All Purpose NASCAR Thread

Andy Petree as a car owner had 322 career starts; Kenny Wallace drove in 69 of those, or 21 percent. Wallace had exactly 25 percent of the top-five finishes that the team had in its history.

North Wilkesboro closed in 1996, three years before DEI had its first full-time Cup team. DEI never has had a driver other than Dale, Jr. finish in the top 10, let alone the top five, so to say Wallace had a top five car at DEI is untrue.

The only full season Wallace had with Bill Davis, he was second driver on the team. Wallace finished 30th in points, Ward Burton 21st.

I'm not saying he's a great driver. I am saying he never had a full season behind the wheel of a top team.

 

Wow, wicked, you're impressing me with your NASCAR knowledge, or at least Kenny's background, or at least the ability to google his driving record.

P.S.S.: Never said his marital preferences had any correlation to his driving ability. Just said, I like him because he seems like a good guy, not a chauvinistic prick.

 

I remember at Phoenix in November, Kurt Busch gets kicked out of his ride and Kenny stands there and basically calls himself out. Don't have the exact quote, but he basically said, "If I can't do well in a Roush car, that'll say something."

He finished 16th in Busch's car at Phoenix, then 21st at Homestead. Was he supposed to get a top 10? I don't know. Everything about Kenny seems average, mixed, mediocre. He's not awful, but he's certainly not great.

 

Just an observant fan, Sxy.

And I was referring to Rockingham, not North Wilkesboro. That's where Kenny finished second while driving Steve Park's car.

Jeff, you're right -- the guy is average, mediocre. In other words, Michael Waltrip.

 

I would actually rate Kenny ahead of Mikey. I have no respect at all for Waltrip's driving ability. The only thing that keeps him in the spotlight is that he's the best salesman in NASCAR. He just gets it.

 

Based on his performances this year, you could almost argue he has no driving ability.

And, considering the rip job he did the other day on his boss, Ray Evernham, it's debatable whether he has any brains.

 

By the way.....Jeff Gordon rules. ;D

 

Kenny Wallace, while a helluva nice guy and a great interview most of the time, sucks absolute ass inside a racecar.

I can't believe this is even a debate. He's had dozens of chances in dozens of decent rides to prove otherwise. He's never done so. Yeah, he'll screw up and get a top 10 here or there, but you stick the guy on your team and you've got a solid lock on position No. 30 in the points standings. I'd love to see him have a successful career, but it ain't gonna be in a stock car.

As for Jeff Gordon, yes, he does, indeed, rule. I've ranted before on here about Gordon's abilities and accomplishments. To me, he's second to nobody in the sport. What he's been able to do over the past dozen or so years is absolutely phenomenal. All his wins -- I believe he's fourth or fifth in NASCAR history now -- have come in a time when the sport is far more competitive. When he wraps it up, he'll likely be behind only Petty in wins and he has a legit shot at 100 victories. If he was a good ol' boy with a southern accent, you can bet your ass that he'd be hailed as the greatest driver of all time.

 

Speaking of NASCAR, just caught the preview of Talladega Nights, the new Will Ferrell movie. Looks like a keeper.

 

CAREER WINS
1) Richard Petty -- 200
2) David Pearson -- 105
3) Bobby Allison -- 84
3) Darrell Waltrip -- 84
5) Cale Yarborough -- 83
6) Dale Earnhardt -- 76
7) Jeff Gordon -- 75
8) Rusty Wallace -- 55
9) Lee Petty -- 54
10) Ned Jarrett -- 50
10) Junior Johnson -- 50

Now that Rusty Wallace has retired, no active driver in NASCAR has even half the number of wins Gordon has. That's not including Bill Elliott, who has 44 wins but may or may not still be active.

The only active guys in my opinion who even have a shot at 50 wins are Tony Stewart (currently has 26) and Jimmie Johnson (21). Sorry, Earnhardt fans, Dale Jr. (17) ain't gonna make it. Actually, no, I'm not sorry. ;D

In answer to the longest win drought question from earlier, here's the up-to-date list as it pertains to all active drivers. It's interesting to note that the guys with the three longest droughts all won their last races at Dover.

Ken Schrader, 6-2-91, Dover, 497 races
Kyle Petty, 6-4-95, Dover, 344
Derrike Cope, 6-3-90, Dover, 321
Jeff Burton, 10-28-01, Phoenix, 166
Sterling Marlin, 3-17-02, Darlington, 149
Jamie McMurray, 10-13-02, Lowe's, 130
Robby Gordon, 8-10-03, Watkins Glen, 97
Michael Waltrip, 9-28-03, Talladega, 97
Bobby Labonte, 11-16-03, Homestead, 90
Elliott Sadler, 9-5-04, California, 64
Joe Nemechek, 10-10-04, Kansas, 60
Jeremy Mayfield, 8-21-05, Michigan, 31
Ryan Newman, 9-18-05, New Hampshire, 27
Dale Jarrett, 10-2-05, Talladega, 23
Mark Martin, 10-9-05, Kansas, 22
Carl Edwards, 11-6-05, Texas, 20
Kyle Busch, 11-13-05, Phoenix, 19
Kurt Busch, 3-26-06, Bristol, 13
Kevin Harvick, 4-22-06, Phoenix, 10
Jimmie Johnson, 5-1-06, Talladega, 9
Dale Earnhardt Jr. 5-6-06, Richmond, 8
Greg Biffle, 5-13-06, Darlington, 7
Matt Kenseth, 6-4-06, Dover, 5
Denny Hamlin, 6-11-06, Pocono, 4
Kasey Kahne, 6-18-06, Michigan, 3
Tony Stewart, 7-1-06, Daytona, 1
Jeff Gordon, 7-9-06, Chicago, 0

If Jimmy (Mr. Excitement) Spencer were still active, he'd be in second place on the list. He went 348 races without a win after taking the checkers at Talladega on 7-24-94.

Jamie McMurray, who was batting .500 after winning his second-ever Cup race, now has a winning percentage of 0.76%.

In the history of NASCAR, 56 drivers have won exactly one race, among them active drivers like McMurray and Denny Hamlin. But of all the one-hit wonders, only one man ever got his first and only win in the Daytona 500 -- Mario Andretti in 1967.

All-time futility records? Rusty's more likable but less talented brothers make up 2/5 of the top five in this dubious list.

Kenny Wallace -- 317 races
Mike Skinner -- 240
Dave Blaney -- 217
Jeff Green -- 215
Mike Wallace -- 183
Casey Mears -- 126
Scott Riggs -- 98
Scott Wimmer -- 95
Brian Vickers -- 95
Tony Raines -- 66

 

The answer to my question about how many non-North American drivers have competed in NASCAR. And I'm leaving the guys who were only in one or two races off this list, because there are plenty of those but that's not really in the same class we're trying to go for here:

Mario Andretti (Italy) – 14 races: 1966-1969 (1 win-1967 Daytona 500)

Claude Ballot-Lena (France) - 7 races: 1978, 1979

Terry Byers (Australia) – 1989, 1990 (5 races)

Vic Elford (England) - 4 races: 1969- 1972

Christian Fittipaldi (Brazil) – 16 races: 2002, 2003

Hideo Fukiyama (Japan) - 4 races: 2002, 2003

Dick Johnson (Australia) – 7 races – 1989, 1990

Jackie Oliver (England) - 8 races: 1971, 1972

 

I realize Andretti was born in Italy, but he's lived most of his life in the States and did all of his racing as an American.