Richard Petty speaks

[old fan]

[QUOTE=A ron;2028978]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. GREAT POST

[Raceready]

[QUOTE=old fan;2029105]

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. GREAT POST

I guarantee that on that fateful day in 1965 on Labor Day weekend when Ned Jarrett won the Southern 500 at the lady in black by 14 laps that most people left the place thinking that they had just seen the best race ever run. Or when Bill Elliot came from 3 laps down to win Talladega. That's when there was genuine excitement going on and the sport was growing in leaps and bounds. There are hundreds of races that I don't remember BUT I will always remember the race where a DLM lapped the entire field in a heat [ yes a heat] race or when another lapped the field in a feature,

[TS FAN]

It boils down to who we all like and dislike. I thought it was interesting that Petty said exactly what I would say. But it is personal to me, my opinion. I posted it some you guys could debate it. l am glad it was kept civil though. One comment about Nascar I do have to address. Someone said it was tougher to win in the late nineties compared to now. I cannot see that as fact at all. Starting in 2002 and the great youth movement, things got tougher. It is tough to win today. Chad still outsmarted other Crew Chiefs for years, and he had the best equipment too boot. He figured out the chase and with some good fortune the team won it six times. But in recent years, other teams have caught up with Hendrick and it is tougher than ever out there. Just ask the 48. The 48 won against tougher competition than in any any other era. I am not a fan of the 48, but they did it. Remember one thing. Petty was asked best racer. Not best just in Nascar. In Kyle's behalf, if I had to pick a guy most likely to win if everyone had equal equipment. Kyle Busch.

[Raceready]

That 48 team is a tough act to follow for sure. The whole team also shines with class and dignity. I can just imagine that some of the old timers in Nascar are either shaking their heads or rolling over in their graves about the 20 minute caution rule or the silly chase format let alone the lucky dog.

[Barbecueboy]

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

The 72 fins may have something to say about that.......

[CIRF]

Jimmie Johnson is for sure the best NASCAR driver of his generation. There are probably only 2 or 3 NASCAR drivers that are part of his stratosphere in the whole history of NASCAR. Pearson, Petty and maybe Bobby Allison. arnhead and RCR had NASCAR in their pocket to the point that honestly exempts them from consideration. And yes, class, dignity, humility and a good upbringing are almost as important as driver talent. Jimmie has all those bases covered quite well and that's why I have the utmost respect for him. pee wee jr., not so much. Unmatched talent and an irrefutable character is rare! And it's worth repeating, pee wee doesn't have a legitimate championship and only one illegitimate.

When all is laid out and compared and rehashed Mario Andretti is head and shoulders above Stewart in all around driver talent and accomplishments.

Mario-Indy 500 winner, Stewart-nope
Mario-Daytona 500 winner, Stewart-nope
Mario-F1 World Champion, Stewart-nope
Mario-many time winner on 1 mile dirt tracks, Stewart-nope

I could go on a bit more but the record is clear. The same comparison could be made of A.J. Foyt. and Stewart and a similar conclusion would be clearly evident. In fact Foyt drove for Smokey Yunick and Smokey said it didn't take but just a few laps and A.J. was fast in whatever he was driving.

I know we're going to hear the obligatory BS about how everything is so much different now. It's just that, BS. You're either fast in everything or you're not. The records speak for themselves.

Carry on boys. I've got Kansas dirt track racing to enjoy the next 4 nights, no time for NASCAR for a for a while.

[CIRF]

The 72 fins may have something to say about that.......

Couldn't agree more BBQ! I'd only add that the folks in Pittsburg might have something to say about it, too. But whatever you do don't come near chitcago and talk about the 49ers, Dolphins or Steelers bein' the best of all time. You'll hear a bunch of chirpin' about the '85 Bears and in chitcago they been known to ventilate people for a lot less than that to the tune of 397 murders so far this year.

[Barbecueboy]

Yup , not a steeler fan, but position by position some of those teams were insanely good.....

And I never really thought about Mario like that because I forget about all the dirt he raced on.....but he is a bad man.......and just cool to boot.
Bet he could stomp a late model if he were so inclined to get in one.........

[Barbecueboy]

Couldn't agree more BBQ! I'd only add that the folks in Pittsburg might have something to say about it, too. But whatever you do don't come near chitcago and talk about the 49ers, Dolphins or Steelers bein' the best of all time. You'll hear a bunch of chirpin' about the '85 Bears and in chitcago they been known to ventilate people for a lot less than that to the tune of 397 murders so far this year.

And the 85 bears............lol

That was a dumpster fire of talent......except for sweetness,rip.

[Barbecueboy]

And just to clarify......not saying the niners don't deserve to be in the conversation.

Subjectivity.......ain't it great.

[old fan]

C omparing stwart to mario is like apples and oranges the competition level in the last 20 yrs are alot stronger then when mario drove

[CIRF]

And I never really thought about Mario like that because I forget about all the dirt he raced on.....but he is a bad man.......and just cool to boot.
Bet he could stomp a late model if he were so inclined to get in one.........

I know what ya' mean BBQ, when you think of Mario you really don't equate him with being a dirt star, but he was, bigtime. I wouldn't be surprised if ol' Mario couldn't jump in a late model today and not put it up towards the front given some time to adjust and a good setup man.

A true and somewhat humorous story about Mario early in his dirt career. People used to send him Christmas cards in June and July. Reason being that the people sending them were fairly certain Mario wouldn't live to see Christmas judging by the way he drove a racecar! LOL!! Looks like he proved those folks wrong!!

And the 85 bears............lol

That was a dumpster fire of talent......except for sweetness,rip.

Our closest NFL franchise is the Bears but I've never been a Bears fan. Can't really say why. The '85 Bears defense was as good as any that ever was but he Steelers of the late '70's had considerable more weapons on offense than the Bears ever had. I say that with the utmost respect to Walter.The Steelers have over twice as many in the HOF from those '70's teams as the '85 Bears. I realize it's all very subjective but for my money the Steelers, who won 4 Championships in 6 years, are the best that ever put on the pads. But as you said there are folks that would make a dam good case for some other teams, for sure.

C omparing stwart to mario is like apples and oranges the competition level in the last 20 yrs are alot stronger then when mario drove

One thing about you litey, you have an uncanny ability to interject shear stupidity no matter the subject. Do you ever know what you're talking about? You're way, way out of your league on this one mr, dufus! LOL! Mario has a highly respectable USAC career outside of the Indy Cars. Depth of driver talent and quality of rides available was probably somewhat better in Mario's USAC era. That is pretty much a given. The quality of competition during Mario's Indy Car career is far and away better than at the time Stewart was driving Indy Cars, absolutely no question about that. During Mario's era NASCAR was a regional organization. Most of the real drivers were in USAC and Indy Cars. The competition in Championship racing in those days was every bit as stiff as the competition in NASCAR over the past 25 years.

Mario drove during a period of time when a driver was lucky to stay alive until retirement, let alone win in everything he drove. For that reason alone Mario is superior to Stewart.

I would tell you to stick with things that you know something about but that list is very, very short. How to properly face-plant on a city sidewalk is about the only subject you've proved to have any degree of expertise!! LOL!!

[TS FAN]

How did we turn this thread into football????? LOLOLOLOL
I do not know how big of fan Sir Richard is of that sport.

[CIRF]

How did we turn this thread into football????? LOLOLOLOL
I do not know how big of fan Sir Richard is of that sport.

Sorry for the hijack.

I believe it's King Richard, actually. And, I believe he is a Washington Redskins Fan of considerable note.

[TS FAN]

I am sure he is. Just thought it was funny