Surely the greatest drivers are the ones with the widest range of skills...therefore it can never be a Nascar?

Question

A nascar driver can never be considered the greatest driver in the world because they posess such a limited range of skills. Fair enough driving an oval may not be easy but it is still only turning leftat high speed.

There are no really technical coners with multiple apexs, no slow corners, no blind corners, no corners with elevation changes, no lightning fast corners WITHOUT banking and most importantly no rain. I agree that there is a talent to NASCAR but they are not in the same league as Road Racers and in particular F1 drivers and rally drivers.

They dont have the same amount of skills therefore cannot be called the greatest drivers of all time. Maybe the greatest oval drivers...

Yeah but Stewart did those things before he came to NASCAR. And IRL is mainly ovals and they dont race in the wet either. I bet if he went back to the IRL now he wouldnt be able to compete like he did since hes so out of shape now. I like him but he's a fat bastard.

Same with Montoya he seems to have raided the cake shop since he left F1. I doubt either of them could even fit in a IRL/F1 car anymore.

Answer 1

Lets review, Tony Stewart came up through open wheel, IRL and now NASCAR. Hmm, guess he is ONE OF THE GREATEST DRIVERS OF ALL TIME! GO #20 SMOKE! Or lets talk about ROBBY GORDON, IRL and OFF ROAD DISTANCE and driver/owner in NASCAR.

Answer 2

You can't ever answer the question of "whose the best driver", because no series ever does everything. Oval racing, road racing, drag racing, rally racing, etc. all require different skills, so a driver in any series will specialize in that. You say that a road racer has to face different corners, rain or shine, but they never, ever have to be in a situation like a nascar race at talladega or an IRL race at Michigan, where you are wheel to wheel with people in front, behind and side to side at 200 mph, lined with a concrete wall. True, you're only turning left. But that fact doesn't give you any more reaction time when something goes wrong. And the concrete wall will not hurt any less either. How many 200mph corners are there in road course racing? Especially today when most road courses are filled with chicanes? And for anyone who wants to automatically give rally drivers the "best driver" award, I ask you this: how can you say the best drivers are the ones who don't pass anyone? Overtaking is a skill. Some people have it, some people don't. That is why guys like Gilles Villenueve and Alex Zanardi are remembered so fondly. I'm not saying rally racers can't do it, but it's not proven. And Loeb at LeMans does not count, most passing there occurs during pit stops or when someone breaks. And I don't exactly give him credit for passing a bunch of GT cars when he's in a LMP1 prototype either. Put him in a road race that's not a marathon (DTM, Champcar, SPEED world challenge, etc.), and let's see how he does. But that goes for everyone. I'm sure oval racers would struggle if they were not in their element as well, and that's the point. You can't say one is better or worse because you can't compare directly. And for the guy who said that Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon won the Race of champions, you forgot one major thing: The reason they won was because Colin Edwards, the MOTORCYCLE racer, bailed them out. Jimmie had lost his heat but Colin swept both of his including the final one, to win it for them. So it was the 2-wheeled racer (of all people) who pulled through.

Answer 3

A couple of years ago Jeff Gordon got in an F1 car and with in 3 or 4 laps was fast enough to qualify 4th or 5th.You cant say F1 races are so great because of the tracks they run on. How much does in cost for one car, like a Million dollars, those cars can drive themselves. They have the biggest brakes they can fit, they warm their tires before they put them on and everything is electronically controlled. Also there is no way you can run in the rain on an oval. I would love to see F1 race at Daytona or Talledega, they would refuse.

Answer 4

There is still no way to say that F1 drivers are the best drivers in the world. The to styles of racing are completely different, but Nascar drivers come from a wide range of backgrounds, much of them have their background in dirt and sprint cars, other have backgrounds in open wheel, others have won championships in CORR (jimmie johnson) as well as race in the Baha and have been among elite teams and finally have competed and won in races like the 24 hrs at daytona in prototypes as well as GT series.

I too am a F1 fan but to say that Nascar drivers arent talented, here is this. The International Races of Champions is held in Paris, France where top drivers from all over the world compete in various types of racing except say that from oval racing.

Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon competed against, the like of Schumacher, Colin McCrae, Tony Kanann and top drivers from every racing series and raced in their type of vehicles and won the entire competition. That is proof that because of the backgrounds that most of the top drivers in Nascar have that experience makes them just as talented as other drivers in the world.

F1 the cars are so advanced and so well put together that driving must be difficult but when you have a 1200lb race car with almost limitless aerodynamic advantage, carbon fiber everything and sophisticated electronics that allow the car to perform the way it does.

Compare that to driving a 3400lb car that is purposely off balance and no electronics to adjust the car or to assist the driver like traction control in F1

Answer 5

The cream rises to the top in every sport and each obviously has experience while getting there. the so to speak cream of the crop, usually doesnt fair well in other types sports. Tony Stewart and Dion Sanders aside, multi sports atheletes are far and few beetween. Take Michael Jordan and JPM are perfect examples of the best struggling in another sport.

Tony, Jeff, Mark, Richard and many more deserve the accolades as ""The best Drivers in the sport""

Answer 6

If that were the case why do so many open wheel drivers come to nascar and fail. I guess turning left is not part of your wide range of driving skills.

Bottom line for me stock car racing and open wheel racing are 2 different sports

Answer 7

You got it Beth!

The hired guns who come in to run the NASCAR road course races rarely beat the regulars.

I am a road racing fan—F1, other open wheelers, ALMS, etc.—but I have never thought NASCAR involved a lack of skill. On the contrary! I think it is pathetic how people continually put down NASCAR.

RP

Answer 8

You sound like your want to be a expert.
But before you publish your findings get all your facts.Mos of the drivers have been in various types of racing and still are.As for the use of the "technical" racing any grade schooler can play follow the leader.

Answer 9

lively; Mark Martin with Jeff Burton a very close 2nd- I enjoyed the way Jeff got here to congratulate Mark prevailing in victory Lane at Phoenix. Ever: The late Davey Allison. He got here so close and the ruin took him out of rivalry and then the helicopter crash claimed his existence right here twelve months.

Answer 10

Why can't multi championship road course racers beat Nascar racers at a road course?