Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill77
Not too surprised that no one has mentioned Richard Petty yet. Some of his achievements are impossible to beat by any current and possibly future driver, though some of that has more to do with current rules and schedules than anything else. I would say he would have a better case if he had not continued to race long after he was last competitive. Anyway here are some of his numbers:
Most wins 200, next closest is David Pearson with 105, and the closest active driver is Jimmie Johnson with 83.
From 1958-1970 Richard won 119 races vs. David Pearson's 58.
Most wins in a season 27, followed by season totals of 18 and 16. The next best total is Jeff Gordon's 13.
Most consecutive wins in a season 10.
From 1967-1971 he won 92 races.
|
Petty's stats are a bit like comparing Cy Young's stats to modern pitchers. Of course, Petty in the discussion for the greatest NASCAR driver of all-time. But during the first 15 years of his career, the schedule was always 45-55 races. In the modern era, the schedule was 29 races for many years, and it still is nowhere near as many races each season as Petty ran during his prime.
Petty also had factory support in an era when many of the other top drivers did not race the entire schedule. Are his 200 wins really more impressive than the totals of Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson racing in a more competitive era in which all the top teams followed the entire schedule?