After reading Ed Hinton’s 12-part series on who would make the field of the ultimate Indianapolis 500 (if you like open-wheel racing check it out here), I was inspired to construct a similar list for NASCAR. This is part one of a four part series that will list who would make the ultimate 43-car starting grid.
To spice it up a little bit, I tried to look at individual seasons as opposed to overall careers. For example, instead of simply plugging in Richard Petty, I am taking Petty from the year that I thought was his best. A driver could only qualify once for the list (this prevents five years of Jimmie Johnson from clogging up the ranks). In order to make it, a driver had to accomplish at least one of four things.
- Win the Winston/Nextel/Sprint Cup
- Win a bunch of races
- Have some form of cultural impact (in other words, does anyone remember them?)
- Have been the main character in a motion picture (this category will make sense eventually)
Without further ado, here are the first 11 drivers to make the cut.
43. Dick Trickle, 1989, #84 Miller High Life Buick
Trickle is famous for two things. One, it is estimated that Trickle has won roughly 1,200 short track races in the United States. Secondly, his name is Dick Trickle.
Back before the world knew he was the liberal answer to Bill O’Reilly, Keith Olbermann was arguably one of the five greatest “Sportscenter” anchors of all time. Keith had a sick fascination with Trickle’s name (can’t say that I blame him, one of my fantasy football teams is named “Dick Trickle”), and made it a point to mention his finishing position during that Sunday’s race during every Sunday night show (it was usually somewhere between 26th and 43rd during his Winston Cup career). To get an idea of the difficulty Dick had piloting a Winston Cup car watch this clip of him trying to get on pit road during a caution.
42. Jeff Burton, 1999, #99 Exide Batteries Ford
Burton has been referred to as the mayor of NASCAR for the past decade, thanks for his well thought out opinions on various topics. 1999 wasn’t Burton’s most consistent season, but he was able to win a series leading six races, including two crown jewel events (the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte and the Southern 500 at Darlington). His win at Darlington was memorable thanks to a thunderstorm that disrupted the finish.
41. Kevin Harvick, 2011, #29 Budweiser Chevrolet
Harvick looks like one of two drivers that could potentially deny Jimmie Johnson of a 6th straight championship. Harvick has won three races already this season in dramatic fashion, two of them at the expense of fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr.
40. Ricky Rudd, 1991, #5 Tide Chevrolet
He was usually not a championship contender, but Rudd was remarkably consistent. He had a 16-year streak where he won at least one race, which is even more amazing when you consider that he only won more than one race during four of those seasons. 1991 was a year that he only won a single race, but was consistent enough to finish 2nd in the points to Dale Earnhardt. It would’ve been two victories if not for a penalty inflicted by NASCAR after this finish at Sonoma.
39. Ryan Newman, 2003, #12 Alltel Dodge
This was one of the classic “checkers or wreckers” seasons in NASCAR history. Newman won a series leading 8 races, and also collected a record 11 poles. However, Newman had numerous mishaps that destroyed his championship chances. He started 2003 with this flip at Daytona.
Later in the year at Michigan, Newman was going so fast that his car literally turned into a 200 mph fireball.
38. Harry Gant, 1984, #33 Skoal Bandit Pontiac
One of the most humble drivers in NASCAR history, Gant was known as “Handsome Harry” during his Winston Cup career, and was notorious for rim-riding along the outside wall at every track. No Credentials could’ve chosen Gant’s 1991 season to place on this list (the year that Gant won four straight races in the month of September that year), but we’ll take the season that he won three races and ended up 2nd in the points to Terry Labonte.
37. Carl Edwards, 2011, #99 Aflac Ford
Edwards looks like the other driver with the best chance to knock Jimmie Johnson off the championship throne. The current points leader looks to be the most consistent driver on the mile and a half ovals, which typically translates to success during the NASCAR playoffs.
36. Neil Bonnett, 1985, #12 Budweiser Chevrolet
One of the most tragic stories in the history of NASCAR, Bonnett first lost his health, and then eventually his life, during his career. One of the pioneers of "The Alabama Gang", he rarely drove for a competitive team, and did well to earn 18 victories during his Winston Cup career. His best season was 1985, when he collected two wins and finished 4th in the season standings driving for Junior Johnson. Bonnett suffered a near fatal accident at the 1990 spring race at Darlington, which forced him into a temporary retirement. After two years of broadcasting, Bonnett was urged back into driving by his best friend Dale Earnhardt. He was fortunate to escape a horrific crash during a one-race stint with Richard Childress at Talladega in 1993. The crash didn’t cure Bonnett’s itch to race, as he signed a six-race deal to race for James Finch in 1994. Sadly, during the first practice session for the Daytona 500, Bonnett blew a right front tire and careened head on into the turn four wall. He was dead on impact at the age of 47.
35. Denny Hamlin, 2010, #11 Fed-Ex Toyota
His choke job in the final race of the year didn’t completely diminish Hamlin’s accomplishments (he did win a series leading eight races), but it did move him about 20 spots down this list.
34. Stroker Ace, 1983, #7 The Chicken Pit Ford
“Stroker Ace” may very well have been one of the 20 worst movies of all-time, but since Stroker was played by Burt Reynolds, he earns a spot as one of the fictional drivers that will make this list. Here are some fun facts for you for those that are interested in acquiring useless information.
- “Stroker Ace” earned five Golden Raspberry nominations. The categories were Worst Picture, Worst Director, Worst Actress, Worst New Star, and Worst Supporting Actor. Jim Nabors, who played Stroker’s crew chief Lugs Harvey, won the Worst Supporting Actor role.
- Burt Reynolds was offered the lead male role in “Terms of Endearment”, but was unable to because he was already under contract to play Stroker Ace. Endearment won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Jack Nicholson, who played the part of the character originally offered to Reynolds, won the Best Supporting Actor award. “Terms of Endearment” grossed $108 million at the box office, while “Stroker Ace” only managed to make $13 million.
- Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, and seven other drivers that are on this list were in the movie.
Just incase you don’t believe the hard facts that show this movie was terrible, here’s the “climatic” final ten minutes of the film.
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