n your opinion, who was the greatest race car driver?

Answer 1

You asked, who was the greatest , and in Nascar, I'd have to say a tie between Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt as they ended up with 7 championships each.

Answer 2

Well intresting very intresting.
Now from the start thru the 50's I'd go with the Flock Brothers,hard drivers on the track.
The 60's NASCAR was taking off,Ned Jarrett,Curtis Turner,Fred Lorenzen,David Pearson,Richard Petty.
The 70's Petty,Pearson,Cale Yarborough,Bobby and Donnie Allison,and a couple of young uns that took off in the 80'sDale Earnhardt and Darrell Waltrip.
As Dale and Darrell raced into the 80's The Labontes,Groff Bodine,A young hot shotDavey Allison.Then here is Ernie Irvine and Bill Elliott and Alan Kulwicki,Mark Martin,Rusty Wallace.
The 90's brought some super drivers Jeff Gordon,Dale Junior,Tony Stewart,Matt Kenseth.
As a new century came in we have Kevin Harvick,Kasey Kahne,Greg Biffle,
There are more but some will be superstars others will drift away and will be a name in the record books.There are too many to name.
I just went with NASCAR other series have there stars too.

Answer 3

Going to be hard to come up with one single "greatest driver." The fact that the drivers that have competed in different series that have had very different criteria for success have often been the lesser drivers makes it more difficult. There is also the issue of how the sport has changed that makes comparing different eras harder.

But, that said: Walter Rohl, Alain Prost, Alberto Ascari, Juan Fangio, Richard Petty, Sebastian Loeb, Michael Schumacher, Mark Donohue, Derek Bell, Jeff Gordon, Sterling Moss, Mario Andretti, Jackie Stewart, and Ayrton Senna. That would make up my list of drivers that I think showed something exceptional in the era they drove, and a certain baseline of performance and broadness of skill that would lead me to beleive they would be a major force in any series they might drive, at any time.

Answer 4

Dale Earnhardt SR all the way. He was out there to win races not make friends. If a team mate of his was leading the race he would do what he can do help that person win. That's how he crashed his car in the Daytona 500 in 2001. He was helping JR win the race and he hit the wall.

Answer 5

Sterling Moss
A. J. Foyt
Jim Clark
Fred Lorenzen
Richie Ginther
Richard Petty

Answer 6

Mario Andretti, because he could race all the styles. Most of the racers are racing Cars. It was about who had the best car, and in the old days it involved a lot more then drivers. Now that they can't do anything to the car and it is basically IROC it is almost all driver.

Answer 7

Mario Andretti. Indy 500 champion, Daytona 500 champion, and F1 Champion. Only people on his level are Petty, and Foyt. However at this point in time it goes to Tony Stewart no other driver in his league when it comes to racing cars and his championships in multiple series.

Edward S- Senna an ok driver won some titles in F1, Fangio ok point taken on this one but not a realistic person to compare any racer to today dont know many people who are allowed to use more than one car in a race in this day and age. Clark I wont even justify that one. Andretti won races and championships in multiple series, Foyt won the two biggest races in America(he may have lost his mind, but I dont think it was ever there). Comparing people who are proven racers in only one series to people who can crossover and still compete and win is pointless. Andretti was proven in open wheel, stock, and international in F1 nobody will ever duplicate that feat. In this day and age there are to many restrictions put on a driver by sponsors.

Answer 8

"Only people on his level are Petty, and Foyt."

... and Clark and Fangio and Senna and ...

C'mon ... Mario Andretti was a great driver, and he had a phenomenal career, but to say that only two other guys in the history of the sport matched him on talent is crazy.

In truth, there are too many important criteria involved to even give a good answer to the question. In terms of car control and the ability to flip the switch on demand, nobody has ever been better than Senna. Schumacher is probably the best the sport's ever seen at motivating a team to work together and not become complacent. Andretti was the most versatile. Foyt is probably the best ever on ovals, but unfortunately lost his mind about a decade ago. Fangio was the first to effectively use mental initimidation. Clark was a great development driver and one of the first world-class drivers to take an active role in the car design.

In terms of an overall career perspective, I'd say Mario Andretti has the most impressive resume, but I don't know that that's enough to say he's the greatest ever, and only two other people compare.

Answer 9

Different drivers in different types of racing. The answers I'm reading I have to say that Dale Sr. was nothing more than a dirty driver. If you have to wreck another driver to get by them or win you're a low live. Nascar let him get away with murder.

Answer 10

by stats Dave Pearson younger fans may not have heard of him but he ran only 4 full nascar seasons and won the championship 3 out of those 4 the rest of his time racin he only ran select races and still is 2nd all time in wins with 105 no other driver has ever matched those kind of stats so to me Pearson was the best driver ever