NASCAR on Thursday wrapped up its project to honor what it calls the “NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers” with the slam-dunk addition of seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson.
The list of 75 drivers—50 were named to the list in 1998, and 25 were added this spring—has some curious selections. Bet you didn’t realize that nearly a dozen drivers who made the list did not even win one NASCAR Cup Series (1971-present) or Strictly Stock/Grand National Series (1950-70) race in their careers.
NASCAR panelists—we’re not sure who was in that room—decided to honor past champions from Xfinity Series, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and even NASCAR Modifieds and Late Model champions. Isn’t that a lot like putting baseball players who starred in the minor leagues into the Baseball Hall of Fame?
Ever hear of Mike Hessman? He’s the all-time career home run leader in minor league baseball with 433 bombs. Yet he’s not making any MLB list of “Greatest Baseball Players in History” list.
And then there’s Joe Bauman. He holds the minor league single-season home run leader with 72 in 1954. Good luck finding a Hall of Fame plaque for Bauman in Cooperstown.
How about Robin Bouchard? He’s the all-time leader with 687 goals in minor league hockey. Nope. Won’t find him on any NHL list of “Greatest Players in Hockey History.” Great accomplishment, but can’t compare it to the top level of the sport.
NASCAR Cup is the pinnacle of NASCAR racing. It’s the major league. Everything else is the minors. If a driver was the best of the best, he or she would be racing in Cup. If a NASCAR Cup team owner saw you winning in Xfinty, Trucks, Modifieds, Late Models or some other NASCAR category and thought you were good enough to win in Cup, you would have gotten an opportunity.
Sorry, being a winning driver in Xfinity or Trucks doesn’t make you one of the 75 Greatest Drivers in NASCAR history. It doesn’t jump you over winners in the Cup Series.
Loved watching Ron Hornaday tearing it up in the Truck Series and Randy Lajoie winning a pair of championships in the Xfinity Series, but I never really considered them amongst the best NASCAR drivers of all time. The best of the best race against the best of the best in Cup.
Then there’s Alan Kulwicki—who made NASCAR’s list at least in part because NASCAR felt he was on his way to greatness, but passed away early in a helicopter accident. Kulwicki won just five Cup races in his career—the bar should be a little higher for a “Greatest” list.
When assessing greatest of all-time, it’s tough to just assume a driver was going to continue winning. That’s not how sports and how “greatest of all-time” lists should work. It’s about what have you done, not what you might have done.
There’s a long list of athletes in all sports who had great rookie seasons or eye-opening first couple of years, only to go on to have mediocre careers or even retire early because of injuries. Those athletes don’t get honored as greatest of all-time by their respective sports—they’re characterized as “Could Have Beens.”
Several drivers who made the NASCAR 75 Greatest list got at least a small shot in Cup and hardly looked like the greatest of all-time when they they were put into the big pond of the Cup Series.
Here’s eight drivers from the “NASCAR 75 Greatest” list and how they fared in the Cup Series:
• Ralph Earnhardt: 0 wins, 6 top-5s in 51 Cup starts
• Red Farmer: 0 wins, 2 top-5s in 36 Cup starts
• Ray Hendrick: 0 wins, 2 top-5s in 17 Cup starts
• Jack Ingram: 0 wins, 1 top-5 in 19 Cup starts
• Randy Lajoie: 0 wins, 1 top-5 in 44 Cup starts
• Mike Stefanik: 0 Cup starts
• Ron Hornaday: 0 wins, 0 top-5s in 46 Cup starts
• Sam Ard: 1 Cup start, 1 Cup lap completed
Sure, these eight drivers racked up plenty of wins and championships, but those wins and championships came at levels below the Cup Series. It can be argued that these drivers were great minor leaguers who weren’t good enough to compete at the top level. Or, was it simply a matter that they did not have “good rides” in their Cup appearances? Possibly.
On the other hand, seems that if they were some of the greatest drivers in NASCAR history, they would have attracted more interest by win-at-all-cost Cup team owners with the good equipment.
Or, maybe it was the Cup team owners who missed the boat by deciding some of “NASCAR’s Greatest 75 Drivers” weren’t good enough for Cup.
No, we’re not asking for a recount, but here’s the 10 drivers with the most Cup Series victories who were left off the NASCAR 75 list who might have a beef with the committee that selected NASCAR’s “75 Greatest” Drivers:
Jim Paschal: 25 Cup Wins
Paschal’s 25 Cup Series wins total is tied for 34th on the on all-time wins list with Joe Weatherly (Weatherly is on NASCAR’s 75 Greatest list). Paschal made 421 Cup starts between 1949 and 1972 and finished in the top-5 a remarkable 121 times.
Big wins? Paschal won the 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in both 1964 and 1967. He was also a three-time winner at Martinsville.
Paschal finished in the top-10 in season points a total of 10 times with a best of fifth in 1956.
Jack Smith: 21 Cup Wins
Smith’s 21 Cup Series wins in 264 career starts between 1949 and 1964 puts him in a tie for 38th on the all-time wins list with Jeff Burton, Kyle Larson, Benny Parsons, Bobby Labonte (all four on NASCAR 75 Greatest list).
Big wins? Smith won at North Wilkesboro (1957), Daytona 500 qualifiers in 1957 and 1960 (yep, those counted back in the day), the Firecracker 250 at Daytona in 1960, the 500 at Bristol in 1961.
Smith finished in the top-5 in 95 of his 264 Cup starts. He was a career-high fourth in the points in 1962 and finished in the top-5 in points three times.
Speedy Thompson: 20 Cup Wins
Thompson’s 20 Cup wins in 197 races over a career that spanned 1950-1971 places him a solid 43rd on NASCAR Cup Series all-time wins list. He’s one of just six drivers with more than 10 career Cup wins yet NOT on the NASCAR 75 Greatest list.
Big wins? Thompson won the Southern 500 at Darlington in 1957 and a 400-miler at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1960.
Thompson was one of the top racers in NASCAR Cup between 1956 and 1959, when he won 16 times and finished third in the points each season. (Buck Baker won in 1956 and ’57, Lee Petty won in 1958 and ’59).
Fonty Flock: 19 Cup Wins
Flock’s 19 wins puts him in a tie for 44th all-time with Buddy Baker, Greg Biffle and Davey Allison (Baker, Biffle and Allison all made the NASCAR 75 Greatest list).
Flock nearly had the what appears to be a rubber-stamp qualification by winning a Cup Championship, but he finished second in 1951 to Herb Thomas despite winning eight races (Thomas won seven that year, but won the points title).
Flock also dipped his toes into the NASCAR Convertible Series in 1956, winning one of three races he started that year (Atlanta).
He’s one of just six drivers with more than 10 career Cup wins yet NOT on the NASCAR 75 Greatest list.
Dick Hutcherson: 14 Cup Wins
Hutcherson’s 14 wins puts him 57th on the all-time Cup wins list (tied with LeeRoy Yarbrough, and Yarbrough made the list).
Hutcherson notched his 14 wins in just 103 starts between 1964 and 1967. (Yarbrough won his 14 in 198 starts).
In 1965—Hutcherson’s first full year in Cup after starting just four races in 1964—he finished second to Ned Jarrett in the championship standings. He finished third in 1967. Hutcherson’s 1965 season with Holman-Moody was one of NASCAR’s greatest rookie seasons. He won nine races and finished in the top-5 32 times in the 52 races he started.
He retired as a driver after the 1967 season and became a crew chief for Hall of Famer David Person and helped Pearson to Cup championships in both 1968 and 1969.
Dick Rathman: 13 Cup Wins
Rathman’s 13 wins is good for a tie for 59th with Tim Richmond, who made the NASCAR 75 Greatest list. Rathman won his races in 129 races from 1951-55 (Richmond won his 13 races in 185 races from 1980-87).
From 1952 to 1954, Rathman finished fifth, third and fourth in the Cup championship.
Big wins? Rathman won three times at treacherous Langhorne Speedway in fields of 37, 38 and 40 cars.
Rathman’s final win came on a half-mile dirt track at Santa Fe Speedway in Willow Springs, Ill., in 1954. Following him across the line that day, in order, were Herb Thomas, Herschel McGriff and Lee Petty—all members of the NASCAR 75 Greatest club.
Donnie Allison: 10 Cup Wins
Allison’s 10 Cup wins put him in a tie for 61st on the all-time list (he’s tied with Clint Bowyer and Sterling Marlin —both on NASCAR 75 Greatest list).
Allison’s 10 wins came in 242 starts from 1966-188. (Bowyer won his 10 races in 541 starts, Marlin’s 10 wins came in 748 starts).
Big wins? Allison twice won 500-mile falls races at Charlotte Motor Speedway (1969, 1976) and the World 600 at Charlotte in 1970 for legendary team owner Banjo Matthews.
And while it doesn’t count for this discussion, we think it’s cool that Allison finished fourth in his lone Indianapolis 500 try in a 1970 in a car owned by A.J. Foyt. And even cooler was his 1979 fight with Cale Yarborough at Daytona.
Clint Bowyer: 10 Cup Wins
Bowyer’s 10 wins put him in a tie for 61st all-time with Donnie Allison and Sterling Marlin.
What bolsters Bowyer’s case for the NASCAR 75 Greatest list—at least in the eyes of those who like the idea that NASCAR success below the Cup level being a big part of the equation for this discussion—is his 2008 Xfinity championship and eight career wins in that series.
Bowyer won three times in 14 career Trucks races, as well.
Big wins? Bowyer won twice at Talladega (2010, 2011) and that’s no small feat. He also won the fall race at Charlotte in 2012.
Paul Goldsmith: 9 Cup Wins
Goldsmith’s nine wins are tied for 64th all-time with Cotton Owens and Bob Welborn (Owens made the NASCAR 75 Greatest list).
Goldsmith’s wins came in 127 Cup starts between 1956 and 1959. Owens won his nine races in 160 starts, Welborn in 183 starts. Edge Goldsmith.
His best season in Cup was 1966 when he won three times and finished fifth in the championship.
The line for “greatness” going as far down as including those with nine career Cup wins gets a little fuzzy. Is nine Cup wins, for example, a better show of “greatness” than a winless cup driver who won a few Xfinity or Trucks championships—but proved to be a non-factor in Cup?
Is hitting nine home runs in the majors a bigger feat than being a single-season home run champ in the minors?
We’ll take the majors.
Bob Welborn: 9 Cup Wins
Welborn’s nine Cup wins in 183 starts put him tied for 64th all-time in Cup wins. But what puts him over the top (pun coming) is his three championships in the NASCAR Convertible Series (1956, 1957, 1958).
Sure, the Convertible Series is “minor league’ championships, but anyone who wants to race high speed ovals in a convertible has to get bonus points, right?
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