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NASCAR Cup Series: Who is the greatest driver of all-time?

By Asher Fair

11 Feb 1999: A general view of the Gatorade 125''s race two start during the NASCAR Daytona 500 Speedweek at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona, Florida. Mandatory Credit: David Taylor /Allsport
11 Feb 1999: A general view of the Gatorade 125''s race two start during the NASCAR Daytona 500 Speedweek at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona, Florida. Mandatory Credit: David Taylor /Allsport /
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11 Feb 1998: Dale Earnhardt performs during practice for the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida.
11 Feb 1998: Dale Earnhardt performs during practice for the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. /

Dale Earnhardt

Dale Earnhardt is the one driver who you could make a case for as the greatest NASCAR Cup Series driver of all-time and use the fact that his name is Dale Earnhardt as the reason you believe what you do.

“The Intimidator”, whose Cup Series career spanned a total of 27 seasons, became the second driver to win four, five, six and seven Cup Series championships in the 1990, 1991, 1993 and 1994, respectively. He became the first driver to win seven championships in a 15-year span, and he became the first driver to win six of his championships in a nine-year span.

Throughout his 21 seasons as a full-time Cup Series driver, the 1998 Daytona 500 winner finished outside of the top eight in the championship standings just twice, and he never finished lower than 12th. In addition to his seven championships, he racked up three second place finishes and one third place finish in the standings.

Unlike the case with most drivers, Earnhardt was as competitive as he ever was late in his career, which was tragically cut short when he was killed as a result of injuries he suffered in a last-lap crash of the 2001 Daytona 500.

Earnhardt finished in second place in the championship standings in his final full season, the 2000 season, at the age of 49, and he did so after recording an average starting position of 21.1 and an average finishing position of 9.4.

As a full-time driver, Earnhardt had never previously averaged a starting position of worse than 15.3 when averaging a finishing position of 9.4 or better in a single season, and he had never previously averaged a finishing position of better than 12.0 when averaging a starting position of lower than 21.1.

Who else can be considered the greatest NASCAR Cup Series driver of all-time?

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