Rating ESPN's Top 25 Drivers of all time | FBTT Podcast Ep. 85

In this episode of FBTT we look back at ESPN.com's 2008 list, "The 25 Greatest Race Car Drivers of All Time". The list was voted on by legendary drivers and motor racing personalities such as AJ Foyt and Jeff Gordon. We take a look at each driver individually and either agree or disagree with the ranking (Spoiler alert, we disagree a lot). We also go over our own lists of driver we think were snubbed from the list. Mark of course fights for Robby Gordon, as per usual. Enjoy!
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[@tylerohrn9103]

It's definitely a difficult list to make when comparing different eras and disciplines of auto racing. Here's some thoughts of mine:
- On top of the accomplishments you mentioned of Dale Earnhardt, let's not discount the fact he won an additional 21 non-points Cup races and was class runner-up in his only 24 Hours of Daytona appearance at age 50. I think he's worthy of a top 3 spot.
- Although Senna passed away in the middle of his career, I'm not sure why there's such a gap between him and Prost. In fact, they have a virtually identical winning percentage at 25%.
- Similar to DW (who statistically, perhaps along with Bobby Allison, should be on this list), Richard Petty raced way too long past his prime. His last decent year was an 8th place points finish in 1987. The rest of his career was a struggle and this definitely hurt his legacy.
- Drag racing and Moto GP seem so much different than "mainstream" auto racing. Those drivers should be on a separate list.
- As much as y'all like drivers who try different series, I'm surprised you kicked Mansell off the list. 31 F1 Grand Prix victories plus briefly reigning as World Champion and CART IndyCar Champion is impressive and indicative of his talents in two very different open wheel disciplines.

[@FlashbacktotheTrack]

All the comments are helping reiterate that these lists are simply impossible to make. There are far too many variables to come up with a definitive list of the world's greatest racing drivers.

[@Kyle_Cush]

I'd have Jim Clark higher. Depends on how you rate results vs. skill given he died at just 32, but 25 F1 wins in 73 races, 2 World Championships. Won the Indy 500 and finished 2nd twice. Plus his non-F1 open-wheel wins too. Incredibly well-rounded driver that would've dominated for numerous more years had he survived

[@Man_in_BLKtruck1991]

Also in all of F1 since the beginning til now only 2 or 3 cars are gonna win. So to knock Pearson and Petty is yeah probably a good point when comparing them with other NASCAR drivers but not when comparing to other forms of Motorsport.

[@FlashbacktotheTrack]

As we can all see based on the discussion and the comments here. These lists are inherently impossible to make when you consider eras, types of racing, context, etc.

[@Man_in_BLKtruck1991]

@@FlashbacktotheTrack oh 100%, and with the speed, safety, and tech evolution of cars it’s impossible to compare. Like for example how fast would Lewis Hamilton be racing in a car Jim Clark raced. Or how good Petty would be in a current NASCAR.

[@chancescott8847]

Fangio never won Indy
Saying Jim Clark is too high is ridiculous

[@Man_in_BLKtruck1991]

Who’s gonna tell them Jim Clark died in a crash…..