The best driver in NASCAR?

[KC]

Obviously, Bobby Labonte and his team are the most consistent driver and team of 2000, but is his teammate quite possibly the best racer of the bunch? Tony Stewart just won the Turkey Night Race at Irwindale Speedway beating out the very best midget and sprint drivers in America and Canada once more. He is consistently fast in everything he races and he has raced in several different disciplines in his mercurial career to date.

What do you guys think? I'd love to see him run at the Rolex or Sebring as well.

[BMWRacerITS]

Add Jeff Gordon to the mix and you would have decent beginnings of an endurance team for the Daytona 24hour.

Instead, we are left with Chevy's marketing ploy, as Earnhardt and "Little E" attempt to drive a real sports car. Sheesh.

[gomick]

i'm a big tony stewart fan, although i must admit i didnt like him when he was racing irl, but since he crossed to winston cup and qualified on the front row at 99 daytona, i have become a fan......i hope tony wins the championship in 01.
i am also a matt kenseth fan and i look forward to watching him take the next step in winston cup racing next year aswell.

[Lee]

I really don't think any one top driver in NASCAR can be placed above any of the other top drivers in the series. Jeff Burton has not qualified well, but watch him come through the pack, take the lead and win races, that type of performance is indicitive of one of the best. Dale Earnhardt, just watching the way he drives proves he is one of the best. Mark Martin, Dale Jarrett, not to mention the other top drivers, and the up and comming young drivers like Kenseth, Little E. No way you can say one is so much greater than the other. If anything, NASCAR can be said to be overloaded with drivvers that could be qualified as the best!

[Joe Fan]

Before this year, the best driver in NASCAR was Mark Martin hands down. However, watching his teammate Burton do what he did in a Roush prepared car, I am beginning to realize and accept the fact that Mark has slipped a bit. He is still easily one of the top five drivers in the series and not 9th or wherever he finished this year. However, give Mark the #18 car and I am confident that he would have won the championship in that car with that team to.

As far as Bobby Labonte, I think he is a great driver and worthy to be a champion but I am not sold on the fact that he is one of the top three drivers in overall driving talents just yet. Top five but not yet top three in my opinion.

If the series was an ovals-only series, I would have to say that Bobby Labonte and Dale Jarrett would be the top two drivers with Jeff Burton close behind. Dale Sr. had a great year and is no doubt one of the greatest all-time but I think he is just a tad bit too old and witness to this that he sometimes has problems qualifying real well like Burton.

With the road courses, I would say that Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon are the top two overall driving talents.

I think Tony Stewart has more raw talent than his teammate but Tony just needs to gain consistency and mature upstairs a little more. He will win a championship in the future but he might be a few years away from that.

[KC]

My original statement was who does everyone think the best racer is? There is no doubt that Mark Martin, Bobby Labonte, both Earnhardts, and Dale Jarret are just a few among many very good drivers, but Tony Stewart seems to be the only guy in their ranks capable of winning in midgets, Indy cars, Silver Crown cars, sprinters, and stock cars on a regular basis.

I am looking forward to the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals in just over a month here in Tulsa. In a Q&A session on the ESPN site Tony Stewart remarked that the one race that had eluded him was the Chili Bowl and its 1/6th mile indoor dirt track. I hope he makes another run at it.

[Cal]

Ricky Rudd and Bill Elliot are allways overlooked in these types of comparisons but are great drivers, road course or oval.
Cal

[gomick]

bill elliot - what has he done for 5 years!

[Cal]

I am not a big Bill Elliot fan but I htink he is coming out of a slump. He improved this year over last and came in 21st with 7 top 5s and 10 top 10s. Very smart driver.

[Airhead]

I'm waiting for Scott Pruet to hit some form, remember to wake me when this happens.