Is it possible that Dale Jr. just isn't an elite NASCAR driver?

I'll say this for Junior and I'll say it for Kyle Petty as well; the class with which they handled the deaths of people they loved is far more meaningful to me than anything they could do on the track. Any sportsman can be courageous and fight through adversity. When your sport kills your kin and you soldier on, hell, you get a thousand times more credit from me than the quarterback battling though a knee injury.

 

Earnhardt finished fifth in 2004, with the new chase format.

 

Right. But he was still slightly further back points-wise than was Petty, who was also fifth in '92 and didn't have the benefit of a points "reset" with 10 races to go that year.

Junior was third on one occasion prior to the Chase but even further back in terms of number of points behind the champion.

 

I am the most casual of NASCAR fans, but this thread made me wonder. If every driver was given an identical car for an entire season, is there any consensus as to which drivers would be battling for the championship?

 

Jeremy Mayfield, Scott Riggs and Joe Nemechek.

Seriously, though ... Tony Stewart's in that group. Like his idol A.J. Foyt, he can win in about anything he can wedge his chubby self into. Jeff Gordon's also that type of driver. Mark Martin. Martin Truex Jr. Juan Montoya. Carl Edwards' Giant White Teeth. Mike Skinner. (Yes, I said that. There's a reason teams keep asking him to help them out.) Kyle Busch. Matt Kenseth.

 

I'd say Stewart, Gordon, Johnson (if he had Knaus, because he could make it unidentical in a heartbeat), Martin (Mark, not Truex), Kyle Busch.

 

In my world, probably Stewart, Shrub, Juan Pablo, Martin and Gordon.

I'm not convinced Carl's more than a great set of abs and John Elway's teeth

 

Sxy will not be pleased.

Pity there's no more IROC to settle things.

 

Stewart and Earnhardt the elder are probably the two gutsiest drivers I've seen in person.

 

Hey Junior, Mama knew best.
Or should we say Stepmama?

 

The above responses are proof positive that Jimmie Johnson is the most underappreciated/under respected driver of his era and maybe ever.

 

Not to mention that his wife may be one of the biggest hotties in sports spouses.