The 12 Greatest
Drivers
Posted: Fri February 6, 1998
1
Driver: Junior
Johnson
Years: 14
(1953-66)
Career Victories:
50
Winston Cups:
0*
Career Winnings:
$275,910
The
Skinny: The old bootlegger drove at a time of inferior equipment,
he never liked racing on tracks and he never finished
higher than sixth in points, but nobody had a greater
impact on the sport. Johnson was the most aggressive driver in
the most
aggressive time NASCAR has known. "Junior was a pure
driver," said Richard Petty. "Some of us depended
on other things—strategy, setup of the car. Junior would
just
drive."
2
Driver: David
Pearson
Years: 27
(1960-86)
Career Victories: 105
Winston Cups: 3*
Career Winnings: $2,482,596
The
Skinny: One of NASCAR's coolest customers, the Silver Fox's air of
detachment cloaked a skill and cunning matched by few
others. Pearson won a higher percentage of starts than
Richard Petty (18.3 to 16.9), and in the 63 races in which
they finished 1-2, Pearson
was the victor 33 times. Said Petty:
"I never felt as bad losing to David as I did some of the
others, because I knew just how good he
was."
3
Driver: Richard
Petty
Years: 35
(1958-92)
Career Victories: 200
Winston Cups: 7*
Career Winnings: $7,755,409
The
Skinny: Some said the King let his car and crew do all the work,
but the bottom line is, nobody won more—Petty has the most
career wins, most 500-mile wins and his feat of 13 firsts
in 30 starts during the 1975 season is unmatched. He also
deserves credit, as
one-third of Petty Enterprises, for helping to fine-tune the
engines and chassis that he drove. "Do
I have to defense it?" Petty said. "When
I came along and done what I did, I was as good as there was
as far as winning
races."
4
Driver: Bobby
Allison
Years: 25 (1961,
1965-88)
Career Victories: 84
Winston Cups: 1*
Career Winnings: $7,102,233
The
Skinny: Allison had a fearless, defiant personality and never
backed down from anyone, which explains why he won so
much—and perhaps why he didn't win more. His occasionally
reckless driving style led to races that seemed more like a
high-speed game of chicken
and caused some memorable wrecks. Despite an acrimonious
departure from Junior Johnson's team in 1972, Johnson later
told his employees, "If we'd been able to keep Bobby
Allison, we would have won 200 races and Richard Petty
wouldn't
have."
*Total includes Grand National titles, as season points
championship was called from
1949-1970
photograph by Walter Iooss Jr.
Continued: 5-8
ALSO:
The 10 Greatest Races | The 12 Greatest Drivers
By the Numbers | The Envelope Please... | 10 Fearless Predictions
|
