Richard Petty speaks

[TS FAN]

this ought to fire some people up LOL
Who is the best pure racer out there today?
Ans. Kyle Busch
Ans. Tony Stewart was, but he has gotten older.
Ans. Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliot are on their way.
Ans. I like the Dillion boys too.

[Bob Hubbard]

I agree with most of that .... The Tony thing maybe not .... I dont recall smoke being all that .... I hear Tony is a good guy & good for the sport ....

[mudslinger47]

I agree with Bob and Richard.... Tony is about as versatile as any racer on the planet, probably more versatile if the truth were told...

[TS FAN]

Since I agree with Richard, I just had to print it. Richard was asked pure racer, not so much best nascar driver. To no ones surprise I am sure, he said David Pearson was the toughest driver he raced against.

[TS FAN]

I agree with Bob and Richard.... Tony is about as versatile as any racer on the planet, probably more versatile if the truth were told...

Penske said on more than one occasion that Stewart was the best he ever saw at adapting to any kind of race car he drove.

[CIRF]

This ought to fire some people up. LOL!

It's a given that King is a pretty good talent analyst and no one here is qualified to question his judgement. However, the topic he deals with is most definitely a subjective view and open for interpretation.

What I will present is facts that cannot be refuted or interpreted.

pee wee jr. has never won driving anything but legends cars, asphalt late models and the 3 touring divisions of NASCAR. He has yet to win a legitimate Cup championship and only one illegitimately. He may have won a celebrity dirt late model race at Eldora but I'm not positive about that. No open wheel and very limited dirt experience.

Now it's a given that Stewart has a far more diverse resume' than pee wee but he never won the Indy 500 in 5 tries, never won the Belleville Midget Nationals and never won a USAC Silver Crown race on a 1 mile dirt track. It took 3 tries to finally beat Frank Kimmel on the 1 mile dirt track at Du Quoin, Illinois in ARCA competition. When he did win he had to deliberately put Kimmel in the front straightaway wall to finally get the job done. The damage sustained was sufficient to cause Kimmel's car to overheat. I listened to the whole thing on the scanner and it went down just like I'm saying. The ARCA team and car Stewart won at Du Quoin with was funded with resources in excess of the rest of the field combined. Some of his Cup crew was doing his pit stops that day, as well. Compared to other drivers of his era Stewart has a far more diverse resume', that cannot be disputed but there are still several holes in it as compared to guys like Foyt and Andretti.

Kyle Larson has dirt racing resume' that at least matches Stewart's but no NASCAR success to speak of, yet. But he's young. He did win a USAC Silver Crown race on a 1 mile dirt track at Du Quoin in dominating fashion. Something Stewart could never do. Larson has won the Rolex 24, also a feat Stewart was never able to pull off.

Please don't hate the messenger because ya' don't like the message. LOL! The facts are what they are.

[old fan]

If you don't think kyle busch does not have talent you are a idiot you have to have some talent to get to nascar and extraordanary to win multiple times he did what nascar required him to do and won it if you think he was the only one well wel well you have't looked at the record books

[CIRF]

Never said he didn't have talent. I said he doesn't have manners, class, dignity or an adequate upbringing.

The champions of the past that didn't compete in all the races amassed more points throughout the season than anyone else which made those championships legitimate. That was not the case with pee wee, thus rendering it illegitimate.

[old fan]

I can think of a few drivers like one of them might be stewarts mentor thats the first on how about jack hewitt no sorry he followed the rules and he won just like steward is going thru

[gjohnston]

This is an endless debate along the same lines as what was the best NFL team ever. Everyone has their own opinion on it....that said...

It wasn't the success in Cup that impressed me the most about Stewart nor was it the titles he won on dirt in open wheel or his brief Indy career. What really blew me away was in 2000 or 2001 when a friend and I went to the Twin 125's and on our way home stopped off at Volusia. Stewart ran both a big block modified and a dirt late model. Dave Blaney, Kenny Wallace, and the top modified guys were there along with nearly all of the top late models at the time. Stewart gets there late and ends up having to run through the B-mains to make the show. He ends up starting dead last in the modified feature and within 6 laps is running in the top 4. Finishes 2nd or 3rd in that race, hops out of his car and into the late model where it's the same thing. Starts way towards the back and gets into the top 5 by lap 10 and nails down a top 5 finish. There aren't many who could do that.

What made me a fan of his very early on is that unlike others, once he made it to NASCAR he still went back to the dirt tracks and promoted the snot out of them. Because of guys like him, Blaney, Schrader, etc. who would play around on the dirt tracks they opened up a lot of minds and brought awareness to dirt track racing at a time when NASCAR was at it's peak. Whether he was the best or is the best is up for debate but you can't say that he isn't doing everything he can to promote all forms of auto racing in the country.

[Raceready]

Never said he didn't have talent. I said he doesn't have manners, class, dignity or an adequate upbringing. The champions of the past that didn't compete in all the races amassed more points throughout the season than anyone else which made those championships legitimate. That was not the case with pee wee, thus rendering it illegitimate.

Yep, he was bragging the other day that he wanted to break the KINGs 201 victories. What many don't understand is that except for the 1 convertible win all of the kings wins were in the top division of the sport in the day when the toughest and best drivers won on ability alone. No GIMMICK yellows for a water bottle that laid on the track for 79 laps, no lucky dog GIMMICK for the driver drawing the most fans in, no yellow for a blown tire with an innerliner on a car that drove back to the pits on, no setting drivers back on bogus pit road speeding penalties, no yellows for a car running in the tail sliding a little bit sideways, no multiple green white checkers until a fan favorite won etc. Back in the day when the only caution came out if a car was stuffed into the wall and couldn't pull off, a wheel thrown off and laying in the track, a drive shaft, an exhaust pipe, or a multiple car wreck that cars couldn't get moving again, or in the case of Pocono that time when a doe deer wandered onto the track. You know; back in the day when those them tough basturds didn't even have cool suits, tear offs, heat insulation, filtered air, etc. What part of LITTLE LEAGUE does not the fan that claims to be educated who thinks that it is such a big deal when a racer from what is supposed to be the upper echelon of taxi cab racing steps down to win a beginners series race like trucks or the Infinity series. All of us old timers know that it all started with Dale Earnhardt Sr. because Nasky figured it out that the fans that made him a false idol would also pay to see him run a LITTLE LEAGUE series ! Nasky knew they had a good thing going when old Earny Sr. showed up so that they could compare him running the Grand National series to his hard charging dad Ralph winning the title.

[A ron]

I kinda disagree Raceready. The Kings 200 victories were in the upper series, but in my opinion were nowhere near as competitive as todays truck, xfinity, and cup series. Before the late 80's you were lucky to have 5-10 cars on the lead lap. That's why you can't compare Petty's record to Earnhardt's, Earnhardt's to Gordon, Gordon to Johnson, etc. To me the hardest time to win was early 90's to 2004. There were usually 20ish lead lap cars but no lucky dogs, wave arounds, do over's and chase crap. Now days it's all about who can come out with the lead on the last GWC.

[formercrewguy]

This is an endless debate along the same lines as what was the best NFL team ever. Everyone has their own opinion on it....that said...

It wasn't the success in Cup that impressed me the most about Stewart nor was it the titles he won on dirt in open wheel or his brief Indy career. What really blew me away was in 2000 or 2001 when a friend and I went to the Twin 125's and on our way home stopped off at Volusia. Stewart ran both a big block modified and a dirt late model. Dave Blaney, Kenny Wallace, and the top modified guys were there along with nearly all of the top late models at the time. Stewart gets there late and ends up having to run through the B-mains to make the show. He ends up starting dead last in the modified feature and within 6 laps is running in the top 4. Finishes 2nd or 3rd in that race, hops out of his car and into the late model where it's the same thing. Starts way towards the back and gets into the top 5 by lap 10 and nails down a top 5 finish. There aren't many who could do that.

What made me a fan of his very early on is that unlike others, once he made it to NASCAR he still went back to the dirt tracks and promoted the snot out of them. Because of guys like him, Blaney, Schrader, etc. who would play around on the dirt tracks they opened up a lot of minds and brought awareness to dirt track racing at a time when NASCAR was at it's peak. Whether he was the best or is the best is up for debate but you can't say that he isn't doing everything he can to promote all forms of auto racing in the country.

What was the best NFL team? Easy one........the 49'ers!!!! (Montana years)

[Raceready]

I kinda disagree Raceready. The Kings 200 victories were in the upper series, but in my opinion were nowhere near as competitive as todays truck, xfinity, and cup series. Before the late 80's you were lucky to have 5-10 cars on the lead lap. That's why you can't compare Petty's record to Earnhardt's, Earnhardt's to Gordon, Gordon to Johnson, etc. To me the hardest time to win was early 90's to 2004. There were usually 20ish lead lap cars but no lucky dogs, wave arounds, do over's and chase crap. Now days it's all about who can come out with the lead on the last GWC.

Don't forget that reason that there were only x number of cars on the lead lap is because they let the races run as they were intended { sort of endure style } and play out. Today we have the famous yellow for something that shouldn't remotely be called debris every time the field starts to get strung out or a fan favorite is in danger of losing a lap. Or nothing as silly as the lucky dog ! They didn't throw cautions to get a tv ad in and no annoying green white checkers. Also the cars are so much more reliable with the crews not being able to innovate anymore.

[formercrewguy]

Don't forget that reason that there were only x number of cars on the lead lap is because they let the races run as they were intended { sort of endure style } and play out. Today we have the famous yellow for something that shouldn't remotely be called debris every time the field starts to get strung out or a fan favorite is in danger of losing a lap. Or nothing as silly as the lucky dog ! They didn't throw cautions to get a tv ad in and no annoying green white checkers. Also the cars are so much more reliable with the crews not being able to innovate anymore.

Your last sentence says it all. Youngins don't remember when NASCAR allowed innovation. IROC ruined it, at least for me. I hate train races, and restrictor plate racing. I loved it when a car could lap the field because car/engine builders found an edge. I'm just glad i'm old enough to remember watching the old NASCAR on the Wide World of Sports on Sundays!