Weirdly he’s right. Championships are way harder to win. Yet somehow they mean less than ever. You could win the first 35 races. Run second in the final race and not win the championship
So right. Almost all integrity is gone. I stopped watching championship last year. This isn’t a stick and ball sport. We aren’t on the same field every week. We crown a champion through points to find out who was the best on every field through the whole season
Here’s a fun statistic: If points systems never changed Jeff would have 7 championships and Jimmy would have 4. Both definitely deserve their spot up there
I'm grew up a Jeff Gordon fan and now pull for Elliott amd while what you say is true by the results, if the system didn't change drivers would have probably raced different and took or less chances depending on the circumstances. I would have loved to see Gordon win more championships, but of the system didn't change wa can't say that he would have won just because he hypothetically would have under a different system. Although I do believe he is up there with Jimmie Dale and Richard regardless.
How would jimmie have only 4? Literally the way everyone would race and gameplan would be totally different. Jimmie almost won the title as a rookie in 2002
Jimmie would have 3. 2006, 2009, and 2013 2007 would've been Gordon, 2008 would've been Edwards, 2010 would've been Harvick, and 2016 would've also been Harvick.
@@rcguy902 ok so Jeff would have 6 to Dale 8 it's a moot point cause he did pass away. Wasnt comparing him to Dale, just stating Jeff got fucked by this garbage playoff system while his teammate JJ reaped all the rewards. Why people dont put a lot of weight into today's champions. Is it harder to win a cup championship, yes absolutely. Every team has a bad race, if that bad race comes on the cusp of a cut off or final race then you are done. But motorsports is about a season champion, not who got hot at the right time. I was never even a fan of Jeff, but I've hated this playoff system more, it's a joke.
No Pearson is the GOAT only ran 4 full seasons won 3 championships , over 100 wins, him and petty finished 1-2 63 times got the better of him over half, has the greatest statistics of any driver.
That is my exact Nascar Mount Rushmore.He is so right on about its harder to win races also and Gordon is on there for things like the 13 win season it was hard even back then to win that many races look at how many were in contention every week when he did that among other things that has me put Gordon with them.
@@AAA310 Yes, he would have. Look up spreadsheets for the old points formats of playoff/chase seasons. Jeff Gordon would've just edged out Jimmie in 2004 (47 pts), won by a country mile in 2007 (353 pts), and would've won comfortably in 2014 as well. 4+3=7. However, an argument can be made that Jimmie would've won the 2004 championship if his team didn't shit the bed and had 3 straight engine failures from Indy-Michigan. Chad Knaus liked to build a cushion in the first 16 or so races to just guarantee a spot in the chase and then experiment for the last 10.
I’ve seen that statistic many times. I’m a Hendricks fan so no hate there. But these teams completely modified their strategy to maximize points in the new system. So what people are really saying is that if the rules secretly stayed the same but everyone thought the rules had changed…. Gordon would have won 7 championships.
i cant deny that. but if you had to take one off maybe gordon or jj just cuz their cars were absolutely ALWAYS the best in the field. petty was the same way but he was a gearhead that worked on his car. id put smoke over gordon, just because of versatility and the way he worked himself through a ton of racing series
Richard Petty, Curtis Turner, Dale Earnhardt, and either Fireball Roberts or Herb Thomas. Jimmie and Jeff weren’t responsible for creating the sport. They just took advantage of what the good ole boys built for them years in advance 🤷🏻🤷🏻🤷🏻
i would have richard petty and earnhardt(obvious reasons), david pearson(best PT driver of all time and the only man who scared richard petty on the track who i thought couldve outdone pettys stats if he was full yime), and 1 more pair, jeff and jimmie since they are the best from the modern era.
Jeff Gordon is the reason Jimmy J came on board. JG scouted JJ. And then disrespected JG. No loyalty. This is why Jeff left NASCAR. Loyalty speaks volumes
No disrespect to JJ, because I really like him and I think he is a fantastic driver. But I’d put David Pearson on there over Jimmie. Earnhardt, Petty, Pearson, Gordon.
David Person Should be on there. I wouldn’t have Johnson on there. The reason Championships are harder to win today is because it a stupid way to crown a champion. Playoffs should be for stick and ball sports , not motor racing.
Even if he belongs in the top 4 I don’t think Petty is really top 4 imo. Mainly because I think his equipment was ions ahead of his competition. Obviously NASCAR would never debate the topic, and rightfully so.
@@danielsoutherd don’t forget that when both were interviewed, Petty agreed that Pearson was the better driver, and all Pearson said was “I agree with Richard”.
@@nep-nep6575 You could almost always count on Richard to be classy and David to have a sharp wit. They finished 1-2 63 times. David won 33 of those. I love them both!
Thats what is frustrating about him, when hes not whining or taking people out because of his temper tantrums, he actually has deep thoughts and respects the past. His childish behavior just makes it hard to root for him
There were many great drivers in the 50s 60s and 70s tha😊t many people have never heard of. Petty would never had been as good without factory backing though
No one wants to talk about how Petty had the 426 hemi to carry him for awhile through his career. Granted he is/was a great driver. But he really did have a fast car for a longggg time
Petty drove superior equipment than his competition for the vast majority of his career.Taking nothing away from his accomplishments on the track,but winning all those races was made easier when he was in the best car money could buy(or build,in the case of Petty Enterprises).
As much as I hate to agree with this man, I feel he's correct. And while sure it was tough, it's still racing, all they had to do was just be consistent. Didn't Matt Kenseth win a championship without winning a race one year? Honestly I can't remember, unfortunately I just don't watch and follow it like I once did many years ago
Kyle, although until this season, i was not a big fan becayse of different takes on behavior...BUT I HONESTLY BELIEVE YOU re to be on that mountain as well... you have many wons many hard fought wins...you deserve to be there...your thinking and driving abilities are totally dominant....you are mu h more enjoyable to watch and pisten to take as you have natured...Good stuff!!
This is an argument that people never think about because Petty's time was a looooong time ago. I think Kyle Busch deserves to be there instead of Richard Petty. Kyle Busch's 229 wins in all 3 Nascar series IS a greater accomplishment than Petty's wins for sure. A ton of Petty's wins were at races that a lot of full time drivers weren't bothering to go to. Additionally, there were many championship years where there weren't a lot of drivers even truly running a full time schedule. Meanwhile, a lot of Busch's truck and Busch series wins were at a time when you'd have 5 or 6 cup drivers competing in and winning all those races. The competition level was the equivalent of Petty running all those races where he was just racing a few competitive drivers and some locals.
Busch is right, championships are harder to win yet mean close to nothing. The Matt Kenseth rule man... not that I blame Kenseth as he was the last winner of the Winston Cup before the Chase, it's NASCAR for making the Chase in the first place
I think it’s too hard to compare eras and this there should be 3 different lists. Pioneers Petty Pearson Yarbrough B. Allison Legacy Earnhardt Gordon Waltrip R. Wallace Modern Jimmie Harvick Ky. Busch Tie between Logano-Hamlin
How would a championship be harder nowadays? Maybe it's equal, but harder? Back in the day you would be out of it after the first 10 races. Now you can be in it till the very end. Now 4 drivers have a chance in the last race. How many times during the old format was that possible?
The races and championships are harder to win today but for all the wrong reasons. Dale and all the guys he named won all those championships racing against way better drivers than are currently in the cup series today. if you’re in first place on a restart to win a race in OT you’re basically guaranteed to get wrecked and not win in todays nascar.
No matter what the era is it usually comes down to who has the fastest car, unless it's today where you get wrecked for no reason because nascar wants to manufacture excitement.
It's Earnhardt. Gordon,Johnson. The 4th could be left open.richard petty raced like 5 days a week with all illegal cars. 4th could be Pearson fairly easily
While that is true, Pearson has 105 wins but some were prior to the Modern Era of 1972 but I could be incorrect. But yeah his 3 titles really did discredit him a little bit. While arguably it would a dispute between David Pearson and Jeff Gordon. One has more titles than the other by 1 and the other has 12 more wins than the other. But really most would be Gordon mostly because, they may not know David Pearson.
Are you joking? Pearson only ran 4 full seasons won 3 championships nobody has a stat like that. The only thing that compares is Dale Earnhardt backing up rookie of the year with a championship.
Yeah the championships harder to win because it doesn't reward the most consistent best driver of the season it turns it into a crapshoot of stupidity 🙄
If Kyle gets to like 75-80 wins and gets another title he’s on this list to me. Maybe even without the title because as he said they are basically luck now.
That doesn't take way the fact the Jimmy was dominant as hell in the mid 2000s. And honestly when it comes to Mount Rushmores, order doesn't really matter at all.
I'm sorry I'm very sorry I've been watching car races 40 years and damn it I hate to say this this guy busch probably one of the greatest drivers I've ever freaking scene this dude gets in the car and he wins in everything but God I hate saying it
I don’t David Pearson was a beast, not to mention Ritchie Evans most NASCAR sanctioned championships ever the only one to have his number retired by NASCAR only beaten at Daytona once won the fastest MPH race at Daytona.
Those 4 drivers are most DEFINITELY up there for me. If there was a 5th spot on the NASCAR Mt. Rushmore, it's Matt Kensith cuz he's a good driver, a really nice guy, avoids drama like the plague, and you'd have to be a real asshole to get him mad at all (looking at you, Joey Logano).
I don't think Kenseth would be up in the 5th spot though. He'd have a lot more ahead of him still. If it was a combination of nice guy and awesome driver, then yeah, Kenseth is up there.
@Daveon Haskins my wife got us VIP tickets to watch his last race at Pocono. I always think about how many more wins he would have had with evernham as crew chief.
@daveonhaskins5319Maybe Phoenix, 2012 he should've deserved a suspension for me if NASCAR enforced the rules more strictly like what happened to Elliot at Charlotte last week. So yeah and his feud with Kenseth partially so other than that he was arguably up there.
When was the "once were"? Petty had competitive edge because factory sponsored and race every where all the time in his career. Parity of cars has made it more competitive wherein there are more cars in the field with legit chance to win, but its still the cream the rises to the top and always has. I wonder what Kyle will think 30 years from now when some current champion of the day is up there talking about how much harder is for him to win than back in the 20's.
NASCAR FIXED THE RULES AFTER HIS 2ND CHAMPIONSHIP GUYS LIKE Jeff Gordon, Dale Jarrett, Kyle Busch, Kirt Busch all great drivers who won tons of races, but got screwed by Mike Helton and the France Family so they could spawn fans! It is total crap now! Kyle Larson, and Chase are good, but their9wn heads screwed themselves. And I won't mention the greatest driver to never win a championship, Dennys Hamilton, because he is his own worse enemy
Petty, Yarbrough, Pearson, Earnhardt... It's only hard now because EVERYBODY RUNS THE SAME CAR & RULES ARE MADE FOR RATINGS. Screw NASCAR for ruining racing. It's like watching some kind of european bullsh*t like F1 or soccer.
He half right,but think about this.Yes, championships are harder to win today because there are far more competitive cars in the field,but the cars were much harder to drive back then in The Kings and The Intimidators day.The talent and grit behind the wheel won more races/championship back then,where the shop back home and engineers at track play bigger roles today.
There was far, far more cheating back then, and the teams with more money (Petty) were at a huge advantage. The equipment was WAY more important than the driver in Petty's time. Go look at his 1967 season where he had 27 wins. See how many cars actually finished on the lead lap in those races. Bobby Allison and David Pearson are legendary drivers and raced in those years. I see a race where Bobby Allison finished in 4th place.....but he was TEN laps behind Petty. Did Allison just suddenly forget how to race that week? Nope. It was the equipment.
@@jek4837In my opinion if the driver's of old in their prime had to race against drivers now, they wouldn't stand a chance. These guys now have to remember a lot more rules than they did back then.
The way they determine the championship today. Is not the same. The drivers that are racing today. Are not even in the same category as Richard, Bobby, Cale, David, Dale.. We're a way better than any drivers racing today. Not even close Including Kyle Bush, Jimmy Johnson, and Jeff Gordon. Champion ships don't mean you were the best drivers.
Championships are harder to win bc guys like Richard Petty, David Pearson, Earnhardt Sr, DW, and Cale aren’t out there cheating, like they admittedly did back then. Nowadays every car has pretty much the same capabilities, it’s the drivers and their skill on the track who have to separate their cars from the rest of the pack, in order to win championships. I’ll always have respect for those 4 pioneers of the sport, but Jimmie Johnson’s 7 championships look a lot better to me than Sr or Petty’s, and Tony Stewart’s 3 championships look a lot better than Pearson, DW or Cales 3 championships. I just try to split them into two eras, my back then top 5 is Richard Petty, Dale Sr., Pearson, Cale, then DW and my modern day too 5 is Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, and Dale Jr. Some honorable mentions for both top 5’s are Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, Lee Petty, Buck Baker and Martin Truex Jr.
Aside from how the rules had changed, drivers adapted to the changes. Winston era points with finishes and wins really counted. By year end there would be lucky to have two going for the championship. The final four situation really killed it for drivers and I can see whybhe mentioned its harder now tonwin than before. There was juat too much BS in Jimmie's favor for those 7 cups and that's what killed the sport. Not his wins or Championships but the way NASCAR called amd did things.
I never thought the day would come when I would agree with Kyle Busch on everything he said. Even though I am a Jeff Gordon fan, I could make the argument to have David Person to be up over Jeff Gordon. For most of the 70s he raced for the Wood Brothers and they never ran a full season. Yet he would still place in the top ten in points simply because he won alot. The 4th guy is the hardest person to pick.
That's the consensus top 4. More interesting to see the top 4 past them. Pearson Waltrip KFB Stewart Yarborough Allison A lot more names you can add too. Some of the winningest drivers of the early days, the 90s guys who only walked away with 1 championship, and the super talented drivers/all around all time great drivers like Richmond, Larson, Foyt, etc
Ehh this is such a hard question because wins/championships =/= how good someone is necessarily. Tony Stewart had 49 wins but I believe easily is one of the most raw talented wheelmen ever. Kyle Larson is another example, the guy is a natural but is 31 and has 21 cup wins…it could be difficult at this point for him to win 85+ races but he’s without a doubt one of the most naturally talented drivers to take the green flag. Same goes for people like Rusty Wallace, Ricky Rudd, even Kyle Busch, etc. All naturals that didn’t need ideal conditions to be super competitive consistently over a long stretch of time. Let’s not forget guys who never got the chance to show us how much noise they could really make like Davey Allison, Tim Richmond, and Alan Kulwicki…they tragically never made it past their thirties. Johnson and Gordon and others who have won multiple championships, in my opinion, can’t be held in much higher regard than some of those guys. Just my two cents
Kyle does have a great point, like personally I don’t believe Petty was a top 5 driver all time because that era was just not as competitive. I think the 80s is when things really started to pick up with the amount of competition. That is why Earnhardt, Johnson, and Gordon are my top 3 easily. Also Gordon kind of shaped NASCAR into what it was for the early 00s and 10s. Won in multiple generations of cars and was good anywhere. Also would have had 7 chips if points had never changed. Gordon might just be the GOAT tbh.
David Pearson the only guy Petty feared. Here’s a fun one Ritchie Evans 10 time NASCAR modified champion, his number 61 the only number NASCAR retired, won the fastest race ever ran at Daytona against numerous big Cup guys.
Richard would be on mine only do to public image and popularity. He was a great driver and did win 7 so dont me wrong i think hes one of the greats BUT hes also the most overrated driver of all time, he was winning in a time when rules and regulations were monitored by a drunk guy holding a measuring tape, races happened 5 to 9 times a WEEK, he was really the only driver with a full team and garage with duplicate cars. He made it to 200 because he had that Hemi which was technically illegal racing 7 times a week against guys that had literal junk yard cars with a rebuilt engine in it that only got to race once or twice a week. Once David Pearson showed up he bested Petty most of the time and won over half the races petty did in half the races he ran, once Nascar buckled down amd had a legitimate tech screening operation in 1980 and forward Petty couldnt win anything and ran mid-pack most the time, long story short, Petty Great driver, but best of all time? Absolutely not. The best of all time is a toss up between 3 and 48. Then Pearson, then Gordon, then Petty.
Kyle Busch changed when becoming a father. Then finding out his actions have consequences on his ability to land a ride I think changed him. I like him a lot better than I used to. His son looks like he is going to be really good at racing. I saw Braxton take a really hard wreck and he started crying but kept going and came back to finish 2nd or 3rd. I wouldn't have kept going getting the wind knocked out of you sucks.
Well to be fair Jimmie won in almost every single points format to have existed. He only ran 2 under the Winston format and had an average finish of 3.5 in the standings, so he very well could’ve gotten one then too if they raced longer under the old format. Also, Kyle couldn’t win in any of the other formats, until the recent one, so was it really harder to win?
Jeff Gordon is better than all of those drivers. If you were to put them all in their prime against each other, he wins. Petty won championships in a car that had twenty more horsepower than most of the field. Dale didn't have the competition Jeff had and when he did, he didn't win another championship.
Gordon should be the greatest of all time. He should have 3 more titles and if anyone thinks dale would have won an 8th title your delusional! Dale was barley winning races his las 6 seasons! He wasnt even in contention! He wouldnt have won and 8th and hes lucky to even have 7!
![Kyle Busch breaks down the difference between racing in NASCAR and F1 [FULL INTERVIEW]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/VCAnfFw9xXY/mqdefault.jpg)
![Kyle Busch breaks down the difference between racing in NASCAR and F1 [FULL INTERVIEW]](/img/tr.png)
Weirdly he’s right. Championships are way harder to win. Yet somehow they mean less than ever. You could win the first 35 races. Run second in the final race and not win the championship
So right. Almost all integrity is gone. I stopped watching championship last year. This isn’t a stick and ball sport. We aren’t on the same field every week. We crown a champion through points to find out who was the best on every field through the whole season
@@Ben-kb1ub I fully agree with both of you because Kevin Harvick said as much after he got eliminated in 2020 at the Martinsville cut-off race.
It’s all luck now. The fact that there was a chance that Kyle Larson wouldn’t have won the championship in 2021 says it all.
You could lead every lap of every race but if you don’t lead the last lap of the last race you’re not the champion
Cause it doesnt pay like wins do, wins are the pay window. Titles are just headlines
Here’s a fun statistic: If points systems never changed Jeff would have 7 championships and Jimmy would have 4. Both definitely deserve their spot up there
I'm grew up a Jeff Gordon fan and now pull for Elliott amd while what you say is true by the results, if the system didn't change drivers would have probably raced different and took or less chances depending on the circumstances. I would have loved to see Gordon win more championships, but of the system didn't change wa can't say that he would have won just because he hypothetically would have under a different system. Although I do believe he is up there with Jimmie Dale and Richard regardless.
How would jimmie have only 4? Literally the way everyone would race and gameplan would be totally different. Jimmie almost won the title as a rookie in 2002
Not necessarily the system was different drivers would have raced different
@@AAA310 yet who won rookie of the year? ahhaahahaha
Jimmie would have 3. 2006, 2009, and 2013
2007 would've been Gordon, 2008 would've been Edwards, 2010 would've been Harvick, and 2016 would've also been Harvick.
Gordon is the best. Got absolutely shafted by the championship format. Would have multiple more championships
I hate Jeff with a passion but your 100% correct
Nope Dale was better 7 to 4
I beleive Gordon would have had 7 if they kept the old format and didnt go to this garbage playoff system.
@Shane nope and if Dale hadn't passed in 01 he wins the 8th title and it would be 8 to 3
@@rcguy902 ok so Jeff would have 6 to Dale 8 it's a moot point cause he did pass away. Wasnt comparing him to Dale, just stating Jeff got fucked by this garbage playoff system while his teammate JJ reaped all the rewards. Why people dont put a lot of weight into today's champions. Is it harder to win a cup championship, yes absolutely. Every team has a bad race, if that bad race comes on the cusp of a cut off or final race then you are done. But motorsports is about a season champion, not who got hot at the right time. I was never even a fan of Jeff, but I've hated this playoff system more, it's a joke.
Don't forget that Dale won a race at Bristol with no power steering. I think he's the best lol
They didn't have power steering til the 70s. Geoff bodine was the first to use power steering in any nacar series in a modified.
Dale won the race in Bristol without power steering in 1985. His power steering pump failed. @@lousmith5885
David Pearson
Jeff Gordon shifted the whole model of nascar to where it is today. He's definitely on there.
Is that a good thing though?
Matt Kenseth changed the Nascar points system twice
It's Pearson..no question. 4 full time seasons and 3 championships.
4 full time seasons and 105 wins?
@@High-Side-Broadcastinghe Raced partial schedules the rest of his career and still won 5-10 races every season for several years
That’s right… 4 full time seasons. And yes, 105 wins..
Imo Jeff is THE goat. Dales a fucking legend but Jeff was something else. Those 4 are who’d I’d pick too.
Nope Dale is
Dale was better than jeff 7 to 4
No Pearson is the GOAT only ran 4 full seasons won 3 championships , over 100 wins, him and petty finished 1-2 63 times got the better of him over half, has the greatest statistics of any driver.
@zacharyradford5552 no Dale was the goat 7 titles is more than 3 learn basic math 7 > 3
@@rcguy90293 to 76.
Jimmie Johnson, Dale Sr, Richard Petty, Kyle Busch
I actually would consider Kyle.
That is my exact Nascar Mount Rushmore.He is so right on about its harder to win races also and Gordon is on there for things like the 13 win season it was hard even back then to win that many races look at how many were in contention every week when he did that among other things that has me put Gordon with them.
If they kept the old point system jeff gordon would also have 7 championships
No he wouldnt have wtf. Only good years he had were 2007 and 2014
@@AAA310 is it that hard for you to do research? Or do you just like to look silly?
@@AAA310 Yes, he would have. Look up spreadsheets for the old points formats of playoff/chase seasons. Jeff Gordon would've just edged out Jimmie in 2004 (47 pts), won by a country mile in 2007 (353 pts), and would've won comfortably in 2014 as well. 4+3=7.
However, an argument can be made that Jimmie would've won the 2004 championship if his team didn't shit the bed and had 3 straight engine failures from Indy-Michigan. Chad Knaus liked to build a cushion in the first 16 or so races to just guarantee a spot in the chase and then experiment for the last 10.
@@JohnSmith-mk5jtno under a different format drivers would have raced different
I’ve seen that statistic many times. I’m a Hendricks fan so no hate there. But these teams completely modified their strategy to maximize points in the new system. So what people are really saying is that if the rules secretly stayed the same but everyone thought the rules had changed…. Gordon would have won 7 championships.
i cant deny that. but if you had to take one off maybe gordon or jj just cuz their cars were absolutely ALWAYS the best in the field. petty was the same way but he was a gearhead that worked on his car. id put smoke over gordon, just because of versatility and the way he worked himself through a ton of racing series
unfortunately, people don't think about these things. great point
Cale Yarbrough, Bobby Allison, David Pearson, Curtis Turner, Tim Flock, Tim Richmond, &
Kyle you should be on there too 😊
Not even close 😂😂😂
Junior Johnson, Richard petty, Dale Earnhardt, Jimmy Johnson 😊
My 4th would be Junior Johnson because he's a historical figure on the world of NASCAR.
Bobby Allison. Dale Earnhardt. Cale Yarborough, David Pearson
in my opinion the 4th one instead of jeff gordon, its either fireball roberts, wendel scott or anyone who drove the fabulous hudson hornet
Richard Petty, Curtis Turner, Dale Earnhardt, and either Fireball Roberts or Herb Thomas.
Jimmie and Jeff weren’t responsible for creating the sport. They just took advantage of what the good ole boys built for them years in advance 🤷🏻🤷🏻🤷🏻
i would have richard petty and earnhardt(obvious reasons), david pearson(best PT driver of all time and the only man who scared richard petty on the track who i thought couldve outdone pettys stats if he was full yime), and 1 more pair, jeff and jimmie since they are the best from the modern era.
Earnhardt, Petty, Kulwicki, Johnson.
I don’t think you can argue against this top 4
Jeff Gordon is the reason Jimmy J came on board. JG scouted JJ. And then disrespected JG. No loyalty. This is why Jeff left NASCAR. Loyalty speaks volumes
Jeff Gordon is also #3 in wins all time, behind only Pearson and Petty.
I’ll agree with em
Junior Johnson has to be up there. Man, there’s so many greats
No disrespect to JJ, because I really like him and I think he is a fantastic driver. But I’d put David Pearson on there over Jimmie. Earnhardt, Petty, Pearson, Gordon.
Surprised he didn't mention Gordon as top 3
My 4th would be rusty
You think Rusty Wallace and Mark Martin would agree?
No they wouldn't
David Person Should be on there. I wouldn’t have Johnson on there. The reason Championships are harder to win today is because it a stupid way to crown a champion. Playoffs should be for stick and ball sports , not motor racing.
I agree with kyle
Gordon has 4 actual championships.
Even if he belongs in the top 4 I don’t think Petty is really top 4 imo. Mainly because I think his equipment was ions ahead of his competition. Obviously NASCAR would never debate the topic, and rightfully so.
And at the Coke 600 they put david Pearson over Jimmie Johnson that hart me so bad
David Pearson was very good, he was just overshadowed by the king Richard Petty
That and he basically drove part time
Better statistics than Richard too.
@@danielsoutherd don’t forget that when both were interviewed, Petty agreed that Pearson was the better driver, and all Pearson said was “I agree with Richard”.
Pearson has almost 50% less starts compared to Petty. If he had ran every race I think he would have 200 wins for sure.
@@nep-nep6575 You could almost always count on Richard to be classy and David to have a sharp wit. They finished 1-2 63 times. David won 33 of those. I love them both!
Earnhardt 3 was the best.and this season Kyle I'm a little bit proud of you.your actually acting like a human.
💯 percent.
Thats what is frustrating about him, when hes not whining or taking people out because of his temper tantrums, he actually has deep thoughts and respects the past. His childish behavior just makes it hard to root for him
Older , wiser , Kyle is really easy to cheer for .
Only way for championship to be is points for the whole season. The championship should be on your mind every second you are racing
Jeff would have the seven championships if they didn't change the format. Jimmy would only have three
There were many great drivers in the 50s 60s and 70s tha😊t many people have never heard of.
Petty would never had been as good without factory backing though
No one wants to talk about how Petty had the 426 hemi to carry him for awhile through his career. Granted he is/was a great driver. But he really did have a fast car for a longggg time
Yeah I think on the hood it said 425 horsepower Yeah f****** right
Petty drove superior equipment than his competition for the vast majority of his career.Taking nothing away from his accomplishments on the track,but winning all those races was made easier when he was in the best car money could buy(or build,in the case of Petty Enterprises).
@@brianeverett8376 And he's got a bridge he wants to sell you too.
There were others who had 426 hemi engines.
So you think auto racing has to have LESS horsepower than the competition???
🤣🤣🤣🤣
As much as I hate to agree with this man, I feel he's correct.
And while sure it was tough, it's still racing, all they had to do was just be consistent.
Didn't Matt Kenseth win a championship without winning a race one year?
Honestly I can't remember, unfortunately I just don't watch and follow it like I once did many years ago
Kyle, although until this season, i was not a big fan becayse of different takes on behavior...BUT I HONESTLY BELIEVE YOU re to be on that mountain as well... you have many wons many hard fought wins...you deserve to be there...your thinking and driving abilities are totally dominant....you are mu h more enjoyable to watch and pisten to take as you have natured...Good stuff!!
This is an argument that people never think about because Petty's time was a looooong time ago. I think Kyle Busch deserves to be there instead of Richard Petty. Kyle Busch's 229 wins in all 3 Nascar series IS a greater accomplishment than Petty's wins for sure. A ton of Petty's wins were at races that a lot of full time drivers weren't bothering to go to. Additionally, there were many championship years where there weren't a lot of drivers even truly running a full time schedule. Meanwhile, a lot of Busch's truck and Busch series wins were at a time when you'd have 5 or 6 cup drivers competing in and winning all those races. The competition level was the equivalent of Petty running all those races where he was just racing a few competitive drivers and some locals.
I think Kyle Busch is in the mix. Outstanding career. Basically made Toyota a name in racing.
Busch is right, championships are harder to win yet mean close to nothing. The Matt Kenseth rule man... not that I blame Kenseth as he was the last winner of the Winston Cup before the Chase, it's NASCAR for making the Chase in the first place
I think it’s too hard to compare eras and this there should be 3 different lists.
Pioneers
Petty
Pearson
Yarbrough
B. Allison
Legacy
Earnhardt
Gordon
Waltrip
R. Wallace
Modern
Jimmie
Harvick
Ky. Busch
Tie between Logano-Hamlin
I'm actually glad that we still have people like Kyle and Denny Hamlin still around, giving that veteran presence
And harvick
@@carriewhitmore agreed. I might as well enjoy him as a driver until the season ends....
Logano, Truex, McDowell, Almirola, and Keselowski too.
@@speed4brainz absolutely!
@@speed4brainzMcDowell is not a star though.
I'm just knowing he wanted to honorable mention Tony Stewart because the way he carries himself 2nd to none!
Tony Stewart isn't even better than Cale Yarborough Bobby Alison Darrell Waltrip or David Pearson. Tony Stewart is not a top 5 driver all time.
@@Be.authentic_
There awful close though
@@Be.authentic_ and he's a #1 of many, even Millions... Just tune into social media 🤔
@@Be.authentic_ and Bottom Line___
Every favorite list is opinionated and subjective.
Like how he runs over people when angry? Top class
How would a championship be harder nowadays? Maybe it's equal, but harder? Back in the day you would be out of it after the first 10 races. Now you can be in it till the very end. Now 4 drivers have a chance in the last race. How many times during the old format was that possible?
Races, sure. Championships, absolutely not, and you're living proof of that
The races and championships are harder to win today but for all the wrong reasons. Dale and all the guys he named won all those championships racing against way better drivers than are currently in the cup series today. if you’re in first place on a restart to win a race in OT you’re basically guaranteed to get wrecked and not win in todays nascar.
No matter what the era is it usually comes down to who has the fastest car, unless it's today where you get wrecked for no reason because nascar wants to manufacture excitement.
@@callitwhatyouwant7862Yes Dale never wrecked anybody his whole career.
@@LEGO_NASCAR Not like what you see today
It's Earnhardt. Gordon,Johnson. The 4th could be left open.richard petty raced like 5 days a week with all illegal cars. 4th could be Pearson fairly easily
David Pierson is top 3
While that is true, Pearson has 105 wins but some were prior to the Modern Era of 1972 but I could be incorrect. But yeah his 3 titles really did discredit him a little bit. While arguably it would a dispute between David Pearson and Jeff Gordon. One has more titles than the other by 1 and the other has 12 more wins than the other. But really most would be Gordon mostly because, they may not know David Pearson.
Are you joking? Pearson only ran 4 full seasons won 3 championships nobody has a stat like that. The only thing that compares is Dale Earnhardt backing up rookie of the year with a championship.
Yeah the championships harder to win because it doesn't reward the most consistent best driver of the season it turns it into a crapshoot of stupidity 🙄
Might miss the cut, but Tony Stewart and Bill Elliott
If Kyle gets to like 75-80 wins and gets another title he’s on this list to me. Maybe even without the title because as he said they are basically luck now.
Busch is trash not even top 25 all time
The titles since 2004 r definitely luck
1. Earnhardt
2. Mark Martin
3. Petty
4. Bill Elliot
5. Kyle
I was looking for a Bill Elliott comment.
Martin had so much bad luck during his career especially with mechanical failures. People don't consider those kinds of things unfortunately.
Richard Petty
Dale Earnhardt
David Pearson
Jeff Gordon.
Most WINS and Championships.
I'd pick Gordon over Johnson because if not for the format change Johnson wouldn't have near the number of Championships he has..
7 time points leader
L
They would’ve raced differently
That doesn't take way the fact the Jimmy was dominant as hell in the mid 2000s. And honestly when it comes to Mount Rushmores, order doesn't really matter at all.
If nascar never introduced the chase the entirety of nascar history from 2004-present would be different anyways
For me I would have Richard petty,dale earnhardt,Johnson and max verstappen
Max isn't Nascar
Quit letting all the people who dont drive make the rules
I'm sorry I'm very sorry I've been watching car races 40 years and damn it I hate to say this this guy busch probably one of the greatest drivers I've ever freaking scene this dude gets in the car and he wins in everything but God I hate saying it
Crybaby Busch is overrated trash
I agree with Kyle's top 4 and I put kyle 5th
I don’t David Pearson was a beast, not to mention Ritchie Evans most NASCAR sanctioned championships ever the only one to have his number retired by NASCAR only beaten at Daytona once won the fastest MPH race at Daytona.
Kyle crybaby is overrated trash not even top 25
Busch is overrated trash not even top 30
Those 4 drivers are most DEFINITELY up there for me. If there was a 5th spot on the NASCAR Mt. Rushmore, it's Matt Kensith cuz he's a good driver, a really nice guy, avoids drama like the plague, and you'd have to be a real asshole to get him mad at all (looking at you, Joey Logano).
I don't think Kenseth would be up in the 5th spot though. He'd have a lot more ahead of him still. If it was a combination of nice guy and awesome driver, then yeah, Kenseth is up there.
Lot more dangerous when it was 'easier' to win titles.
Preach with the jeff gordon pick. He was the funnest driver to watch when i was a kid.
@Daveon Haskins same here!
@Daveon Haskins my wife got us VIP tickets to watch his last race at Pocono. I always think about how many more wins he would have had with evernham as crew chief.
@Daveon Haskins absolutely!!
@Cliff Wade nah the most fun to watch was Dale Earnhardt
@daveonhaskins5319Maybe Phoenix, 2012 he should've deserved a suspension for me if NASCAR enforced the rules more strictly like what happened to Elliot at Charlotte last week. So yeah and his feud with Kenseth partially so other than that he was arguably up there.
Surprised that I actually agree
Kyle your one to man
Jeffrey may have had 8 championships if they didn’t change the system!
No he wouldnt have wtf. Only good years he had were 2007 and 2014
@@AAA310: that was the same system that won him his first four championships!
@@AAA310 And 2004
@@JohnSmith-mk5jt2004 JJ
Yes champions are harder to win but doesn’t mean as much now
They're harder to win but easier at the same time. More teams have a chance later in the season.
When was the "once were"? Petty had competitive edge because factory sponsored and race every where all the time in his career.
Parity of cars has made it more competitive wherein there are more cars in the field with legit chance to win, but its still the cream the rises to the top and always has.
I wonder what Kyle will think 30 years from now when some current champion of the day is up there talking about how much harder is for him to win than back in the 20's.
NASCAR FIXED THE RULES AFTER HIS 2ND CHAMPIONSHIP
GUYS LIKE Jeff Gordon, Dale Jarrett, Kyle Busch, Kirt Busch all great drivers who won tons of races, but got screwed by Mike Helton and the France Family so they could spawn fans!
It is total crap now!
Kyle Larson, and Chase are good, but their9wn heads screwed themselves.
And I won't mention the greatest driver to never win a championship, Dennys Hamilton, because he is his own worse enemy
Petty, Yarbrough, Pearson, Earnhardt... It's only hard now because EVERYBODY RUNS THE SAME CAR & RULES ARE MADE FOR RATINGS. Screw NASCAR for ruining racing. It's like watching some kind of european bullsh*t like F1 or soccer.
Dale is easily the GOAT, the sport died with him
Nope. The sport died with Covid and the fake bubba B.S.
He half right,but think about this.Yes, championships are harder to win today because there are far more competitive cars in the field,but the cars were much harder to drive back then in The Kings and The Intimidators day.The talent and grit behind the wheel won more races/championship back then,where the shop back home and engineers at track play bigger roles today.
There was far, far more cheating back then, and the teams with more money (Petty) were at a huge advantage. The equipment was WAY more important than the driver in Petty's time. Go look at his 1967 season where he had 27 wins. See how many cars actually finished on the lead lap in those races. Bobby Allison and David Pearson are legendary drivers and raced in those years. I see a race where Bobby Allison finished in 4th place.....but he was TEN laps behind Petty. Did Allison just suddenly forget how to race that week? Nope. It was the equipment.
@@jek4837In my opinion if the driver's of old in their prime had to race against drivers now, they wouldn't stand a chance. These guys now have to remember a lot more rules than they did back then.
The way they determine the championship today. Is not the same. The drivers that are racing today. Are not even in the same category as Richard, Bobby, Cale, David, Dale.. We're a way better than any drivers racing today. Not even close Including Kyle Bush, Jimmy Johnson, and Jeff Gordon. Champion ships don't mean you were the best drivers.
Championships are harder to win bc guys like Richard Petty, David Pearson, Earnhardt Sr, DW, and Cale aren’t out there cheating, like they admittedly did back then. Nowadays every car has pretty much the same capabilities, it’s the drivers and their skill on the track who have to separate their cars from the rest of the pack, in order to win championships. I’ll always have respect for those 4 pioneers of the sport, but Jimmie Johnson’s 7 championships look a lot better to me than Sr or Petty’s, and Tony Stewart’s 3 championships look a lot better than Pearson, DW or Cales 3 championships. I just try to split them into two eras, my back then top 5 is Richard Petty, Dale Sr., Pearson, Cale, then DW and my modern day too 5 is Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, and Dale Jr. Some honorable mentions for both top 5’s are Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, Lee Petty, Buck Baker and Martin Truex Jr.
Aside from how the rules had changed, drivers adapted to the changes.
Winston era points with finishes and wins really counted.
By year end there would be lucky to have two going for the championship.
The final four situation really killed it for drivers and I can see whybhe mentioned its harder now tonwin than before.
There was juat too much BS in Jimmie's favor for those 7 cups and that's what killed the sport.
Not his wins or Championships but the way NASCAR called amd did things.
I never thought the day would come when I would agree with Kyle Busch on everything he said. Even though I am a Jeff Gordon fan, I could make the argument to have David Person to be up over Jeff Gordon. For most of the 70s he raced for the Wood Brothers and they never ran a full season. Yet he would still place in the top ten in points simply because he won alot. The 4th guy is the hardest person to pick.
And Kurt Bush, you ….
I guess are not on the MT. Rushmore of NASCAR….. but are the OUTHOUSE of NASCAR.
That's the consensus top 4. More interesting to see the top 4 past them.
Pearson
Waltrip
KFB
Stewart
Yarborough
Allison
A lot more names you can add too. Some of the winningest drivers of the early days, the 90s guys who only walked away with 1 championship, and the super talented drivers/all around all time great drivers like Richmond, Larson, Foyt, etc
Ehh this is such a hard question because wins/championships =/= how good someone is necessarily. Tony Stewart had 49 wins but I believe easily is one of the most raw talented wheelmen ever. Kyle Larson is another example, the guy is a natural but is 31 and has 21 cup wins…it could be difficult at this point for him to win 85+ races but he’s without a doubt one of the most naturally talented drivers to take the green flag. Same goes for people like Rusty Wallace, Ricky Rudd, even Kyle Busch, etc. All naturals that didn’t need ideal conditions to be super competitive consistently over a long stretch of time. Let’s not forget guys who never got the chance to show us how much noise they could really make like Davey Allison, Tim Richmond, and Alan Kulwicki…they tragically never made it past their thirties. Johnson and Gordon and others who have won multiple championships, in my opinion, can’t be held in much higher regard than some of those guys. Just my two cents
I feel like DW, Pearson and Cale would have to be honorable mentions. Those guys were great as well. IMO the best era of NASCAR was 1980-2/18/01
2006-2010 Was only one 🐐 those years
Kyle does have a great point, like personally I don’t believe Petty was a top 5 driver all time because that era was just not as competitive. I think the 80s is when things really started to pick up with the amount of competition. That is why Earnhardt, Johnson, and Gordon are my top 3 easily. Also Gordon kind of shaped NASCAR into what it was for the early 00s and 10s. Won in multiple generations of cars and was good anywhere. Also would have had 7 chips if points had never changed. Gordon might just be the GOAT tbh.
Nomination think it's easier ...Jimmy Johnson would be a 1 time champion under the old system
David Pearson the only guy Petty feared. Here’s a fun one Ritchie Evans 10 time NASCAR modified champion, his number 61 the only number NASCAR retired, won the fastest race ever ran at Daytona against numerous big Cup guys.
Without Kyle Busch, Toyota Racing wouldn't have made it.
That’s a tough one to argue but I think you could swap many drivers with the last spot and they would all be good ones.
If Davey Allison had not had his crash. Jeff Gordon is just a 2 time champ. Davry would have won atleast 2 in the 90s.
Suprized Kyle didnt pick Brad K
I would put people who made the largest impact on the sport.
Bill France
Richard Petty
Benny Parsons
Smokey Yunick
Jimmy Johnson doesn't have 7 if they don't add the playoff bull shit and Gordon has 7.... Gordon gets in Rushmore way before Jimmy
Richard would be on mine only do to public image and popularity. He was a great driver and did win 7 so dont me wrong i think hes one of the greats BUT hes also the most overrated driver of all time, he was winning in a time when rules and regulations were monitored by a drunk guy holding a measuring tape, races happened 5 to 9 times a WEEK, he was really the only driver with a full team and garage with duplicate cars. He made it to 200 because he had that Hemi which was technically illegal racing 7 times a week against guys that had literal junk yard cars with a rebuilt engine in it that only got to race once or twice a week. Once David Pearson showed up he bested Petty most of the time and won over half the races petty did in half the races he ran, once Nascar buckled down amd had a legitimate tech screening operation in 1980 and forward Petty couldnt win anything and ran mid-pack most the time, long story short, Petty Great driver, but best of all time? Absolutely not. The best of all time is a toss up between 3 and 48. Then Pearson, then Gordon, then Petty.
Richard petty, cale,Bobby Allison, David Pearson. No body who started after restrictor plates.
Kyle Busch changed when becoming a father. Then finding out his actions have consequences on his ability to land a ride I think changed him. I like him a lot better than I used to. His son looks like he is going to be really good at racing. I saw Braxton take a really hard wreck and he started crying but kept going and came back to finish 2nd or 3rd. I wouldn't have kept going getting the wind knocked out of you sucks.
Bobby Allison, Dale Earnhardt, Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough.
Just my opinion but I feel that’s a good 4
Well to be fair Jimmie won in almost every single points format to have existed. He only ran 2 under the Winston format and had an average finish of 3.5 in the standings, so he very well could’ve gotten one then too if they raced longer under the old format.
Also, Kyle couldn’t win in any of the other formats, until the recent one, so was it really harder to win?
Dale definitely.. Petty has to be there. Jimmy no way . Mostly Knaus if u ask me. Gordon Yarborough
I agree with his 4, I’d even put Gordon above Johnson. He would’ve had 7 if they kept the points format.
Jeff Gordon is better than all of those drivers. If you were to put them all in their prime against each other, he wins. Petty won championships in a car that had twenty more horsepower than most of the field. Dale didn't have the competition Jeff had and when he did, he didn't win another championship.
I think Jimmie was my favorite driver as a child (I was but a wee little baby when dale Earnhardt jr died) idk just always really like Jimmie.
Gordon should be the greatest of all time. He should have 3 more titles and if anyone thinks dale would have won an 8th title your delusional! Dale was barley winning races his las 6 seasons! He wasnt even in contention! He wouldnt have won and 8th and hes lucky to even have 7!