Who's the most underrated/unappreciated drivers ever? Anywhere

Greg

Greg

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Yes it is a poll.
Feel free to offer up any driver, from any form of racing anytime, anywhere.
You are encouraged wherever your race hub may be to offer your own unique narrative.


The following suggestions are not limits, just some ideas to generate the discussion


Great drivers who:


- Simply didn't get enough respect for their accomplishments.


-Passed up by the best car owners, and never got a ride to match their talent.


again feel free to define underrated/unappreciated as needed




Disclaimer Understanding it is largely opinion or subjective, the thread will not put the issue to rest or resolve matters. But making the individual cases and offering a small level of recognition would produce a worthy thread.
 
My quick short list.


Bobby Isaac : A great talent, the 1970 champion.


Ward Burton: Much better than his equipment.


Jimmie Johnson: Many will not give him proper cred the 5 time. Often Chad Knous is mentioned as the man, Chad is great but I have never seen another CC identified as the main attribute at the expense of a driver's contribution.
 
First one that comes to my mind is Casey Atwood. I think he had the potential to be good driver --- but got thrown into the fire without some serious seasoning in the lower series. Ray Evernham didn't do this young man any favors.
 
TexasRaceLady said:
First one that comes to my mind is Casey Atwood. I think he had the potential to be good driver --- but got thrown into the fire without some serious seasoning in the lower series. Ray Evernham didn't do this young man any favors.
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I have to agree completely.
 
TexasRaceLady said:
First one that comes to my mind is Casey Atwood. I think he had the potential to be good driver --- but got thrown into the fire without some serious seasoning in the lower series. Ray Evernham didn't do this young man any favors.
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Very good example.



I have to give JJ a nod too for the same reason Greg mentioned. Everyone always kicks him down a notch by saying he couldn't do it with Chad or he couldn't do it without a Hendrick car. He's a great driver but many people don't want to accept that.


I have to ad Franchitti in a stock car, he was never really given a chance and at the time Ganassi had horrible equipment. That could be said for a lot of drivers though.
 
great topic. and i'm going to do a little thinking and research before i jump in.

quick thoughts...

times have changed. it seems these days, more than ever, an exceptional racing resume is superseded by name recognition and ability to bring your own sponsor.

there are so many racers with tons of talent that never get a shot. today's costs to be competitive prohibit us from ever seeing another alan kulwicki. probably why i enjoy regan smith's efforts.

multi car race teams dominate the locked in starting positions. if i remember correctly, back in the good ol' days, fully 2/3's of the field was made up of independants and low budget teams featuring talented racers in less than competitive cars. they showed their talents, then got a ride with the factory funded teams. now we call those racers start and park drivers.

once upon a time the nationwide and truck series ran different venues than the cup series. more low budget and independant teams could make a living and develop drivers in that farm system. not so much today.

enough for now. and with gold being the golden rule (and honestly, that isn't a new concept), i don't see things changing anytime soon.

will return with a couple of driver names and my opinion later.
 
Greg said:
My quick short list.


Bobby Isaac : A great talent, the 1970 champion.


Ward Burton: Much better than his equipment.


Jimmie Johnson: Many will not give him proper cred the 5 time. Often Chad Knous is mentioned as the man, Chad is great but I have never seen another CC identified as the main attribute at the expense of a driver's contribution.
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I don't know much about Bobby Isaac, but I have to agree on both counts with Ward and JJ. I find it ironic that the five time defending champion is underrated by SO MANY people....
 
Gordon_Fan24 said:
I don't know much about Bobby Isaac.
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Very understandable, it is ancient stuff.

I also need to clarify that my memories of Bobby are built on memories from when I was about 9 years old. That's when I saw my first race and Bobby won it at Greenville Pickens Speedway. That pick probably was sentimental.


BTW Petty was my favorite, he had two lap lead, but the right front both tire and wheel came off the car, so Isaac won.


As a boy during those couple of years Bobby was the main guy I thought Richard had to beat. Pearson was between the Holman Moody and Woods Brothers rides, and Cale was between the Woods and Jr Johnson years.
Bobby Allison was strong, but it seemed like he changed rides every year and that limited his consistency.


So that left Bobby in the #71 Dodge K&K Insurance car to fight. Harry Hyde was the CC and they were strong.
I can't recall Hyde's exact quote but he believed Isaac was one the best drivers ever.



Later on Bobby lost a lot of cred, According to Isaac a strange "voice" in the car told him to retire from the Talladega race in 1973 , so Bobby got of the car in the middle of the race.



A move that may stir some sarcasm, but not from me. There was a lot more guys getting killed then, and there was nothing romantic about the big one. FTR a driver was killed (Larry Smith) or did die in that race,



Bobby raced afterwards, but it was never same.
Bobby died from a heat stroke in 77 at Hickory.


But Bobby in that 71, was a great memory.
To this day I prefer solid simple paint jobs like he ran.
 
It's funny, but Casey Atwood and Ward Burton were the first two people that popped into my head when I read the thread's intro and they were both mentioned in the first few posts.

Casey Atwood could flat out drive the wheels off a car. Ray Evernham was a hell of crew chief, but he sure did seem to figure out how to screw this kid up.

Ward Burton is another guy who was a good driver, although not as talented as Casey in my opinion, who seemed to perform really well in not so great equipment but just never got the chance in a great ride. It's funny because the things that endeared him to so many of us fans were what I think scared off the big teams. They weren't sure how sponsors would take to a guy with that heavy of an accent promoting their brand. He's very in to wildlife conservation and responsible hunting practices. He just seems like a really great guy who you'd love to just spend a day or two with. He had a lot of fans, but apparently we weren't the kinds of fans spponsors wanted to reach. It just kinda sucks.
 
The past several years in my opinion ( and stepping out of my Oval Homeland ) I'd have to say Mark Webber.

The guy has 28 Podium finishes in the past 3 years ( for us oval heads thats 28 top three's in less than 60 race's ) but due to his teammate's incredible abilty/luck/talent/team favoritism he's treated like an also ran!

His Teammate? Sebastion Vettel, 33 podiums in 77 F1 races, last years F1 Champion and locked in as this years Champion even though there's 4 races to go.


There I made positive comments about roadracing make a mark on the wall.
 
a couple of names:

ron bouchard-60 top 10's in 160 starts= 37.5%

jody ridley-56 top 10's in 140 starts= 40%
 
Speaking specifically of this season, I would say Kevin Harvick. He's tied with Kyle for the most wins at 4, yet Kyle gets WAY MORE media coverage than Kevin, both during the races and inbetween races. Kevin was a contender for the Cup last year too, yet got little coverage. Currently he's ONE POINT behind Carl in the Chase, last week they were tied (Kevin technically ahead due to number of wins) and Edwards gets WAY MORE media coverage.

I know Kevin's racing style can be sort of stealth, where he moves up slowly and tries to be there at the finish, and I know his interviews are usually mild (unless he is pissed), but still, the guy deserves more respect than he has gotten.

Compare it to last season. Hamlin was all the media wanted to talk about. This year it's Edwards. What about Harvick? He's right there too!

Edited to add: Last weekend the TV commentators even said something like "We don't talk about Harvick much but..." They even admitted it.
 
KingGlamis said:
Speaking specifically of this season, I would say Kevin Harvick. He's tied with Kyle for the most wins at 4, yet Kyle gets WAY MORE media coverage than Kevin, both during the races and inbetween races. Kevin was a contender for the Cup last year too, yet got little coverage. Currently he's ONE POINT behind Carl in the Chase, last week they were tied (Kevin technically ahead due to number of wins) and Edwards gets WAY MORE media coverage.

I know Kevin's racing style can be sort of stealth, where he moves up slowly and tries to be there at the finish, and I know his interviews are usually mild (unless he is pissed), but still, the guy deserves more respect than he has gotten.

Compare it to last season. Hamlin was all the media wanted to talk about. This year it's Edwards. What about Harvick? He's right there too!

Edited to add: Last weekend the TV commentators even said something like "We don't talk about Harvick much but..." They even admitted it.
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Kevin is probably my favorite driver, warts and all. When Nascar suspended him a race for rough driving at Martinsville I wore a Harvick tee at Talladaga the next weekend. I would say he is slightly underrated. He is good at winning races by maximizing every opportunity.


But I understand Kyle being higher up on the list. Kyle is more of a animal on restarts, which is huge on double file restarts. Kyle also has a more impressive win record in the cup cars.


Hamlin isn't my favorite personality but for 2010, he simply had more wins and speed than 2010 Harvick. He probably had more speed than JJ as well, so the media frenzy was a natural thing.


I will agree at this stage that Harvick's 2011 is more impressive than Edward's 2011.



Kevin's cup career has three phases imo.

I. The beginning: strong and fast and the sky is the limit.

II. The middle years: Inconsistent, big Daytona win, big Brickyard win, but weekend and weekout not that good, the 29 team was an overall disappointment, KH included.

III. 2010 to present: Looking more like a force, winning more and a good points racer, just a small step away from being the best. I do believe he got everything out of the RCR equipment last year.


I enjoyed seeing a RCR car back in the hunt again.
I also hope that stepping away from ownership helps him to get a title.

Just my 2 cents.
 
Friday Hassler was one of NASCAR's most competitive independents

* Friday drove Chevelles when Chevrolet was almost a nothing in the series, the late 60s, early 70s.


Friday drove many laps in relief for winner
Charlie Glotzbach, in the 71 Bristol race, not officially credited but it was an excellent performance.
 
Donnie MacTavish the 1966 national champion.

I never saw him race, but I have read enough to believe it
 
LeeRoy Yarbrough a pick that some may debate.

-If there had been a Winston Million in 1969 he would have been the winner.


-After the factory pull outs in the 70's LeeRoy had a hard time getting good rides.


Along with LeeRoy, Cale Yarb, and the Allisons were making Indy 500 starts during that era.
LeeRoy almost won the the inaugural California 500 at Ontario Motor Speedway in 1970. He was leading with 9 laps remaining when the engine blew. source


That track was similar to Indianapolis, and probably had the same technical demands in an era were those open wheel cars were beastly.


-It is said that during the 1969 Talladega fiasco the LeeRoy punched Bill France in the face when he said the drivers were scared.


Sure LeeRoy had a lot of respect and is listed as one of the fifty greats, but timing and the head injuries limited him. I am believing he had a lot more to offer.
 
FlFlash said:
The past several years in my opinion ( and stepping out of my Oval Homeland ) I'd have to say Mark Webber.

The guy has 28 Podium finishes in the past 3 years ( for us oval heads thats 28 top three's in less than 60 race's ) but due to his teammate's incredible abilty/luck/talent/team favoritism he's treated like an also ran!

His Teammate? Sebastion Vettel, 33 podiums in 77 F1 races, last years F1 Champion and locked in as this years Champion even though there's 4 races to go.


There I made positive comments about roadracing make a mark on the wall.
Click to expand...

Hi
I have to agree with you about Mark. Hindsight is a wonderful thing but if the drives with Jaguar & Williams hadn't been screwed ,who knows.Not saying he hasn't done a brilliant job anyhow but age is going to beat him.And then there's Vettel, unfortunately ,or fortunately, who's going to stop him.
 
JPM...I know I know, that many consider him a very great driver. However I think many also think he isn't a very good stock car driver. I disagree. I think he can driver the wheels off of anything. I think if he was in HMS, JGR, or even Roush equipment he'd have many many oval wins and would be running for championships year in and out.
 
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