Has anyone here seen ESPNs list of the greatest drivers of all time? What a disgrace?

Question

Eyes in thedark...i was wel aware of Mario Andrettis achievements now you might want to make yourself aware of his nationality. mario andretti is Italian, he is 100% italian blood and he was born there..

Answer 1

The nature of ALL American sports broadcasting makes it seem that they are the world, and subsequently any sports championship that takes place there is THE world championship... baseball, gridiron.... and in Motorsports NASCAR.... the rest of the world knows that that is not the case... I can think of many occasions where real 'world' talent has gone to America and trounced their 'great' drivers...

1. CART in the early-90's (when it was a close second to F1 in terms of both technology and ratings...)... it was dominated by foreigners... Fittipaldi (who was in his 50's), Mansell, Tracy... even Michael Andretti couldn't cut it in F1 and came back... it shows how far behind most of the talent in the USA was when a man who was F1 champion 20 years earlier in 1974 was a main contender..

2. Zanardi and Montoya in the late-90's... Zanardi was no hot-shot in F1 yet was the cream of the crop in America.... Montoya dominated when F1 deemed him not ready yet...

IROC is almost exclusively for NASCAR drivers anyway... its like the baseball 'world series'....

There is a lot more to motorsport than F1... but it certainly is the peak of it, and therefore the greatest drivers have almost all come from there....

ESPN has made this list for Americans.... specifically the ones who think turning left is all you need to be a great driver (Kyle Busch)...

Answer 2

all of you are FOOLS!!! the number one driver in the whole wide world is SPEED RACER and number two is RACER X. what do you have to say to that!!!

Answer 3

the greatest driver of all time was an American national who also won the f1 championship his name was Mario andretti, and you inability to remember him makes your opinion less credible than the ESPN list,

and this is something that i have been noticing about all the Europeans here in Y/A, there is more racing than just road racing, weather you like it or not, i see far too often the bulk of people here in the F1 section seam to think the greatest driver ever was either senna or schumacher, how do we know? they only raced F1, M.S. came in 5th in le mans out of a 10 car class? we don't know if senna or M.S. could handle a dirt racer on an oval or a rally car snaking through a forest,

does that mean they shouldn't be on the list either? of course not, but my top 5 all time list wouldn't include any driver who hasn't won in multiple major series championships, so that puts the two gods of F1 at no better than 6th and 7th no matter how hard people try to convince me that they should be 1 and 2, and that's the real point this list is just a collaboration of opinions,

Edit first off im well aware on andrettis italian heritage, and im also aware that he was a us citizen before he ever went to F1 hence the term american "national"

second: Scuderia relax if it doesnt apply to you they let it go, but if your one one the many here that seem to think drag racing is no more than pres peddle-hit breaks, or that oval racing is no tallent press gas turn left then be offended because then i am talking about you,

if any of you think schumacher, senna, prost, or even the great fangio could strap into a dirt midget and beat steve kinser your deluted, if you think either of them could strap on a funny car dragster and beat john force your deluted, if you think thay could crawl into a nascar and beat richard petty in his day your deluted,  if you think either of them could jump into am impreza and beat lobe or the late mcrae its not going to happen,  its as rediclous as thinking any of those great drivers can hop into an F1 car, and beat schumacher

Answer 4

Come on, look at the people who voted. It doesn't take a genius to work out that most of them are in fact american, so they are most likely to vote for their own countrymen.

I don't find anything wrong with supporting fellow countrymen, its natural.

EDIT To eyesinthedrk: How dare you say 'and this is something that i have been noticing about all the Europeans here in Y/A.there is more racing than just road racing, weather you like it or not.'

My favourite driver is Sébastien Loeb, and as I recall, he drives in WRC, which means on all different kinds of terrain. Is that 'road racing?'

Your comment makes you seem prejudiced against Europeans and I advise that you withdraw it.

And oh my god, can I just get this straight? People in the FORMULA 1 SECTION think that a FORMULA 1 DRIVER is the best driver in the world? Well who could possibly have seen that coming?

Answer 5

Eyesinthedark! Most of the US of A famous People are either  some European blood or full blooded EUROPEANS. You think that because you think you dominate the world you know everything.

Give us a break and go back to the burger joints and let people discuss subject you know nothing about in peace!!!

Answer 6

There is more racing in the world than F1.

- Steve Kinser has dominated WoO like most your favorite  F1 drivers could only dream of.

- Shirley Muldowney was the 1st women champ in any racing series.

- Stewart has won in everything he has raced.  IRL champ and 2 time NASCAR champ.  1st ever USAC Triple Crown winner.  IROC champ.

Iroc may not be a real series but its had more than a few open wheel guys and drag racers run it too.

Did anyone actually read who the made the list for ESPN?  Most of them have racing experience.  Somehow I doubt you are more qualified than they are.

The Voters

• Kenny Bernstein -- Six-time NHRA champion with four Funny Car titles and two Top Fuel titles.

• Terry Blount -- ESPN.com motorsports writer.

• Tim Brewer -- ESPN NASCAR commentator and two-time Cup championship crew chief.

• K. Lee Davis -- ESPN.com motorsports editor.

• Mike Dunn -- ESPN analyst for NHRA events and one of only four drivers with 10 or more career victories in Top Fuel and Funny Car.

• Ray Evernham -- ESPN NASCAR analyst and crew chief for three of Jeff Gordon's four Cup championships.

• A.J. Foyt -- Four-time Indy 500 winner.

• Scott Goodyear -- ESPN IndyCar analyst, former IndyCar racer and member of the Canadian Motorsports Hall of Fame.

• Jeff Gordon -- Four-time Cup champion in NASCAR.

• Mike Harris -- Long-time auto racing writer for the Associated Press.

• Dale Jarrett -- ESPN NASCAR analyst and 1999 Cup champion.

• Dan Knutson -- Formula One writer for ESPN.com.

• Ryan McGee -- Motorsports writer for ESPN The Magazine and ESPN.com.

• Juan Pablo Montoya -- Current Cup driver, 1999 CART champion, 2000 Indy 500 winner and former Formula One driver.

• John Oreovicz -- American open-wheel racing writer for ESPN.com.

• Richard Petty -- Seven-time Cup champion in NASCAR.

• Marty Reid -- ESPN motorsports broadcaster.

• Tony Stewart -- Two-time Cup champion in NASCAR and 1997 IRL champion.

• Rusty Wallace -- ESPN NASCAR analyst and 1989 Cup champion.

Answer 7

Seriously.  Why are you taking it so serious?  Steve Kinser should not be anywhere on this list and I applaud the guy but neither should any Rally driver.  Lastly. If you really don't know that much about drag racing don't knock it.   It takes more skill then you think and takes more guts then other form of racing.  Its like sitting atop a ticking time bomb.

But yes I agree the list is garbage.

Answer 8

I dont know whether I want to agree or say, Shut the h**l up!  First, ESPN knows nothing about racing.  They prove that over and over.  I agree with some of your points and disagree with some.  Drag racing should not be included- I agree.  You could never write this list and please everyone, thats for sure.  Screaming at the tv screen can be fun sometimes!

Answer 9

When you say speed racer I hope you mean the cartoon and not that flop of a movie.

As for ESPN, I really believe they don't know anything about sports except who ever is the most popular becomes the number one of all time.  

I would have to take Mario over A.J. but having them first and second is ok.  But D. E. in the top 5?  Great NASCAR driver but no way he would have survived in F1 because he would have killed himself in the first year with his reckless style.  And to say CART and IRL is a joke.  CART was something special until they decided to destroy open wheel racing with the split.

Answer 10

What a c**p list.  ESPN staff are overpaid and eat burgers all day.  How can anyone take seriously, the opinions of people who think duck hunting is a sport?

Answer 11

I personally don't think your qualified to comment if you think driving the quickest accelerating land vehicle's "in the world" isn't real racing. 0 to 330 mph in under 5 seconds! Yea that's just a sunday drive.

Steve Kinser is from the World Of Outlaws. But you wouldn't know that because there the fastest cornering cars "in the world" on dirt.

Just make up your own list and i'll make mine.