"Worst" Driver to win a Cup Championship in the past 30 years (1987-)

The point is not to comment at all. And it's all about perception I don't see how stating who is the worst of the best is negative. Would you consider a ranking list of the top 30 rock bands a negative to be #30, would you consider a ranking of the top 30 super bowl mvps to be a negative to be #30. I would not, you might and that's your perception. I personally think it's fun to talk about hypothetical situations, imaginary lists, etc. Just have fun and just enjoy the topic.
 
Fordracing7 said:
The point is not to comment at all.
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The thread premise implies that there is /are one or more people on that list who are unworthy champions.

I disagree but I shouldn't comment on the thread? You seem unaware that differences of opinion on a wide variety of subject matter in every thread on the board is the norm here.
 
The thread could have been done many different ways one of which could have been to rate the champions in the time period specified. For whatever reason some people get all wadded up in how a something is worded and crap the bed anytime they feel Nascar or one of its drivers are being denigrated. For me the lowest on the GREATNESS TOTEM POLE is Alan Kulwicki simply due to the brevity of his body of work. I could see how some would have picked Bobby Labonte and definitely Kyle Busch although Kyle was never under consideration for me as I don't acknowledge any of the lottery champs.
 
Skoalbandit33 said:
The thread could have been done many different ways one of which could have been to rate the champions in the time period specified. For whatever reason some people get all wadded up in how a something is worded and crap the bed anytime they feel Nascar or one of its drivers are being denigrated. For me the lowest on the GREATNESS TOTEM POLE is Alan Kulwicki simply due to the brevity of his body of work. I could see how some would have picked Bobby Labonte and definitely Kyle Busch although Kyle was never under consideration for me as I don't acknowledge any of the lottery champs.
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Except that Kyle has damn near as many Cup wins as both of the Labonte boys combined.
 
This is a really tough question to answer. Bobby Labonte was really good for a 6-7 year period. His was excellent in 2000. Not only did he win the title but won the Brickyard when that race was at its peak of popularity. He was potentially headed for another title in 2003 when the wheels fell off 2/3 of the way through the season. He was never the same after that. Bobby had one of the more bizarre careers with how his career fell off the cliff imo. He never lived up to his ultimate potential. With that said, his peak was among the very best I've ever seen. He was a very likeable driver too. Even when he was winning people liked him. I don't think I ever heard anyone boo Bobby from 1995 through 2004.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
This is a hard one. All the drivers on this list are/were damn good.

I have to go with Bobby Labonte and Terry Labonte. When I think of the 1990s, I think of that ******* ******* 24 car and his ******* 13 wins in 1998, Dale Earnhardt, Mark Martin, Rusty Wallace, Dale Jarrett, Davey Allison, Ernie Irvan and Jeff Burton. Bobby Labonte, and Terry Labonte only had a couple really stellar seasons.
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Terry also won a title in 1984, as well as the '96 title. He was really good every year in the 80's, and great for a few years in the 90's. His only down years were the early 90's driving for Billy Hagan, and his last few years when he was clearly past his prime.

Terry Labonte is a legend.
 
2 Sweet said:
Terry also won a title in 1984, as well as the '96 title. He was really good every year in the 80's, and great for a few years in the 90's. His only down years were the early 90's driving for Billy Hagan, and his last few years when he was clearly past his prime.

Terry Labonte is a legend.
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Terry Labonte is basically Ricky Rudd but with two championships. Both were rock steady guys on every type of track but didn't win in bunches. As a result they were often (unfairly) looked at as "boring"....
 
Skoalbandit33 said:
The thread could have been done many different ways one of which could have been to rate the champions in the time period specified. For whatever reason some people get all wadded up in how a something is worded and crap the bed anytime they feel Nascar or one of its drivers are being denigrated. For me the lowest on the GREATNESS TOTEM POLE is Alan Kulwicki simply due to the brevity of his body of work. I could see how some would have picked Bobby Labonte and definitely Kyle Busch although Kyle was never under consideration for me as I don't acknowledge any of the lottery champs.
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I'm pretty much on board with you. It pains me to say it but I have to go with Kulwicki too. His "Underbird" perfectly represented him. AK was not expected to compete for the title in 1992 let a lone win it. Plus, I think a lot of objective observers seem to believe Elliott had the better 1992 season despite the fact Kulwicki was holding the trophy in Atlanta.

Bobby Labonte entered the 2000 season as a clear title favorite after putting together a great 1999 campaign. As a result, I think his title in some ways was more of a coronation. Similar to Jarrett's title the year before...
 
I can't pick Alan because doing what he did and in the equipment that he did it in takes an extraordinary amount of talent.

My answer is Bobby Labonte. He's a great driver but he's the worst of an elite class. As others have mentioned, he had a very short peak and a sharp drop-off.
 
I can see how some would say AK with only 5 wins in his career, but man I just can't go there.

He was a self made champion. Won rookie of the year when he was 31!, despite his car owner shutting down the team and Alan then running his own team the rest of the season with one car, two engines,and a few crew members. He was the car owner, engineer, crew chief, mechanic, and driver.

Then he turned down other rides to keep running his own team. He was like 37 when he won the championship, then he died the next year.

Ya he may be the least accomplished driver of all those champions, but I think his story and path to get there deserves special recognition. He earned everything by his own hard work, brains, skill, and perseverance. I know some people think he lucked into the championship, due to Davey's bad luck and that Elliot had the better year, but that dude is a champion in every way and he did it his own way when nobody thought he could

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I can't say Kyle Busch because he's never won one.

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This is no different than ranking and comparing Super Bowl winning teams from over the years, and we have tv networks that dedicate hour long specials to that. I'm struggling to understand why people are struggling to understand the question posed in the OP.
 
AdoubleU24 said:
This is no different than ranking and comparing Super Bowl winning teams from over the years, and we have tv networks that dedicate hour long specials to that. I'm struggling to understand why people are struggling to understand the question posed in the OP.
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Me too as the only thing I can think of is that they did not like the wording of the question but the point of it was clear to me. There is definitely a hierarchy when it comes to the best and there is definitely room for discussion as to what driver or athlete was the worst of the best in addition to the best of the best. Unfortunately some folks can't see the forest for the trees and get wadded up over nothing.
 
Skoalbandit33 said:
Me too as the only thing I can think of is that they did not like the wording of the question but the point of it was clear to me. There is definitely a hierarchy when it comes to the best and there is definitely room for discussion as to what driver or athlete was the worst of the best in addition to the best of the best. Unfortunately some folks can't see the forest for the trees and get wadded up over nothing.
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Hah - seems so.

How about this - there will be a school-yard pick for drivers running next season and only the championship drivers from 1987 - 2016 are available. Who would you pick last?

I'd go with Bobby Labonte.
 
Alan Kulwicki he come out of nowhere to steal it from Davey and Elliott and that really should of been Davey's title.
 
JimmieGordon2448 said:
Alan Kulwicki he come out of nowhere to steal it from Davey and Elliott and that really should of been Davey's title.
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Championships were all about consistency that year - something that Davey struggled with that year.


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I will go with Dale Jarrett. I just have never felt that he was all that great. Granted, I was a huge Bobby Labonte fan so I am biased. I feel that Bobby's fall off coincides with the changes in the cars.
 
KodiakRusty89 said:
This is a really tough question to answer. Bobby Labonte was really good for a 6-7 year period. His was excellent in 2000. Not only did he win the title but won the Brickyard when that race was at its peak of popularity. He was potentially headed for another title in 2003 when the wheels fell off 2/3 of the way through the season. He was never the same after that. Bobby had one of the more bizarre careers with how his career fell off the cliff imo. He never lived up to his ultimate potential. With that said, his peak was among the very best I've ever seen. He was a very likeable driver too. Even when he was winning people liked him. I don't think I ever heard anyone boo Bobby from 1995 through 2004.
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he was fun to listen to on the scanner too at the races.
 
clarkfn2284 said:
I will go with Dale Jarrett. I just have never felt that he was all that great. Granted, I was a huge Bobby Labonte fan so I am biased. I feel that Bobby's fall off coincides with the changes in the cars.
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I was a big Bobby Labonte fan. His fall off had to do with team dynamics I reckon. Bobby became Driver 2 for JGR straight after winning a championship.
I wish he would spill the beans about what really happened within JGR back then.
 
Kyle Busch. A driver who misses 1/3 of the season shouldn't even be eligible for the championship but dummy Brian France let it happen.
 
clarkfn2284 said:
I will go with Dale Jarrett. I just have never felt that he was all that great. Granted, I was a huge Bobby Labonte fan so I am biased. I feel that Bobby's fall off coincides with the changes in the cars.
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I'd agree with that, I argued before he shouldn't have been a first ballot hall of famer
 
BobbyFord said:
Don't be silly. Champion only means that you outperformed everyone else for an entire season.
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Not really since 2004...surely not since the current way it's done. Don't got to outperform all season at all.
kyle18fan said:
Yes ....... a Kyle Busch bash thread me thinks :idunno:
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If we're going by who's been said the most, it's a Bobby Labonte bash thread.
 
I've think they are all great drivers, but some of the earlier drivers probably wouldn't be Champions if they had raced under the same rules that the drivers who won under the Chase rules. But got to admit, Kulwicki was pretty amazing to have done it the hard way with his own team. That was quiet an accomplishment in my opinion.
 
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