Hood: Introducing One Person’s Daytona 43
When picking the top 43 drivers in Daytona 500 history, Richard Petty would be a good place to start. (Photo courtesy of NASCAR)
With the season-opening Daytona 500 less than two weeks away, my friends at SPEED got me to thinking over the weekend by announcing they will soon reveal their 43-driver “Great American Grid.”
Their grid will consist of the greatest drivers who have competed in the Daytona 500, all the way back to 
the inaugural running of the event on the 2.5-mile tri-oval in 1959.
If I was a car owner and could pick any driver in his prime to pilot my machine in the sport’s most important race, who should I choose?
If I was a fan who doled out big bucks for a grandstand seat and over-priced hotel room, which drivers would I want to see compete in a 500 mile race for the ages on the high banks of Daytona?
There have been 35 different winners of the Daytona 500, including eight drivers who have scored multiple victories.
But a handful of the former 500 champions didn’t make my cut.
So if I could align the stars and assemble 43 of the greatest competitors in the history of stock car racing at their peak to compete for 200 laps at Daytona, here’s how my driver lineup (in no particular order) would look:
1. Richard Petty
2. Cale Yarborough
3. Bobby Allison
4. Jeff Gordon
5. Dale Jarrett
6. Bill Elliott
7. Sterling Marlin
8. Michael Waltrip
9. Lee Petty
10. Junior Johnson
11. “Fireball” Roberts
12. “Tiny” Lund
13. Mario Andretti
14. LeeRoy Yarbrough
15. A.J. Foyt
16. Benny Parsons
17. David Pearson
18. Buddy Baker
19. Darrell Waltrip
20. Ernie Irvan
21. Davey Allison
22. Dale Earnhardt
24. Jimmie Johnson
25. Kevin Harvick
26. Matt Kenseth
27. Ryan Newman
28. Bobby Isaac
29. Pete Hamilton
30. Marvin Panch
31. Tony Stewart
32. Kyle Busch
33. Kurt Busch
34. Donnie Allison
35. Mark Martin
36. Tim Richmond
37. Neil Bonnett
38. Joe Weatherly
39. Carl Edwards
40. Clint Bowyer
41. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
42. Fred Lorenzen
43. Juan Pablo Montoya
So what do you think?
Who’s missing from my list? Should former 500 winners Derrike Cope, Ward Burton and Trevor Bayne be included?
Who should be excluded? Clint Bowyer is a two-time winner at Talladega. But does that carry enough weight for him to be included in this lineup?
Let the debate begin…
– Jeff Hood can be reached at jhood@racintoday.com
3 Comments
I can see you know very little about racing and only how to read a spec sheet.
You have Michael Waltrip on there and not a Rusty Wallace.
Michael Waltrip won a rainout and a block fest while in one of the two fastest cars on the track…cmon Danica could have easily done it in that car. And you leave Ward off……cmon Ward could drive while Michael is only a Brian France puppet if not more!
Talk to some historians before writing next time!
I have nothing against JPM, but I would drop him off the list and add Rusty Wallace to it.
I would drop Clint Boyer and add Curtis Turner.