NASCAR's Greatest Driver? Gordon Among Greats...

Determining NASCAR's Greatest Driver is not an easy task. As is true in other major sports as well, comparing the greats of any particular era is difficult when they are measured against the greats in other, different eras. The list of career NASCAR victories is an interesting one, considering how different the race schedule looked before and after the Winston Cup “modern” era began.

In all-time victories (1949-present (4/29/2007 race at Talladega)), the list looks like this:
1. Richard Petty – 200
2. David Pearson – 105
3. (tie) Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip – 84
5. Cale Yarborough – 83
6. Jeff Gordon – 77
7. Dale Earnhardt – 76 … and so on

When the list is *trimmed* to the modern era (1972 to present), the result is this:
1. Darrell Waltrip - 84
2. Jeff Gordon – 77
3. Dale Earnhardt – 76
4. Cale Yarborough – 69
5. Richard Petty – 60
The names stay generally the same, but the order looks very different.

Richard Petty’s career victories overlapped the Pre-Modern era (Grand National Series) and the Modern era (Cup series). However, 60 wins is not representative of the wins at “modern” tracks (such as Daytona, Charlotte, Richmond, Martinsville, et.al.) that Petty should be fairly credited with having. Petty began racing in 1959, and a number of tracks where he won between 1960 and 1971 remained on the reduced Cup schedule in 1972. Petty did collect seven total championships, but only four of those came in the modern era.

Equally overlooked, in my opinion, is David Pearson (second-most in all-time wins), who drops out of the top five on the modern era list only because most of his career was in the pre-modern era. Pearson did collect an impressive 45 wins from 1972 to 1980 and won at least one race each of these seasons. Another consideration for Pearson on the career championship list is that he ran a full schedule only four times in his career and won three titles (all pre-modern titles in the late 1960's).

In the case of both Petty and Pearson, I want to dig a level deeper and further analyze the wins of their pre-1972 career to determine which rightfully should count as “modern” wins and better compare both to the likes of Waltrip, Gordon, and Earnhardt.

Richard Petty (1960-1971):
1960 – 2 (Charlotte, Martinsville)
1961 – 2 (Richmond, Charlotte)
1962 – 3 (North Wilkesboro - 2, Martinsville)
1963 – 2 (Martinsville, North Wilkesboro)
1964 – 2 (Daytona, Nashville)
1965 – 1 (Nashville)
1966 – 4 (Daytona, Darlington, Nashville, Atlanta)
1967 – 10 (Martinsville - 2, Richmond - 2, Darlington - 2, Rockingham, Bristol, Nashville, North Wilkesboro)
1968 – 4 (Richmond, Martinsville, North Wilkesboro, Rockingham)
1969 – 5 (Riverside, Martinsville - 2, Dover, Nashville)
1970 – 7 (Rockingham, North Wilkesboro, Riverside, Atlanta, Richmond, Dover, Martinsville)
1971 – 10 (Daytona, Richmond - 2, Rockingham - 2, North Wilkesboro, Martinsville, Nashville, Atlanta, Dover)
Cumulative Total Wins: 52
Revised “Modern” Total: 60 + 52 = 112
Arguably, other tracks where Petty had wins were of substantial length (greater than 1/2 mile) but didn’t survive the Cup cut. Texas World Speedway should probably count for at least one more win in 1971, but I did not count it. Non-paved races were also on the schedule until 1970 (Richmond was not paved until 1968 ), but I did not exclude wins at such tracks.

David Pearson (1961-1971):
1961 – 3 (Charlotte, Daytona, Atlanta)
1962 – 0
1963 – 0
1964 – 1 (Richmond)
1965 – 1 (Richmond)
1966 – 2 (Richmond - 2)
1967 – 1 (Bristol)
1968 – 6 (Bristol - 2, Richmond, North Wilkesboro, Darlington, Nashville)
1969 – 6 (Daytona, Rockingham, Richmond, Bristol, Michigan, North Wilkesboro)
1970 – 1 (Darlington)
1971 – 2 (Daytona, Bristol)
Cumulative Total Wins: 23
Revised “Modern” Total: 45 + 23 = 68
Any of the notes applied to Petty also apply to Pearson.

Now realizing that I should also be fair to Cale Yarborough on the modern wins list, I need to add wins at Atlanta (3 - 1967, 68, 69), Daytona (4 – 1967, 68 – 2, 70), Martinsville (1968 ), Darlington (1968 ), Michigan (2 – 1969 & 70), and Rockingham (1970). That would add 12 wins to the 69 total above for 81 wins (nearly his actual career total). In the same vein, Bobby Allison needs wins added for Rockingham (1967), Bristol (2 – 1969, 70), North Wilkesboro (1969), Richmond (1969), Atlanta (1970), Charlotte (2 – 1970, 71), Dover (1971), Michigan (2 – 1971 x 2), Riverside (1971), Talladega (1971), and Darlington (1971). Allison’s modern wins total (1972 and after) was 55, so 55 + 14 = 69.

Modern wins list (revised):
1. Richard Petty – 112*
2. Darrell Waltrip – 84
3. Cale Yarborough – 81*
4. Jeff Gordon – 77
5. Dale Earnhardt – 76
6. Bobby Allison – 69*
7. David Pearson – 68*

I’m not a big fan of “revisionist” history, but at least this revision helps to put the careers in better perspective for making comparisons.

So, can Jeff Gordon be considered the greatest driver in NASCAR history? I guess it depends on what makes a driver great. His wins total seems almost assuredly headed towards passing Darrell Waltrip over the next couple of seasons, but he doesn’t seem likely to ever pass Petty’s mark (definitely not the real number or the revised one).

If championships make the driver, then Petty or Earnhardt are in a virtual tie, but Petty wins a tiebreaker on wins (and winning frequency). Pearson wins hands-down on winning percentage (18.2%) while being so successful in multiple seasons of limited schedules. Waltrip is probably the modern-day best driver until Gordon surpasses his win total … then I think Gordon could rightfully inherit the crown.

There is no right or wrong answer in this one. I’m interested in what you all have to think on the subject. Feel free to chime in.