2026 Daytona 500 Countdown

[Revman]

The ever-controversial Denny Hamlin. In his early years and for a long time, he was a punk and a bully, always enabled by Joe Gibbs. Later, many people including me thought he cared more about golf than about racing... yet still found time for "over 10,000 races" LOL. In recent years, he has become one of NASCAR's most influential people... co-founded 23XI with Michael Jordan; continued to win for JGR at a stellar rate into his mid-40's; one of the leaders - along with MJ and Bob Jenkins - of the car owners' revolution against France Family hegemony.

And Denny Hamlin has "beat your favorite driver" 60 times, so far. Whew!

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....and has handled his return to racing after losing the championship, and the devastating loss of his Dad....and injuries to his Mom with the grace and class of a true Hall of Famer. Denny ****** Hamlin. Let's go!

 

[donthaveanickname]

View attachment 91745

 

[RFK-PensekeFan]

 

[pjmolo]

 

[LewTheShoe]

Bill Holland won the 1949 Indy 500, and finished P2 in 1947, '48, and '50. His teammate (Mauri Rose) won in 1947 and '48. Offenhauser engine, Deidt chassis. "Blue Crown Spark Plug Special"

Alan Kulwicki's Underbird...

"Polish Victory Lap"

Adam Plessinger, Team Yamaha then KTM...

Dave Blaney...

Dirt Modifieds and Dirt Late Models are awesome race cars, but they are ugly (IMO). Form follows function... as it should for race cars.

 

[donthaveanickname]

Barry Sheene

Toprak Razgatlıoğlu aka Stoprak

Kimi

Michael Andretti

Geoff Bodine

Justin Allgaier

Corey LaJoie

 

[donthaveanickname]

Three shots of Joe Dawson's National Motors #8, winner of the 1912 Indy 500. Dawson led just two laps, 199-200.

Related to you, may I ask?

 

[LewTheShoe]

Barry Sheene was such a rock star in England in the 1970's that grand prix motorcycle road racing became as mainstream as F1 is today. At Silverstone in 1979, Sheene and Kenny Roberts fought what is probably the greatest mano-a-mano battle in the history of gasoline. Roberts won. And I was there!

Geoff Bodine...

Tommy Baldwin Racing... Alex Bowman in 2015, and Regan Smith in 2016.

Penske Porsche 963...

Will the new F1 rules offer Ferrari a glimmer of hope to find a path out of the wilderness? I hope so.

 

[LewTheShoe]

Related to you, may I ask?

No, not that I'm aware of. Although, my family history on my father's side is pretty murky and filled with holes, so anything's possible, LOL. My mother's side has been researched pretty well, and of course we have different surnames on her side.

 

[Greg]

 

[Greg]

 

[Greg]

Most of #07 cars I have posted today are Ivan Baldwin cars.

 

[Pat]

1991 Alan Kulwicki

 

[StandOnIt]

Jr. in the Caddy

 

[Hikaru Kitsune]

 

[Doc Austin]

 

[aunty dive]

Bill Holland won the 1949 Indy 500, and finished P2 in 1947, '48, and '50. His teammate (Mauri Rose) won in 1947 and '48. Offenhauser engine, Deidt chassis. "Blue Crown Spark Plug Special"
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Alan Kulwicki's Underbird...
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"Polish Victory Lap"
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Adam Plessinger, Team Yamaha then KTM...
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Dave Blaney...
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Dirt Modifieds and Dirt Late Models are awesome race cars, but they are ugly (IMO). Form follows function... as it should for race cars.
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Ugly is too kind a word.

 

[LewTheShoe]

Ugly is too kind a word.

I remember dirt modifieds from the early 1970's. Some of them were really beautiful... didn't look very different from pavement mods, in fact. And pavement mods today remain good looking cars. But dirt cars have evolved dramatically... form follows function, as I said above. But they are not easy on the eyes, like they were "back in the day."

1972, Ronnie Dunston, Penn National Speedway

 

[StandOnIt]

I'm not much of a fan of any cars where they shove the body, motor, rear end etc to the left side and lose the symmetry, or rear suspension that shoves itself into the back seat etc. It doesn't make any difference for speed if they all do it and it looks stupid to me.

 

[pjmolo]

View attachment 91787

 

[kkfan91]

Modifieds are only ugly because the only people building them the right way are Northeast big blocks. My wife says all the other types look like fish.

 

[StandOnIt]

What do you call that one, origami special?

 

[DIDIT]

Back in the day not sure which I liked the best, Hooters or Kulwicki.

 

[RFK-PensekeFan]

 

[Doc Austin]

 

[Dwayne]

 

[pjmolo]

 

[donthaveanickname]

Wyoming's Breanna Noble "Breezy" Johnson, your 2026 Olympic downhill champion

Mark Martin

Matty K

Brad K

Stefan Bradl

Norm

Isack Hadjar

Nico Rosberg

Riccardo Patrese

 

[LewTheShoe]

2020 Daytona 500, the night we all prayed for Driver #6...

Three days later, prayers answered...

 

[LewTheShoe]

Marshal Teague

Cotton Owens

David Pearson (driver) Cotton Owens (owner)

Buddy Baker (driver) Cotton Owens (owner)

1965... Cale's first Cup win

1962 Roger Penske "Zerex Special"

Mark Donohue, AMC for Trans Am, Porsche for Can Am (Team Penske)

2024 Darlington, Brad K driver and co-owner...

 

[LewTheShoe]

Helio 2021 Indy 500 (his 4th win)

Mark Martin

 

[Dwayne]

 

[StandOnIt]

 

[Greg]

David Pearson drove for Cotton Owens from 1962 to 1967. As a team, they competed in 170 races, with 27 victories, a winning percentage of 15.88%. They also won the 1966 Grand National Championship, now known as the Cup Series.

The "Greatest of All Time" is often debated and an impossible argument to prove.
Pearson's performance while driving for Cotton Owens and later with the Wood Brothers was exceptional. With the Wood Brothers, he had an insane winning percentage of 29.65%.
Both of those teams have had many great drivers, but their most dominant years were the ones with David Pearson doing the driving.

Note; I think the driver for the #06 is Dale Earnhardt.

 

[LewTheShoe]

I love the diversity of the photos in this thread. @Dwayne posting hydroplanes and those crazy offset super modifieds are highlights for me. Thank you, Dwayne. And thank you to all for the amazing array of racing photos.

@Greg your perspective on David Pearson is spot on. I refuse to even entertain the thought of a single GOAT, and I think the diversity shown in this thread argues against even naming a single GOAT from any given era. I prefer to think in terms of a short list of GOATs by era. Back in the 1960s and '70s, Richard Petty was my favorite stock car driver, so I'm sure I under-appreciated Pearson to some degree... but he was always on my short list nonetheless.

Earlier today I overlooked one unique #6 that I love... Wilbur Shaw's 1937 Indy 500 winner (and 1938 runner-up, which carried car number 1). Chassis designed and built by Wilbur Shaw himself, Offy motor. Driven by Shaw, with Jigger Johnson as riding mechanic. Subsequently, Wilbur Shaw drove a Maserati in 1939 and 1940 to consecutive victories. So his combined Indy 500 record from 1937-40 was... 1-2-1-1. Not too shabby!

 

[Pat]

Pearson

 

[RFK-PensekeFan]

The famous Tyrrell P34 six-wheeler

Richard Petty drove D.K. Ulrich's no6 chevy in the 1986 Coke 600 after wrecking his own car in practice. For some reason NASCAR didn't allow backup cars then so Ulrich offered the King his ride for the race.

 

[DSquad48]

 

[DIDIT]

 

[Dwayne]

I love the diversity of the photos in this thread. @Dwayne posting hydroplanes and those crazy offset super modifieds are highlights for me. Thank you, Dwayne. And thank you to all for the amazing array of racing photos.

@Greg your perspective on David Pearson is spot on. I refuse to even entertain the thought of a single GOAT, and I think the diversity shown in this thread argues against even naming a single GOAT from any given era. I prefer to think in terms of a short list of GOATs by era. Back in the 1960s and '70s, Richard Petty was my favorite stock car driver, so I'm sure I under-appreciated Pearson to some degree... but he was always on my short list nonetheless.

Earlier today I overlooked one unique #6 that I love... Wilbur Shaw's 1937 Indy 500 winner (and 1938 runner-up, which carried car number 1). Chassis designed and built by Wilbur Shaw himself, Offy motor. Driven by Shaw, with Jigger Johnson as riding mechanic. Subsequently, Wilbur Shaw drove a Maserati in 1939 and 1940 to consecutive victories. So his combined Indy 500 record from 1937-40 was... 1-2-1-1. Not too shabby!

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Thank you and I agree about Pearson as well, when friends were rooting for Petty I always rooted for the big bad Purolator Mercury...lol