Most underrated/overrated driver(s) of the decade

Sorry I guess technically 2009 was the last decade and he was 3rd in the points after Race 4. Either way I thought Juan did a much better job than any of the other open wheel guys in the Cup Series. Always liked JPMs fiery attitude out there on track.
 
jaqua19 said:
Brad K is also overrated, as much as I enjoy him. Taking down the 48 in their prime, it was clear that Brad was a top 2-3 driver early on who was going to probably win 50+ races and a few titles..

He hasnt even competed for a title since
Click to expand...

Brad hasn't done well in the Homestead Bowl but he has got there. Also 2012 was in the last decade and out drove that 48 pretty impressively so I disagree with Brad. He had a very mediocre ending to 2019 though for sure.
 
Some of these drivers like Brad are victims of the team they drive for.
Brad for instance was the main focus when he won his championship. Since then Penske is now focused on two drivers and last season 3 drivers.
JGR has concentrated on Kyle, he gets what ever he wants or needs BUT Hamlin is a close second and their third car has done very well as well. I say they are the top team in Nascar. However I think they they would be even better running only two cars.
SHR has only produced one winning car at a time, first for Tony and Now Kevin. I think they put everything into the one car and let they other cars do what they can with what is left.
In order to back up my theory, just look at what FR was able to do with 1 car and it being the focus of their efforts. "Championship"
 
AuzGrams said:
What were we rating Juan as? He had a few good seasons, and in 2009 was leading the points after race 5 of the Chase against a prime 48 team.
Click to expand...
Well I guess time does fly. I had forgotten that he started NASCAR before 2010. He came with a lot of fanfare, much like Danica, but he never really produced. He had 9 years with only two wins. In his last three full time seasons he had 0 wins and 6 top 5s. I am not saying he didn't produce some decent numbers, but I don't think he ever lived up to his billing. That why I say he was overrated.
 
Keselowski overrated?

Nah, I think Brad has done well. Brad has won 30 times in nine years of being a full-time driver. That's pretty good and I do not think the current format suits Brad. Brad is a lot like Kurt Busch in a sense, he can wheel anything and is extremely smart. Brad does not have the outright speed of Logano though, I think Logano right now is a bit better.

Still Brad outside of a bad 2013 season has been fantastic, he and Paul Wolfe just has to find a way to keep and maintain speed from the earlier part of the season. They just have not been able to maintain, but overrated? Nah, I cannot call Brad that.
 
Kiante said:
Keselowski overrated?

Nah, I think Brad has done well. Brad has won 30 times in nine years of being a full-time driver. That's pretty good and I do not think the current format suits Brad. Brad is a lot like Kurt Busch in a sense, he can wheel anything and is extremely smart. Brad does not have the outright speed of Logano though, I think Logano right now is a bit better.

Still Brad outside of a bad 2013 season has been fantastic, he and Paul Wolfe just has to find a way to keep and maintain speed from the earlier part of the season. They just have not been able to maintain, but overrated? Nah, I cannot call Brad that.
Click to expand...
I agree 100 percent with you, not to got on a points thread topic but I believe in my heart Brad would be lethal in the Winston Cup Points format, he reminds me of an old school racer as he's gotten older in that if his car isnt a winning car that day he will get the best finish out of it by just bringing it home that day and nursing the equipment.
 
Is it not possible to nurse equipment to the finish in the current points arena?
 
aunty dive said:
Is it not possible to nurse equipment to the finish in the current points arena?
Click to expand...
sure it is. and I never said it wasnt. However the winner takes all race kind of makes that impossible if you plan on winning the championship. I suppose there's nothing wrong nursing your way there like Ryan Newman in 2014.
 
Kiante said:
Keselowski overrated?

Nah, I think Brad has done well. Brad has won 30 times in nine years of being a full-time driver. That's pretty good and I do not think the current format suits Brad. Brad is a lot like Kurt Busch in a sense, he can wheel anything and is extremely smart. Brad does not have the outright speed of Logano though, I think Logano right now is a bit better.

Still Brad outside of a bad 2013 season has been fantastic, he and Paul Wolfe just has to find a way to keep and maintain speed from the earlier part of the season. They just have not been able to maintain, but overrated? Nah, I cannot call Brad that.
Click to expand...
I should clarify. I don't think Brad ISNT a championship talent.

He absolutely is. I just expected a bit more at this point.

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk
 
Snappy D said:
sure it is. and I never said it wasnt. However the winner takes all race kind of makes that impossible if you plan on winning the championship. I suppose there's nothing wrong nursing your way there like Ryan Newman in 2014.
Click to expand...
You implied it. Your aggrieved posture here is limited to one race.

If you're in the 4 with a wounded car, you will get the best finish you can because that's what you do. Other than hot dog sales, Is there any facet of NASCAR racing to which you will not apply your grievance?
 
jaqua19 said:
I should clarify. I don't think Brad ISNT a championship talent.

He absolutely is. I just expected a bit more at this point.
Click to expand...
The fact that he HAS a championship supports your somewhat convoluted conclusion.
 
aunty dive said:
You implied it. Your aggrieved posture here is limited to one race.

If you're in the 4 with a wounded car, you will get the best finish you can because that's what you do. Other than hot dog sales, Is there any facet of NASCAR racing to which you will not apply your grievance?
Click to expand...
motorhome and camping parking
 
Some of the guys being listed as overrated aren’t rated at all lol.


Overrated- Clint Bowyer, Kyle Larson,

Underrated- Erik Jones, Corey Lajoie, Matt Dibenedetto,



I can’t believe I forgot my boy Chris Buescher, imma hold this L
 
DaBiff1618 said:
Some of the guys being listed as overrated aren’t rated at all lol.


Overrated- Clint Bowyer, Kyle Larson,

Underrated- Erik Jones, Corey Lajoie, Matt Dibenedetto,



I can’t believe I forgot my boy Chris Buescher, imma hold this L
Click to expand...
Matt Dibenedetto is held in very high regard so I don't think he's underrated.
 
aunty dive said:
The fact that he HAS a championship supports your somewhat convoluted conclusion.
Click to expand...
I expected another title and more wins by now at this point. If you want to get literal, underachieving is probably a better word here than overrated. Don't know how else to explain this

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk
 
jaqua19 said:
I expected another title and more wins by now at this point. If you want to get literal, underachieving is probably a better word here than overrated. Don't know how else to explain this
Click to expand...
Racing is hard.
 
Well I am pretty tired of all of the Matt hype myself and am impatient for the season to start. A whole bunch of people are saying he is the greatest thing since sliced bread. :p
 
eh, one race and he tries to pass no neck on the high side and he gets pinched. I just hope he keeps the wood brothers racing and that is going to take good finishes to bring sponsorship money.
 
aunty dive said:
...Other than hot dog sales, Is there any facet of NASCAR racing to which you will not apply your grievance?
Click to expand...
Well Martinsville did try to counterfeit the Jesse Jones for a year or two, it was very upsetting. Long live the red dog....
 
Jamie McMurray overrated/underrated at the same time. Won the crown jewels, then had 1 win in 8 years, 0 top 5s in 2012, never finished inside the top 10 standings.
 
If Dale Jr isn't the most overrated driver of the decade, or maybe all time, I’m not sure who would be.

d83.png
 
Joker said:
26 wins and 2 Busch championships? What a scrub.
Click to expand...
Overrated doesn't mean a driver being a bad driver.

Jr had ridiculous expectations, but I can understand why fans will consider him overrated. All of the marketing and such with no cup championship to show. It was a issue of the hype machine stated previously. I appreciated Jr more as he got older.

Jr was really an excellent racer all-round, just sucks that concussions derailed his career later on.
 
Kiante said:
Overrated doesn't mean a driver being a bad driver.

Jr had ridiculous expectations, but I can understand why fans will consider him overrated. All of the marketing and such with no cup championship to show. It was a issue of the hype machine stated previously. I appreciated Jr more as he got older.

Jr was really an excellent racer all-round, just sucks that concussions derailed his career later on.
Click to expand...
Yea I feel his career would still be going on if it wasn’t for his concussions, there was still more to be written career wise. Maybe another Daytona 500, maybe a real shot at a championship. Who knows? But I totally get why Jr was thought of as overrated, his expectations were those of to match or exceed what his father did and that just isn’t fair. People that bought into those expectations missed out on witnessing a pretty good career that unfolded in front of them. The kicker being Jr has surpassed his dad but off the track and here’s why....Jr is becoming the media/social media/brand giant of the industry. A podcast, NYT best author, NBC Broadcasting, Olympics coverage and now a show on NBC streaming that has him exploring abandoned tracks. He’s doing things now off the track as a retired driver that previous retired drivers never have done. DW, Benny Parsons and Kyle Petty come to mind in the broadcasting department but nobody has branched out like Jr is currently doing. And making it look natural too. I thought maybe Jeff Gordon could do it when he retired but Jr is leading the way. By a long shot. Seriously when Jr launched his Twitter account in 14 who would have thought it would become this?
 
Last edited:
ChexOrWrex said:
If Dale Jr isn't the most overrated driver of the decade, or maybe all time, I’m not sure who would be.

d83.png
Click to expand...
As a Jr fan I understand this argument. Based on expectations no one comes close. I think we agree that Jr was a good driver but based on the expectations thrown upon him he is overrated considering he never won A cup championship and outside of 3 or 4 years, was never a contender for the championship.

Kiante said:
Jr was really an excellent racer all-round, just sucks that concussions derailed his career later on.
Click to expand...
If Letarte hadn’t retired and Jr’s concussions weren’t a problem I honestly believe they would have had a real shot at a championship. Ives I didn’t feel was the right fit for Jr
 
Get That 88 Up There !! said:
As a Jr fan I understand this argument. Based on expectations no one comes close. I think we agree that Jr was a good driver but based on the expectations thrown upon him he is overrated considering he never won A cup championship and outside of 3 or 4 years, was never a contender for the championship.


If Letarte hadn’t retired and Jr’s concussions weren’t a problem I honestly believe they would have had a real shot at a championship. Ives I didn’t feel was the right fit for Jr
Click to expand...
I wish Letarte didn't retire, I wish he stayed on the pit box and not jumped into the commentary booth.

Ives and Jr didn't mesh at all and Jr was out on the track to be out on the track to finish obligations more than anything.

It was crazy, I think Jr lost interest for years after multiple win droughts, the DEI fiasco, and the McGrew era at HMS. He got a lot of heat, but he did well. Just not to the extent many expected. Dude had a lot of pressure on his shoulders and handled it well throughout his career.
 
Couple of other shoutouts for underrated Justin Allgaier, Parker Kligerman, and Brett Moffitt
 
Kiante said:
I wish Letarte didn't retire, I wish he stayed on the pit box and not jumped into the commentary booth.

Ives and Jr didn't mesh at all and Jr was out on the track to be out on the track to finish obligations more than anything.

It was crazy, I think Jr lost interest for years after multiple win droughts, the DEI fiasco, and the McGrew era at HMS. He got a lot of heat, but he did well. Just not to the extent many expected. Dude had a lot of pressure on his shoulders and handled it well throughout his career.
Click to expand...
Amazing that Letarte did so well with Jr. He was Gordon’s worst CC.
 
ChexOrWrex said:
Amazing that Letarte did so well with Jr. He was Gordon’s worst CC.
Click to expand...
Interesting, but its all about fit. Maybe, Letarte was able to extract a bit more with Jr because they always communicated well with one another. I'm not sure, but 2007 has was a fantastic year for Letarte and Gordon. Very fun season that was.
 
Kiante said:
It was crazy, I think Jr lost interest for years after multiple win droughts, the DEI fiasco, and the McGrew era at HMS. He got a lot of heat, but he did well. Just not to the extent many expected. Dude had a lot of pressure on his shoulders and handled it well throughout his career.
Click to expand...

Jr. was never the same after that Sonoma crash/fire.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom