" reasoning that Mario was the Best Indy Driver because he once was, at one time Andretti was the Formula One Champion, over A.J. Foyt who has more total victories in this type of racing was then and is still absurd! Even respected Chris Economaki said that kind of reasoning was silly!

I, personally would have ranked Fangio much higher on the list. Jimmy Clark as well. I'll even go back further and added Wilbur Shaw and Tazio Nuvolari to this list. Although I liked and respected Dale Earnhardt, but he needs to be lower on the list than Richard Petty too.

The sad thing about the "ESPN Generation" is they think if it didn't happen on ESPN, it isn't worthy of remembering. BULL! Many great sports events happened WAY before ESPN was there to wack it's own horn 24 hours a day. Regardless of what you think of him, if you like Foyt or not, he is the very, very best American Race Driver Ever! He did hang on way too long. In his day, and his day was decades long, he was the man to beat. On road courses, on dirt, at Indianaplois....Every driver who raced against him as said the same thing. He was the best! Even Andretti and both Unsers have said it many times, as did Rodger Ward and Troy Ruttman.

Foyt did get to be a clown in later years. But years ago, that clown won at Langhorne, Riverside, Le Mans, Daytona, Winchester and many other tracks in many different types of racing machines. When you make a list of the top five anything, there are going to be arguments. It gets to be subjective and a matter of opinion. One thing is certain though...Let's just say this.....make a list of your top five drivers, if Foyt isn't on your list, it displays how little you know about racing.

Best to you all

Russ

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I didn't really put a lot of stock in this list because it is from the 4 letter network but I am SHOCKED Earnhardt isn't number one because of the same thing Old Calhoun said. ESPN loves to toot it's own horn and since most of its viewers know more about Earnhardt than Foyt (thru Sportscenter, etc) he would had been number one. Heck I'm surprised Kinser is on it's list because I'm sure that the average ESPN fan ony know's Kinser from "not being good enough to race in NA$CAR," if they know of him at all.

As far as the drag racers go, (and you knew I would weigh in lol,) I would add those three listed for their historical importance. Garlits was very importat to adding safety and innovation to drag racing. While I do think it's time for a new revolution in Top Fuel design, if it wasn't for his accident and losing part of his foot we wouldn't be where we are in Top Fuel now. I do want to see NHRA adopt his monowing design because it is safer and doesn't put the strut in the way of a tire that has been destroyed like in the Darell Russell accident
As far as Shirley Muldowney, she and Janet Guthrie helped paved the way for women in racing. With Shirley winning championships it showed a lot of car owners and sponsors that women can win.
John Force I think is on there for his run of championships which is a lot like Kinser's run. I also think Force is on there because of the marketing he's brought to racing. He's also sadly, with Earnhardt gone and Foyt retired the last really "common man" in racing. I might be wrong but these are just my opinions and I maybe reading more into it than the ESPN guys lol.

[drdave]

Since I'm not much on the straightlines either I would replace them with Nelson Piquet, Jack Brabham, Wilbur Shaw, or Mark Donahue.

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Well, now, of course the list isn't in the order I would put them! LOL!!

Looking at *race car drivers*, I look back over 40plus years of really following racing. If a driver was great in one area, I give them their dues, but not to the point of making them equal to those who did great in SEVERAL areas.

1. A.J. Foyt: Indy, Daytona 500, LeMans, Sebring, Sprint Cars, etc.. I guess he never drove a drag racer, or he would have been a National Champion there, too!

Jimmy Clark, Mario Andretti, JMF, Dan Gurney, Parnelli Jones, Michael Shumacher. These have to be near the top IMHO.

David Pearson was the best driver just to run *stock cars* (basically) that I EVER saw. But from the NASCAR ranks, the best two there for all around driving were Glenn *Fireball* Roberts (he did well in all types of racing) and Marvin Panch. Dale Earnhardt was decent as a driver, but he was hyped so much that it over shadowed his abiblities, plus he had the best equipment going for almost a decade. Richard Petty was very, very good, but he WAS CHRYSLER in NASCAR for close to 20 or so years. A clear advantage for him.

Drag racers are skilled in what they do, but it is a real case of reaction time and equipment. A great driver cannot overcome a bad car in drag racing very well. And a mediocre driver can win if his car is right. Cutting a light and getting HP to the ground is the most important aspect of that discipline. I have driven drag cars, dirt track late models, and road racers. The last is the most demanding, with dirt track racing next. Drag racing was the easiest, only because it relied on less physical/mental ability and more on simple reaction and quickness. (I once lost to Ronnie Sox! LOL!!)

It IS always a personal opinion deal, but I try to look at what a driver did in more than one area.

Bill <><