Favorite/Best Race Car Drivers

[flx757]

A J Foyt.....he'd kick your a$$ on the track....then kick it off the track. Fierce competitor who knew what it took to win.

 

[enigma]

Here's another catagory. Most dominant year or era by a driver, or just name a year that impressed you if you want.

Nascar. Bill Elliot in 1985 when he had the field covered well enough to win 11 superspeedway races, to the point of making up two and half laps under green at Talladega after a green flag pitstop to fix a leaky brake line. For the trivia buffs, the caliper interconnect hard line had a small hole rubbed in it by an oversized weld bead on the inside of a wheel.

NHRA. Bob Glidden, His entire career except the last year. He was dominant even when he got mad at Ford and ran a Dodge for one year.

I would pick a formula one driver, but those guys have team orders and I don't think that the best driver always wins. Does anyone remember the USGP when Rubens backed off so that Schumacher could win? (It could have been the previous race, but it was sometime around the USGP last year)

any other memorable seasons?

enigma

 

[Freddie Spencer]

Ip, I got nothing against him (well maybe he was running his big mouth at Jaguar a bit too much), just tried to point a few "facts" in your post.

 

[Bluestreak]

Here's another catagory. Most dominant year or era by a driver, or just name a year that impressed you if you want.

Nascar. Bill Elliot in 1985 when he had the field covered well enough to win 11 superspeedway races, to the point of making up two and half laps under green at Talladega after a green flag pitstop to fix a leaky brake line. For the trivia buffs, the caliper interconnect hard line had a small hole rubbed in it by an oversized weld bead on the inside of a wheel.

NHRA. Bob Glidden, His entire career except the last year. He was dominant even when he got mad at Ford and ran a Dodge for one year.

I would pick a formula one driver, but those guys have team orders and I don't think that the best driver always wins. Does anyone remember the USGP when Rubens backed off so that Schumacher could win? (It could have been the previous race, but it was sometime around the USGP last year)

any other memorable seasons?enigma

The 1973 Can-Am.Porsche 917's demoralized the competition.Ditto on the Coors T-Bird-I saw it run every week-hot-a-mighty ! On a related note for you Shelby fans,take a look at the strange tale of the "lost" Daytona Cobra Coupe here:

http://www.nvsaac.com/gallery/missing_daytona_coupe.htm

 

[low-n-slow]

Here's another catagory. Most dominant year or era by a driver, or just name a year that impressed you if you want.
enigma

No doubt, Elliott's '85 season sticks out in my feeble mind that has impressed me the most. It's a shame he lost the championship that year from a 25 cent transmission part at the very same track he won his first ever race in '83.

Go over to NHRA.com and look back in the early '80s Pro Stock finishes....Glidden or Shepperd won most races. Drag racing lost a great competitor whenever we lost Lee Shepperd.

I wish I were as articulate about remembering as well as some of you folks, I've always enjoyed all forms of racing but just can't remember everything. I'm getting old.

 

[enigma]

Drag racing lost a great competitor whenever we lost Lee Shepperd.

I never met Lee Shepperd, but one of my old business partners knew him well. My partner raced against/with Rehr and Morrison back in the 70's. They still miss Lee.
I'll check and find out what Buddy and David are up to now and get back to ya.

regards,
enigma

 

[flyifrvfr]

I think the best driver of all times is Willy T. Ribbs. The way he drove that studabaker around with that little old lady yelling at him from the back of the car was.....oh wait, I think I'm lost.

 

[low-n-slow]

I think the best driver of all times is Willy T. Ribbs. The way he drove that studabaker around with that little old lady yelling at him from the back of the car was.....oh wait, I think I'm lost.

Uh huh...you are lost.


Enigma, that would be cool.

I do believe Rhere & Morrison is still building engines for some of the Pro Stock guys today...couldn't swear by it though.

 

[I.P. Freley]

Re: Jackie Stewart the All-Knowing

Jackie has a history of making wrong guesses about the superiority of drivers.

Anyone besides myself remember his calling Jan Magnussen "a future champion" back when Stewart GP was a new team?

Anyone care to guess where Jan Magnussen is NOW? Let's say he's not only a champion, he's not even in F1... And hasn't been for years.

His calling Barrichello superior to Schuey is laughable, team orders or not. As a long-time fan of David Coulthard who has been let down again and again, I find his comparison of David to Michael to be absolutely retarded. David is his own worst enemy and he's only himself to blame for not having more race wins and not even a single championship.

Well, to be fair, Mika Hakkinen was (Team McLaren principal) Ron Dennis' golden child and he had short shrift when Mika was in the team, but David could have pulled off a half-dozen more wins than he his without even breathing hard. Hopefully he will raise his game this year and make a real show for himself, possibly (but not probably) showing his rain light to Kimi Raikkonen (who is, himself, a lock for a championship one day IMHO, but then again I'm no Jackie Stewart LOL).

Enigma... You bet I know about the time Rubens let Michael win... I was THERE. I'd driven to Indianapolis from way upstate NY to see the race and was PEEVED to see the result. Talk about a letdown!!

Freddie... As you might have guessed by now, I already knew the facts behind Lauda's withdrawal from the '76 Japanese GP. The point I was making was that the facts don't always tell the whole story. Niki is more of a "man" than you or I will ever be, and I hold no grudges for his decision to pull out of the race and ultimately hand the '76 WC to Jim Hunt. He'd proved before and proved later that he was a superior driver, and his loss of that WC is understandable.

 

[flyifrvfr]

I think the best driver of all times is Willy T. Ribbs. The way he drove that studabaker around with that little old lady yelling at him from the back of the car was.....oh wait, I think I'm lost.

It's a reference to driving Miss Daisy! Willy T. Ribbs is black.

 

[enigma]

Willy T. Ribbs is black.

I'd have never guessed. I wonder if Wendell Scott was black also?

enigma

 

[OPECJet]

I don't pay attention to anything except drag racing, so I have no clue about the other forms of motorsports.

My vote(s) for drag racing would have to be:
TF: Garlits, Amato, or Bernstien. Larry Dixon is also up there
FC: Force, or Cruz. Baze is a good driver, but not much of a sportsman
PS: WJ. Anyone that does that much work deserves it.
PM: Cannon
Sportsman: David Rampy


Hey Enigma.... Did you ever post on LS1.com?

 

[flyifrvfr]

I might as well post a serious reply to the question asked. In my opinion my favorite driver is Jimmy Spencer because he will race you the way you race him. Race him clean and he will race you clean, race him dirty and he will put you into the wall. There are a few who will do this as well but they haven't yet earned my respect. As for the best driver, this question is hard to answer without being subjective. In any form of racing there usually is a dominant driver for a while than the rest catch up and so on. One only has to look at last years Nascar series, Ryan Newman won a great number of races last year but didn't win the championship. Matt Kensenth won the championship with consistancy and I think that sucked! I know the points have been massaged for this year but only time will tell if the right repair was made. John Force was a dominate driver in drag racing and although he is great, he went through a drought, we will have to see if he can improve. Drag racing is a sport where you have so many ways of beating yourself, Smoke the tires with too much clutch and you lose. Jump the start and red-light, you lose... **CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED** I love that sport.