The night that he died I'll never forget what the NASCAR commissioner said: "NASCAR has lost its greatest driver ever." Since his death, many others have echoed that statement. However, its hard for me to consider him the greatest ever when you compare his resume to Richard Petty's. Dale Sr. might be the most popular driver ever but he's probably not the greatest.
Wins: Dale - 76; Petty - 200
Cup Championships: Dale - 7; Petty - 7
Daytona 500's: Dale - 1; Petty - 7
Top Tens: Dale - 428; Petty - 712
Poles: Dale - 22; Petty - 123
2007-08-17 21:55:59 · 33 answers · asked by korn77840 1 in Sports ➔ Auto Racing ➔ NASCAR
because he drove when nascar was a pure racing experience. men were men. big business, political correctness would have never been allowed. fast cars, rough men and yes i don,t smoke but having marlboro and winston on the cars gave them character.
2007-08-17 22:00:12 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 2⤋
Jr is not the greatest driver, however he is a good driver. For all the Jr haters out there, is has always been a top 15 driver regardless of where he was signed to drive. He is currently in the champoionship hunt and that is without a win, so he is doing it on consistancy. Jr is one of the most popular drivers and many non-fans would say it is because of his daddy. There may be a little truth to that at the beginning, but more importantly Jr. says it like it is. He is just like his dad when he says when he screwed up, when other screwed up and even gets excited for top 10 runs. Basically in this politically correct world he is down to earth. He never asked to be the most popular driver but he is and he is for a reason. Been a decade since Sr died and if he wasnt likable on his own then Sr fans would have left him by now.
2016-05-22 01:25:21 · answer #2 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
back when nascar started you could only race a car that was a stock car. chrysler had the best engines with the most H.P. that was SOLD to the public richard petty just happen to drive for them after nascar changed the body and engine rules richard did't win as much,, today all bodies look the same and weigh the same there is more SKILL today than before
2007-08-21 08:58:54 · answer #3 · answered by badasssteve 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well since most of you people never saw Petty in his prime , you would say Sr. but when Petty was younger he would have driven circles around Sr. In fact, Daytona 1979 he did. A far as a longer season, yes they raced more but is it harder to race 1 500 mile race a week or 2 or 3 500 mile races? Especially without Power Steering? Funny how early in Sr.'s career he didn't run into anyone, know why? Because early in his career the MEN he raced against would have pulled him out of the car and beat the snot out of him. He started his running into people later when there were younger drivers he could scare and NA$CAR let him get away with it. In Petty's day, you got Black flagged for the day and most likely suspended. Petty was a gentleman that could win by outdriving you.Not running into you.
To Big Bend - You must think Daytona, Darlington, Talledega, Riverside were " Small Tracks" . Get a Grip.
To the self proclaimed genius below - How old are you? About 22? You apparently never drove a Manual Steering car with a V-8 or you would know how hard they are on your arms and to do that for 3 races a week is insane. Petty and the others had blisters on their hands constantly. No modern era driver would ever be able to drive like that. And believe me any of the drivers would have pummeled old Sr. for his little game of running into the backend of their car. Buddy Baker would have crushed Sr. like a bug. It's a shame you Sr. fans still can't admit that Petty was THE best driver EVER. Sr.'s last Championship was in 94. He was finished. Gordon will even surpass Sr. . Pearson won more races than Sr. . Funny how you Sr. fans ride people for cheating but Sr. didn't have to cheat, NA$CAR let him purposely endanger the lives of other drivers. If you can't out drive them, run into them.
2007-08-18 09:45:26 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 2⤋
This is a tough and one their is no clear cut answer to, short of letting the two duke it out, which can never happen. They belonged to different eras, and I think Petty would have a tougher time pulling off 200 in this era.
I give the nod to "3" because, in a way, he was the Michael Jordan of NASCAR. No matter what you gave him to work with, and no matter how lousy his day was going- he was still in a position to win at the end.
From a personality point of view, he was not my favorite. I always loved how Darrell Waltrip got inside his head. But you know what, even the drivers who hated hime knew he was a force to be reckoned with.
2007-08-18 08:06:19 · answer #5 · answered by Jim M 4 · 3⤊ 1⤋
Your fact list is misleading. Although the numbers are correct you failed to list number of starts for each driver. If you do that and then break that down to a percentage for each category I think you will have answered your own question. Yes Petty has 200 wins but in the early days they may race as many as 48 races in a single season. Even David Pearson has a better winning percentage than Petty.
2007-08-18 03:26:08 · answer #6 · answered by Dale Fan 4 · 5⤊ 2⤋
It's all about the money. When Earnhart came along, NASCAR was starting to go mainstream. 1. He won. 2. He made money for himself. 3. He made money for the organization. 4. He energized the fans. 5. He gained publicity for both himself and the organization. 6/ He brought in new sponsors. (money) 7. He knew how to play the game.
Petty was driving when the sport was more "pure" and a win actually meant a driver was better, had a better car, and drove the best race..
2007-08-18 03:04:09 · answer #7 · answered by TheOldOkie 3 · 6⤊ 1⤋
i consider richard petty the greatest driver ever but earnheart was a great driver and is a close 2nd along with gordon in my book
he brought alot of fans to nascar as you can probably tell with the earnheart nation still very loyal
2007-08-18 00:29:02 · answer #8 · answered by simone219 5 · 5⤊ 1⤋
I couldn't add much to hemihead's comments. That's your best answer right there.
Earnhardt Sr.'s elevation to the sainthood, and to "the most popular driver ever," occurred after his death. When he was wrecking everything on the track he was loved by some, hated by many others.
2007-08-18 16:58:09 · answer #9 · answered by napoleon_in_rags 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
^5 to ncjay08 on that one. Dale may not be THE greatest ever, but he is certainly way up there. If Richard Petty is the King, then Dale is the crown prince.
2007-08-18 05:25:17 · answer #10 · answered by Ms. GTO 7 · 2⤊ 3⤋
Right. King Richard is the best. Dale is certainly up there, but if he were still here, he would openly admit he doesn't compare to Richard Petty and his accomplishments.
2007-08-18 00:53:44 · answer #11 · answered by Nc Jay 5 · 7⤊ 1⤋