Dale Jarrett better than Rusty, HOF...

  • Thread starter Restrictor Plate King!
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Restrictor Plate King!

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Ok I was talking to a group of individuals the other day & we got into a discussion about why Rusty Wallace went into the HOF before Dale Jarrett. Now I myself was not a fan of either driver BUT had I been on the HOF voting committee I'd have voted in favor of putting Jarrett in before Wallace. IMO both drivers having a Winston Cup is where the similarities end, Jarrett won 3 Daytona 500's as well as a Coca-Cola 600, Brickyard 400 & a Winston 500. Rusty never won a single points paying restrictor plate race & as far as the other crown jewel events, he only won 1, the 1990 Coca-Cola 600. Now granted he was a force to be reckoned with on short tracks & road courses but the bigger races hold more water. Was he put in before Jarrett because he won his championship 10 years before him? Any thoughts....???
 
I can think of several to put in before both of them, but both were gonna make it soon enough anyway. Rusty retired before Jarrett so he was elgible before him is the only thing I can come up with. Dale Jarrett had the better career on paper but I think Rusty was more popular among the fans.
 
Dale Jarrett was just a spoiled rich kid who got the ride because of who his Daddy was. Light fuse.....run
 
SpeedPagan said:
Why dos the restrictor plate races hold more water than the other races?
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Only one really matters. The 500.

I agree with OP. Winning 3 of them plus the Indy 500 should have been enough.

But I doubt they were weighing who gets in first because if it came down between Rusty Vs. Jarret, Jarret would have gotten the nod first.
 
Restrictor Plate King! said:
Ok I was talking to a group of individuals the other day & we got into a discussion about why Rusty Wallace went into the HOF before Dale Jarrett. Now I myself was not a fan of either driver BUT had I been on the HOF voting committee I'd have voted in favor of putting Jarrett in before Wallace. IMO both drivers having a Winston Cup is where the similarities end, Jarrett won 3 Daytona 500's as well as a Coca-Cola 600, Brickyard 400 & a Winston 500. Rusty never won a single points paying restrictor plate race & as far as the other crown jewel events, he only won 1, the 1990 Coca-Cola 600. Now granted he was a force to be reckoned with on short tracks & road courses but the bigger races hold more water. Was he put in before Jarrett because he won his championship 10 years before him? Any thoughts....???
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Rusty Wallace is one of the best short track drivers in NASCAR's modern era.

9 wins at Bristol
7 wins at Martinsville
6 wins at Richmond

/thread

SpeedPagan said:
Why dos the restrictor plate races hold more water than the other races?
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They don't.
 
FenderBumper said:
Dale Jarrett was just a spoiled rich kid who got the ride because of who his Daddy was. Light fuse.....run
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You know if this message board was around in 'the day' people would be saying that here.

I'm sure if this message board was around in 1965, some people would be saying Richard Petty was a spoiled rich kid who was only getting a ride because of his daddy.
 
They both deserved to be in so it doesn't matter to me. :rolleyes:
 
reck said:
Good point.

Rusty also didn't retire completely and utterly done either.

The way Jarrett retired was sad. I think he was forced to retire because the suck was so bad.
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Unfortunately Jarrett wrapped up his career at MWR when it was in its infancy, a team that was horrible its first few years. But even in his last couple years with Robert Yates, you could tell his best days were behind him.
 
I like DJ but I've got to go with Rusty. He was a threat to win every single race for nearly two decades. Rusty's poor restrictor plate finishes were more of a product of bad luck than anything. I remember one year, he absolutely dominated Talladega and lost only because an engine expired in the final laps. And it's not like Rusty only had a couple good years in him. He won his first race in 1986. His first winless season after that was 2002 and the man finished second like five times that year.

I'm not taking anything away from DJ but I think Rusty's one of the best raw talents. He could come out of retirement this year and would probably make the Chase if he did (under either points system).
 
Next, we're going to argue that Michael Waltrip's better than Mark Martin because he won a Daytona 500. Or that Kevin Harvick's better than Kurt Busch (and he might be but I won't make that argument) because he won Daytona and Indianapolis.
 
reck said:
Rusty also didn't retire completely and utterly done either.
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Rusty wasn't anywhere near done when he retired.

Rusty wouldn't be done if he was still racing today. He probably wouldn't be a threat to win every single race like he was 20 years ago but I'd bet money he could make the Chase and would probably win a race or two at either Bristol and/or Martinsville.
 
Total races in this series: 603
First race: 1984 Sovran Bank 500 (1984-08)
Last race: 2005 Ford 400 (2005-36)
Rusty WallaceDale Jarrett
Head-to-Head 326 wins 277 wins
Actual Race Stats
Wins 53-32
Top 5's 189-162
Top 10's 312-256
Avg. Finish 14.0-16.2
 
Something to bring up. Because of Rusty Wallace, the roof flaps were created for the cars to prevent airborne crashes from happening as often. Without him having two horrible flips at Daytona and Dega, there would be no roof flaps and airborne crashes 90% of the races! which real fans wouldn't like.
 
reck said:
Good point.

Rusty also didn't retire completely and utterly done either.

The way Jarrett retired was sad. I think he was forced to retire because the suck was so bad.
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True, Rusty retired with his head held up high, but Jarrett retired with MWR in the early days of Toyota's NASCAR program. Those early 'Yoda engines were so awful, DJ might have looked a little better if he had stayed with a competitive. program at the time.
 
Wallace was a better driver and as someone else said, one of the best short track racers in Nascar history.
 
Dale Jarrett never did anything that impressed me as much as Wallace did in the Kodiak #27.
Rusty was very dominating during those years and the early 90s Penske years.

I forget whether Dotson or Jimmy Maker (sp) was his CC but they had an aggressive approach. In those days you could do unscheduled green pit stops with less damage (no pit road speed limits). I remember them giving up a few laps, and still being fast enough to make it up without the lucky dogs. Rusty was wicked fast, they did it several times because they knew Rusty was fast enough.

I only remember Jarret fast enough to almost do that one rime. He lost 3 or 4 laps at Indy (no gas) and I think he made them up (didnt win that one).

If the topic only considered Indy and RP tracks I would take Jarrett. But overall it is Rusty , not even close imo.
 
have much did yates power have to do with the plate wins??? or other big track wins. ummmm ALOT!!!
 
Both drivers captured one CUP Championship.
Crusty was better on short tracks.
Dale was better on big tracks.
I think that they both would have gotten in eventually but as was said by GP99:
"Rusty retired before Jarrett so he was eligible before him."
 
KevinWI said:
True, Rusty retired with his head held up high, but Jarrett retired with MWR in the early days of Toyota's NASCAR program. Those early 'Yoda engines were so awful, DJ might have looked a little better if he had stayed with a competitive. program at the time.
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Jarrett quit being competitive long before he went to MWR.
 
Jarrett is the luckiest driver in nascar history. he was a mid to lower pack driver, than along comes Joe Gibbs with a new team and for some reason he picks Jarrett as his driver. than he gets the 28 ride, then they start a whole new team for him and he wins a championship. after that nothing.
 
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