from: Anderson Independent Mail
http://www.independentmail.com/and/s...739383,00.html
Gordon is NASCAR's best driver ever
By CARY ESTES
April 28, 2005
At the risk of having Dale Earnhardt Jr. fans pelt me with beer cans, it is time to acknowledge Jeff Gordon as being the best driver in NASCAR.
Ever.
I know, I know. Gordon never will come close to Richard Petty's record of 200 career victories. But Petty picked up the bulk of that total during a time when NASCAR went through races like Michael Jackson goes through lawyers. In 1964 alone, Petty was credited with 61 official starts (winning nine).
A better comparison between the two drivers is the ratio of starts to victories. Petty won once every 5.92 races (200 victories in a NASCAR-record 1,185 starts). Gordon's average is 5.76 (71 victories in 409 starts).
Since 1972 - when NASCAR went to a trimmed-down, uniformed scheduled for its top-tier Cup series known in the record book as the "modern era" - only two drivers have won more often than Gordon: Darrell Waltrip with 84 and the late Dale Earnhardt with 76.
If Gordon, who is still only 33, maintains an average of just four victories a season (he won five last season and already has two this year), he will pass Earnhardt next year and Waltrip two years later.
After that, Gordon could take aim at David Pearson, who is second on the all-time list with 105 victories (though only 45 occurred during the modern era). A pace of four victories per season would enable Gordon to pass Pearson in nine years, at age 42.
Then there are the championships. Gordon already has four. Only Petty and Earnhardt, with seven each, won more. Earnhardt claimed six of his titles after turning 35. Petty won four times after that age. So another four championships for Gordon, who is fourth in this year's standings, certainly is not out of the question.
But Gordon's greatness goes beyond mere numbers. Every year, drivers talk about how the sport is becoming increasingly competitive. How the margin of error from champion to mediocre is becoming increasingly small.
We have seen ample proof of that in recent years. Bobby Labonte won the Cup championship in 2000. Five years later, he is 34th in the standings. Matt Kenseth was the 2003 champion. He is 28th this year, with only one top-10 finish in the first eight races.
Yet Gordon never falters, never swoons. He has finished in the top-four of the standings eight times in the past 10 years. His "bad" season was a ninth-place finish in 2000. He turned around the next year and won his fourth title.
Such long-term consistency is becoming increasingly rare. Kevin Harvick finished ninth, 21st, fifth and 14th in the standings his first four seasons on the Cup circuit. Tony Stewart won the title in 2002, then dropped to seventh the following year.
Even Earnhardt Jr., the most-popular driver in the sport, has been erratic, bouncing from 16th to eighth to 11th to third in consecutive seasons. He currently is 12th.
Meanwhile, Gordon chugs steadily along, winning at all types of tracks. His success has become so routine, so expected, that it is easy to under-appreciate his accomplishments.
That would be a mistake. What we are witnessing is auto racing's equivalent to Tiger Woods in golf and Michael Jordan in basketball. A player (or, in this case, a driver), who elevates our level of expectations to new heights, then goes out and exceeds them.
Many fans boo Gordon, for whatever reason. And that's fine. Some people booed Jordan as well.
But we all need to take a moment and recognize the special event that is taking place before us.
Namely, that we have the chance nearly every week to watch the greatest driver in NASCAR history.
..............
It was the recent race at Martinsville that gave me the notion that this might be true, after all. After losing two laps on a loose wheel in lap 46, it seemed Gordon was out of it. The race ended as a great victory for his whole operation.
Seeing the skill with which Gordon executed through all of the ups and downs that race presented to him and his team, I did get the idea that he may be the best driver in this year's field.
I like a few drivers and Gordon has always been among them. I know the wife of a guy that was on his pit crew and the word is that he's the consummate professional and regular guy he appears to be.
Driving the #24 car through its paces, he's always impressive.
Your thoughts?