Next week the 2010 decade is over and the 2020 NASCAR will be right around the corner. So that got me thinking who was the best NASCAR driver of the 2010’s ?
Jimmie Johnson. More championships and maturity. Kyle has matured a lot and deserves respect and if this were just a five year pole he would be deserving of the definition. But that does not change the foolish hot headed mentality that was a detriment during the early years of this decade.
Paul Menard. The guy raced the entire decade with only one win in 2011 and best point standing finish of 14th. He has to be good to endure 10 years with those stats. Runner up, Danica Patrick
Realistically, Kyle, based on stats, has the better record. His demeanor in the earlier years most likely tarnished the final tally somewhat but by comparison, and as much as I liked watching Jimmy drive, so smoooooooooth, must admit, IMO, Kyle is the driver of the decade.
Johnson all the way. Three of his 7 championships came in the decade. Johnson never bad mouthed the sport or tried to put himself above it. It's a night and day difference between Jimmie and Kyle personality wise but going by the stats, Kyle would win if that is the criteria. I think I went by who was not only a good driver but who was a better overall champion. Honorable mention and a short timer is Chase Elliott, I believe he has brought many new viewers to the sport along with popularity to the older fans.
Wins in the 2010's Driver Wins Top 5 Top 10 Races Championships Kyle Busch 40 144 211 348 2 Kevin Harvick 38 145 233 360 1 Jimmie Johnson 36 110 184 360 3 Brad Keselowski 29 114 182 360 1 Denny Hamlin 29 114 180 355 Martin Truex, Jr. 25 89 168 360 1 Joey Logano 22 113 193 360 1 Matt Kenseth 21 86 155 301 My answer is Kyle Busch. Harvick underrated, won every year in the 2010's same as KB. JJ's last 2 winless seasons take him out imo. Gets tough forming a top 5 best driver of the decade list.
There have been times when Kyle was not even the best that JGR had, Kenseth was better in 2013 and proved that Kyle needed to get better at the time. Jimmie slowed down the last couple of years, but he was clearly the best at HMS for a longer period of time and it wasn't that close. JGR has always had several cars capable of winning the championship. Jimmie didn't let the opportunities slip away.
That's a good point and lately since the kids came along he too has matured. He has been pretty good at not cutting off the limb he is sitting on with public criticisms about the sport.
His 2010 season is the biggest disparity from avg. starting position 21.0 to avg finishing position 8.67 I've ever seen for a championship contender, 29 car was stout in race trim. As soon as he made the switch to the 4 he became a frontrunner qualifying 8 poles in 2014 and leading over 2,000 laps in back to back seasons. Honestly, he should probably be sitting with more wins for that time period than he has, specifically 2015 only 3 wins that year is showing up lighter than expected considering how dominating they were on speed.
That switch to Ford hurt Harvick for awhile, but I think to a certain extent you can say that about Toyota/Gibbs early in the decade.
Probably why some people like Mario Andretti for his calm demeanor and some like A.J. Foyt for his fiery temper and hard driving style ya think? Both are a couple of the greatest drivers of all time.
I think based on pure performance wise....I’d lean towards Jimmie. He won 3 championships in this decade (10,13,16) after all but gosh the fall off since the middle of 17 has been STEEP. I think you can also make a case for Harvick ( he really contended in RCR equipment in 10-13 finishing 3rd, 3rd, 8th and 3rd in the points that time with 12 Cup wins. In RCR equipment, yet another need to pinch myself). I also think you need to include Kyle Busch based on the fact that out of his 56 Career Cup wins, 40(!!!!!) have come since and including the 2010 season. Say what you will about attitude and being an ambassador for the sport (I personally don’t care about any of that in a driver) that’s absolute dominance along with his 2 Cups thrown in as well. To me, Kyle finishes a very close second to JJ this decade (JJ has 38 career wins himself since and including 2010) and to be honest.......I almost want to say Kyle but I’ll say it’s JJ, Busch and Harvick
2018 changed that. So overall the switch was better for him. Harvick wins since the beginning of 2018 -12 Chevy wins in that time period - 11 So I disagree
Wow, even I wasn't aware just how consistent Harvick has been this decade. Most top fives and tens?? More wins than Jimmie? Add in the fact he should have three championships under the Winston system and you can definitely make his case.
Kyle Busch is the driver of the decade, Harvick is #2. I wish Carl had stayed around as he was just hitting his stride with Gibbs when he left and I think he'd be in the conversation.
Kevin Harvick Over the same time period Kyle has an average finish of 12.2 and Harvick is 10.6. To me given the silly championship format you can no longer count championships as a measure of driver greatness. Also considering Kevin wasn't really in top level equipment until 2014 I think he has the edge
Right. Under the old system, Kevin has 3 trophies, Kyle has two and Jimmie has just one this decade. Add in Harvick having the most Top 5's/10's and very close second in wins, and I'm gonna have to side with my guy here.
@Nitro Dude for driver of the decade (read following paragraph). Following RF protocols and posting logic: I have learned that in many cases even the hauler driver can win with the better cars.
Lololol Hold the phone... Gonna drop some facts and accolades/accomplishments for you guys real quick to set the thread/consensus strait. Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk
Kyle will need an attorney's argument for this one. Its JJ. Because at beginning of 2018, it was JJ and it wasn't even CLOSE. Coming into 2018, Johnson had 9 more wins this decade than Kyle Busch and Harvick. 9 more wins. Over the course of 2 seasons (20% of this decade), Busch has 13 unanswered wins vs Johnson, Harvick has 10. Despite this, Johnson only has 4 less wins than Busch. 2 less than Harvick and more titles. This decade: Johnson got win #11 at Dover Win #8 at Charlotte Win #9 at Martinsville Win #7 at Texas Became the all time leader at multiple tracks this decade. During this decade Johnson has won The Daytona 500 The Brickyard 400 The Southern 500 The Coke 600 The only driver to win all 4 crown jewel events this decade... For the second decade in a row. Kyle Busch hasn't won all 4 crown jewel events yet, and he hasn't won 3 titles yet. In a handful of ways, Johnson accomplished more this decade than Kyle Busch has his entire career. We are going to forget all of this because Johnson hasn't won in 2 years and Kyle finally wins title number two? The Jimmie Johnson era ended in 2016, not 2010. Johnson's declining decade is still superior to these other two champion's prime decade. Yes, the answer is Jimmie Johnson, no, Kyle Busch doesn't have a case here. Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk
Jimmie has the third most wins this decade, behind harvick and Kyle Busch. Harvick is the same age as Jimmie and is still performing at a high level while Jimmie can't finish top 16 in points. So now you're shifting the goalposts and ignoring the superior stats they have put up and are propping up crown jewel wins because that's the only area he has them beat lol. All wins count the same in the stat books. These are facts as well
Kyle Busch, then Kevin Harvick, then Jimmie Johnson. JJ was dominant at the start of the decade, but faded throughout. Kyle's been the GOAT all decade, and Harvick hasn't lost his beat yet.
So by focusing on the big events, championships, and the highest calibur of accomplishments, I'm moving goal posts? And you're not by picking the equivilant of box score stats and ignoring top end accolades? I'm not even going to engage with that hipocracy Lol If you need to cherry pick stats to make up for that discrepancy in high end accomplishments, as if those are greater accomplishments, it's already over. this post changes nothing. Said my piece here. Moving on Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk
Obviously. Johnson being vastly superior from 2010-2018 holds no weight. Silly Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk
