25 greatest drivers of all time

Re: 25 greatest drivers of all time

bob.paxton@gmail,com wrote in news:5c0639f2-7460-4d2b-9db7-722bed596505@
59g2000hsb.googlegroups,com :

> I assume most of you have seen ESPN,com 's list of the 25 all time
> greatest drivers encompassing all types of motorsports. For those who
> may have missed it:
>
> 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
>
> I'll admit to being only marginally qualified to comment on this since
> I really have no interest at all in any form of racing other than
> NASCAR, but being a big Petty fan I'd like to see Richard ranked a bit
> better than sixth. I'm also a bit surprised not to see Bobby Allison
> listed.
>
> I know there are folks out there who have a wider scope than I do, so
> what's the verdict? Anybody have any major disagreement with this
> list?

It's probably pretty accurate in terms of who's in it, assuming
you limit "all time" to "after 1960" (with a nod to Fangio).

The order is, in my mind, radically warped, but that's probably
because most of ESPNs experts only provided a list of their 25
best, unranked. So the ranking comes from a very small sample.

I have no problem with AJ on top. I certainly would not put
Andretti second, since his career was marked more by "almosts"
than successes, and his F1 championship was in a technically
dominant car. But for the Indy car guys, Foyt, Mears, Al Unser
would be a reasonable order.

It's well known I consider David Pearson the best NASCAR driver,
so if we're ranking on driving skills (not on total contribution
to the sport), I'd have the NASCAR guys Pearson, Earnhardt,
Gordon, Petty, Waltrip. And like you, I'd probably have dragged
Allison in before Waltrip.

I used to follow F1 more closely than I do now, and I would also
rank them much differently. Both Schumacher and Andretti had
the advantage of much superior cars, which to my mind diminishes
their standing as drivers compared to those who drove in more
competitive eras. So I'd have Senna on top of the F1 guys,
followed by Stewart, Mansell, Lauda, Prost, Schumacher. Clark
should probably rank second, but he was before my time and so
I can't really compare him (same goes for Fangio).

I would rank Kinser higher - he has dominated his particular
field of racing far more so than any of the others, and not for
lack of talented competition.

I don't really have any issue with the drag racers - you might
argue for moving Garlits up, but then his contribution was more
to advance the technical side of the sport than as a remarkable
driver. A drag racing fan might argue the absense of someone
like Bernstein from the list.

John

Re: 25 greatest drivers of all time



I hate the list.
I hate it because it appears that the drivers are rated, somewhat by
how good they are in their particular form of racing, and then somehow
factored with trying to rank by form of racing as well.
It's just bogus.
There is no way that you can put someone like John Force,
Don Garlits, Muldowny on the same list as AJ Foyt or Tony Stewart.
They were/are great drag racers, yes...
but could they actually drive a car?
Steve Kinser..... are you kidding me?
Same list as Ayrton Senna?

As for doing well, in your own particular group, it's tough to beat
Cale Yarborough...
The guy only ran 7 full seasons.
Won 3 championships, was 2nd 3 times, and 4th once
Cale was awesome.

And no mention of Richie Evans... at all?
But Shirley Muldowney??

Where was Ivan Stewart?

Like I said..... it's tough to do.
Because there are those that would say, it's harder to
drive an Indy car, or harder to drive an F1 car,
or dragster... or truck... or kart... or whatever....

At least they got the number one guy right...


Dan
****************************************
When people say, 'can I ask you a question?',
you really don't have much of a choice...

Re: 25 greatest drivers of all time

chuck_steak@nospam,com (Chuck Steak) wrote in news:XT_Zj.1063$3f1.247
@trndny02:


> Steve Kinser..... are you kidding me?
> Same list as Ayrton Senna?

I dunno.

Kinser: dominates his form of racing
Senna: dominated his form of racing

Kinser: has an IROC win, ran at Indy, competed in NASCAR.
Senna: nothing but F1 & it's feeder series.

Kinser doesn't compare too badly.

John

Re: 25 greatest drivers of all time

In article John McCoy <igopogo@ix,net com,com > wrote:
>chuck_steak@nospam,com (Chuck Steak) wrote in news:XT_Zj.1063$3f1.247
>@trndny02:
>
>
>> Steve Kinser..... are you kidding me?
>> Same list as Ayrton Senna?
>
>I dunno.
>
>Kinser: dominates his form of racing
>Senna: dominated his form of racing
>
>Kinser: has an IROC win, ran at Indy, competed in NASCAR.
>Senna: nothing but F1 & it's feeder series.
>
>Kinser doesn't compare too badly.
>
>John
>

See, John, this is exactly what I was talking about as far
as the list being bogus.... There was no criteria expalined, so we can only
guess what it was....
It's just tough to bottle all drivers together,
and ask who is the best driver...
Best at what?
Driving cars, or winning in your class?
Championships?
Wins?
Overall talent?
Winning percentage?
Height?

Just too many variables to make such a list meaningful
without setting parameters..
imo, of course.


Dan
****************************************
When people say, 'can I ask you a question?',
you really don't have much of a choice...