Favorite Driver

[Franklin Futrelle]

Zanardi

[dalz]

Our sport's greatest Horatio Alger story...

Alan Kulwicki

Still miss him.

[Offcamber1]

1. Dan Carmichael. Name another driver (ok, besides Rickenbacker) who was also a fighter pilot ACE.

2. John Surtees. Only guy to win world championships on bikes and in cars.

3. Joe Leonard. Did the same thing as Surtees on this side of the pond. Also the only one.

4. Mike Hailwood. Nobody cooler, nobody ever faster on bikes.

5. Masten Gregory. I named my first son after him. My first hero.


And a special mention for Vittorio Brambilla too. Just because!

[sauce_racer]

What?

No votes for Milka or Danica?

To lump the greats to two women who throw towels...Is ridiculous. (Not saying you did)

Never would they sacrifice the dignity of their teams to save face.

To name a few:

Peter Revson, Mike Hailwood, Francois Cervert, or even Tom Pryce.. Those men were great competitors and knew how to act and how not to.


Oh.. and I left off two names earlier in my previous post;

Mike and Harry Sauce.

[Mark_Silverberg]

I always had great admiration for Mark Donohue and believe that much of the discipline and success of the Penske organization to this day comes from his influence. After reading his autobiography and seeing how his young family paid such a price for his compulsion he did lose a little luster.

Ronnie Peterson was also a favorite as he loved to drive, was extremely fast but also a fundamentally kind individual.


One I started driving and tried to race, have a career and raise a family at the same time I realized that perhaps the real drivers to admire are those who have long competitive careers at levels below full time professionals. Consequently I will nominate Dave Weitzenhof as my favorite.

[Neil_Roberts]

Rocket Rick Mears.

Class act all the way.

4 Indy wins, too.

[TimW]

Krosnoff. He was the real deal but never got to show it on a big stage.
http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/artic...f-stay-hungry/

Am proud to this day to have contributed to one of Mario's race wins (from a lap down!). A great driver and a great man.

[Christopher Crowe]

RUBY!

I mean, come on -- who else?

-- CC

[PRS56]

Mario - For being an exemplary driver as well as a true ambassador for motorsports.

Zanardi, Schmidt & Hamilton - For turnng lemons into lemonade

Shirley Muldowney - For helping to pave the way for women in motorsports.

AJ - For being one of the last remaining individuals who harkens to an era before whiney, mealymouth drivers and owners

Tony Kannan - A fine driver with a sense of humor and who I would most want to have as a teammate.

Ben Rabenold - A young man who I met almost 12 years ago through the Make A Wish Foundation. He continues to struggle with debilitating medical issues, but with the help of his Father each week during the season he straps into a slingshot and competes with older bigger drivers at a local dirt track. I've seen him come up through the ranks and while he doesn't typically finish up front, he's a winner in my books.


Greg Kokolus
PRS #30

[Clyde]

I would guess most of you are too young to remember this driver or maybe, like me, you do not know how to spell his name, I do not know how to spell it either but my vote goes for TAZIO NUVOLARI

[greg pizzo]

Tony Kannan - A fine driver with a sense of humor and who I would most want to have as a teammate.


YES !! for sure of today's crop of Indy car drivers a FAVORITE for sure !! What a guy ! besides being a great talent... really seems like a good guy to just be around !!

Dan Carmichael missed my first list should not have !! The couple time I saw him what a inspiration ! at 72 ( I think) 1991Runoffs he barrel rolled his Swift DB4 2 if not 3 times in turn ONE at Road Atlanta and continue to get back in a car he was pretty sure was going to SNAP another left rear stub axle, as he was waiting for the NEW Fast Forward parts to get there (needed the laps) He was using the OEM parts that just werent up to it ...... still went out... fast forward to 2000 ( I think) Runoffs 80 years old and got a bad start whent from 15th first lap to finish 6th OVER ALL .... AND 80yrs old !!! driving in a race with mostly 20yr olds !! AMAZING !! AND was a super (humble) guy to talk to as well !!

[rickb99]

..... TAZIO NUVOLARI

I thought I was old, Clyde! And yes spelled right.

Yes I recognize and admire Tazio as a true master driver (we have his 1935/36 Alfa P3 F1 car out here that he won the German Grand Prix with ((ticked Hitler off ))).

But good lord! I don't 'remember' him. He ran his last F1 race when I was 7 years old. Wasn't in to cars, yet

[Steve Demeter]

I thought we were talking about F1 and IRL.

Ace and Dave W are the two best I have seen or heard of outside of that arena.

Dave for the length of his career at the front. He won the Runoffs in Fv IIRC in 1972.

Ace because he did not start racing until about the age of 46, when most of us with sense have laready quit. And he was less that 2 weeks short of 81 in the 1999 Runoffs.

He told me he quit because he did not feel competitive any more (remember he did not have the latest car at the time) and that racing hurt his knees too badly. He would not allow them to be replaced because he then would not be able to play hand ball anymore. Now that is the master of cool without even trying.

[Mark_Silverberg]

One driver I don't think I fully appreciated until after he retired was Al Unser Sr. 4 indy wins, 3 championships. Won on dirt, road courses, ovals and at the pikes peak hill climb. Perhaps even more impressively racing during a time of high injury and mortality he remained largely injury free. Typically drove with his head and was the only driver to get the troublesome Buick V6 in contention still at the end of the Indy 500. Out of the car he always seemed earnest and straight forward during interviews. He just got on with the job which I think often got him overlooked.

[rickb99]

.....Al Unser Sr....

Also drove a Frisbee in Can-Am.

Hiis Frisbee is here in Seattle and races about 5 weekends a year.

[ASRF1000]

Roberto Gurerro - for his warmup lap crash at Indy

Davy Jones - for crashing into pit wall by removing the steering wheel while the car was still rolling

Kevin Cogan - for taking Mario out before the green flag fell

Milka Duno - for providing a moving chicane on ovals

[Christopher Crowe]

-- could not pass Gordon Johncock in equal machines.

Non?

[Steve Demeter]

Gordy did an excellent job of blocking the rocket in T1 on the last lap.

I was sitting 30 feet in the air right next to the creek. Gordy was in no man's land below the white line (no one cared in those days. If it was paved you could use it).

Rocket hat to visibly back out and lost momentum.

I think it was Al Jr that won the Can Am in 1982 in the Frisbee, not Sr.

But Sr. is a first class act and never heard any bad stuff about him on or off the track.

[Doug Fisher]

Gilles, Mears, Senna, Gordon, Ernhart, Clark, Lauda, Stewart, Nuvolari !, Fangio, MS, Button Hamilton, Tom Gloy, Bruce MacInnes, Foyt, Mansell, Jones, Ronnie Peterson, Hans Stuck.....Max Pappis (Limerock ) , Michael Delaney,Mario, Hill , DAN GURNEY, Mr Cobb.....all of these were at any moment willing to give it go and more , and that I could relate to I suppose......so hard to pick just one....
BUT if I had to...because I was priviledged to see the ascension ..Gille. He was amazing to see.....

[mark defer]

hey don't break bad on old rube.
lloyd ruby was one of the best at indy during the 60s.
if you want to read a good book, pick up " lloyd ruby, the greatest driver never to win the indy 500". the author quotes mario as saying old rube was as good as anybody at the speedway during his time.
and anyway, the question wasn't who was the best. it was who is your favorite.

mark d

[TimH]

I have more books about Senna and more *by* Donohue, but the poster hanging on my wall shows Jimmy Clark.

[Kazis31]

I think we should brake this up by decade just to be fair to all great drivers of each era:
40 's Fangio
50's Jim Clark
60's Jackie Stewart,Emerson Fitipaldi
70's Nikki Lauda
80's Prost,Mansel ,Piquet
90's SENNA,Mikka Hakkinen.
00's Shumacher.
10's Hamilton,Alonso.


just an idea.

[Joby Graham]

Lefty Murdoch

[rbrowsky]

I think that this thread has morphed into a "Who was/is the greatest driver ever". I apologize if I misinterpreted, but my input was "who is MY FAVORITE driver" in my lifetime. We could debate who the greatest driver ever is adnauseam.

My $.02

[LAJ]

Tazio Nuvolari
First driver to 4 wheel drift a racecar on purpose !! The win in Germany in 1936 in an old Alfa was unbelievable !!
Some years ago Speed channel had like a day long series of the Racing Mercedes (lots of old Grand Prix footage) starting in like 1890s up till the 1950s.This one race in the 30s shows Grand Prix cars racing through this town and every time Nuvolari comes by you swear he is going to crash into this building on the outside of the turn exit but each time he just grazes the bale of straw in the same place every time and keeps on going!! I believe he won more than his share of bike races too! how would you like to drive NASCAR on skinny tires?? I believe he also finished a race in the top 3 with only 3 tires on the car at the end of the race.
When I am in the shop working that is my favorite tape to put in
Lee

[archuzzi]

Not even a mention of Jimmie Johnson?????

But I have to say Greg Moore

[ASRF1000]

James Hunt

[Rogers]

For me it will always be Greg Moore #99

[RussMcB]

Fun old thread.

For me, I have a few specific Nelson Piquet memories that made positive impressions. One was a unique 4 wheel braking slide/pass (I forgett when, where, against whom), and another was coming into the pits during a race, signaling his crew that he wanted four new tires - just for kicks, because he had a car problem and knew his race was done. Seems like he was often smiling, joking, having fun.

Since I started my racing around Lime Rock Park, I'm also a fan of Bruce MacInnes, Sam Posey and PLN.

[JohnPaul]

Mikka Hakkinen, Valentino Rossi, anyone that comes in 2nd behind me.
Btw, what happened to Modo? Banned?

[alangbaker]

Villeneuve. Taken from us too soon to see all he had, but I'll always remember things like:

Villeneuve & Arnoux at the French Grand Prix

Pulling out a 3 second lead on teh first lap of Watkins Glen in 1979

Jacque Laffite: 'Why do we bother? He's different from the rest of us. On a separate level'."

[Swift17]

Villeneuve. Taken from us too soon to see all he had, but I'll always remember things like:

Villeneuve & Arnoux at the French Grand Prix

Pulling out a 3 second lead on teh first lap of Watkins Glen in 1979

Jacque Laffite: 'Why do we bother? He's different from the rest of us. On a separate level'."

.....Thanks, I was at the Glen and saw the +11sec laps

[alangbaker]

.....Thanks, I was at the Glen and saw the +11sec laps

No worries.

I just can't imagine; I'm one second behind the fast guy in FF in our club, and I feel hopelessly slow sometimes. I can't imagine what it must have been like to be 11 seconds slower when you are one of the top racing drivers in the world.

[provamo]

GV, maybe TN and JMF