
November 9th / 11th, 2007
"ESPN Makes Mistake: Petty is Still the King"
Recently ESPN and NASCAR joined forces to recognize the greatest drivers in
history. Most of them are giants from the past: Fireball Roberts, Cale
Yarborough, Bobby Allison, Darryl Waltrip, et al. Even one of today’s
superstars, Jeff Gordon, made the list.
But polls can be lighting rods. Remember when Michael Jordan was named the
best college basketball player in ACC history? A firestorm erupted because
David Thompson clearly held that distinction. Yes, Thompson’s NBA career was
cut short by problems with substance abuse, but no one ever played the college
game better than Skywalker. So much for the poll’s credibility.
The problem with polls and surveys is that they usually favor celebrities
who are still popular with the generation who elevated them to star status.
Muhammad Ali, for example, is always named ahead of Rocky Marciano as the
greatest boxer who ever lived, yet many men who fought and managed against the
Rock agree that, in his prime, Marciano would have beaten Ali.
And then there was the ESPN Sports Century poll which ranked Jordan, Babe
Ruth and Ali ahead of Jim Brown. Newsflash, Jim Brown excelled in several
sports, and was clearly the superior athlete among the field. At the time of the
poll, however, Brown was still battling image problems stemming from his
history of alleged domestic violence. So much for awarding the top prize to the
top talent.
That brings us back to ESPN’s NASCAR poll. How is it that Dale beat out
Petty as the number one driver of all time? Three reasons. First, many of
today’s NASCAR fans never saw Petty race. Second, Dale died prematurely.
And, third, prior to his death, Dale wisely created a marketing empire which
continues to elevate #3 into the realm of mythology.
But numbers don’t lie.
Petty won 200 races compared to Earnhardt’s 76. Richard won seven Daytona
races to Dale’s one. And Petty won 27 races in one season, a feat that no
one else has come close to.
Yes, critics argue that Petty earned his stripes in an era when cars didn’t
run as fast, but those were also the days when drivers had far less
protection against injury, and the track surfaces were more varied.
And then there’s the matter of personalities. Petty was a fierce
competitor who never backed down from anyone, and was given to bumping if provoked.
But Earnhardt was a professional intimidator who made a career out of
deliberate aggressiveness that put himself and other drivers at risk. In fact, his
death was the result of Dale’s attempt to block other drivers from overtaking
his teammates, Dale Jr. and Michael Waltrip, at that fateful Daytona 500.
To use a World War II analogy, Japanese kamikaze pilots might have been
admired for their courage, but they were never thought of as the most skilled or
successful pilots.
And so, I can understand why ESPN ranked Earnhardt as the greatest driver of
all time, but their logic is flawed, and their memory short. With
apologies to the Earnhardt family, Richard Petty is and always will be the greatest
race car driver of all time. Long live the King.
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