I did a F1 GOAT post so one for the top American series, NASCAR, is a logical next post. My criteria for NASCAR is the same as far F1: I highly value championships, longevity, ability to succeed in different circumstances, and competition.

1) Dale Earnhardt: He is one of three drivers tied for the most (7) championships and was the champion or runner up for almost half his career. He was known for his aggressive style and connection with the fans. He was a title contender for over two decades, winning his first championship in 1980 and finishing as runner up in 2000. Known as “The Intimidator” he drove arguably the most iconic car in U.S. racing history in the black GM Goodwrench #3.
Why he is the greatest: He won titles with two teams, won championships with three crew chiefs and came close with a fourth, and did this despite never being considered to have the fastest car. Johnson and Petty never won with another team, always won in the fastest car, and had their success with the same crew chief. Earnhardt showed the type of adaptability you would expect from the greatest ever.

Furthermore, he has a higher career average finish (11.1) than Petty (11.3) and Johnson (13.4 as of now). While Hendrick Motorsports is a juggernaut no matter who drives for it, Richard Childress Racing has never won a championship without Earnhardt despite having Kevin Harvick, Ricky Rudd, Kyle Busch, Jeff Burton, and Ryan Newman as alumnus.

Lastly, Earnhardt has the most impressive win in NASCAR history as he charged from 18th with four laps to go to take the lead coming to the white flag at Talladega Superspeedway in what turned out to be his final victory.
Why he is not the greatest: He is 1st in championships but 8th in race wins. He was hurt by having the shortest seasons in his prime than what Petty and Johnson had but Darrell Waltrip was a contemporary and won more races. He was still an elite driver at the time of his tragic death so it’s possible he could have finished with 85 or so wins but we will never know. Earnhardt raced in an era that had more competitive cars than Petty’s era but not as many in Johnson’s, although more teams won championships during his prime than in Johnson’s.
2) Richard Petty: Petty also has 7 championships and stands alone with 200 race wins. The driver with the next most wins, David Pearson, barely has half of that (105). Petty was runner up in 1960 and won his last title in 1979. Another fan favorite, he is known as “The King” and his STP #43 car is the only one that rivals Earnhardt’s #3 as an icon.
Why he is the greatest: If you go strictly by the record books Petty is #1 hands down.
Why he is not the greatest: Petty had limited competition and raced in an era where there were 60+ races. Both things combined to inflate his win totals. He won all his championships and 192 of his 200 races with the same crew chief. He never showed he could win titles without having the best car. Finally, his chief rival, David Pearson, was a part-time driver for most of his career which helped clear the way for Petty to rack up seasonal championships
3) Jimmie Johnson: Another 7-time champion, he is most remembered for winning five consecutive titles at his peak. He lacked the connection with fans or the charisma of Earnhardt, Petty, or his teammates Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. He was runner-up in 2003 and won his last title in 2016.
Why he is the greatest: He won five straight titles. No one really comes close. Cale Yarborough won three straight, Earnhardt and Petty won four in five years, but neither was close in the year they didn’t win during that run. Johnson did this when the multicar era was in full force so there were more drivers in winning equipment than in any prior era.
Why he is not the greatest: Johnson is 1st in championships but tied for 6th in wins with only seven more wins than Earnhardt. The biggest knock on Johnson, though, is all of his career success came with crew chief Chad Knaus. Without Knaus his results fell off a cliff. While there were more teams capable of winning, Hendrick Motorsports stands above the pack. There was less variety in championship team winners in Johnson’s era than in the past (every champion since 2005 has raced for Hendrick, Gibbs, Penske or a satellite team using Hendrick or Gibbs equipment) despite there being more race winners. Hendrick was a championship team before and after Johnson. Four other drivers have won championships driving for Hendrick and two more won with a satellite Hendrick team (Stewart, Harvick). All of this raises the question: How much of it was Johnson and how much of it was the car?

The other problem with Johnson is, unlike Earnhardt, Petty, Pearson, or any of Gordon’s title years, he won in a time where you did not need to be the best over the course of full season. For instance, in his final championship season Johnson failed to finish in the top 10 in 60% of races. He was 7th in season long points that year. Moreover, NASCAR fails to rotate the “playoff” tracks. If you look at Johnson’s best tracks and then look at the schedule for the final 10 races you can see the schedule was tailor made for him.

Was he the greatest or simply great at gaming a flawed system when he had the best cars, best team, and best crew chief? Finally, I ding him for having less longevity than Earnhardt or Petty—his title contention window was 13 years, and he never finished higher than 10th after turning 40.
4) Jeff Gordon: Gordon is the first driver on the list who has a case for being a “Mount Rushmore” driver but not a strong case for GOAT. He took the sport by storm and there was even talk that he could threaten Petty’s record of 200 wins despite the season being about 30 races at his peak. Gordon had a long contention window, winning his first title in 1995 and finishing 3rd in 2015. He won four championships.
Why he is the greatest: Gordon arguably had the highest peak. He won 40 races in four years including 33 in three. In this span he won three championships and was a close second the other year, losing to Hendrick teammate Terry Labonte. Gordon was hurt by the shift to a non-seasonal championship format. Gordon fans will point to him having accrued the most seasonal points in 7 seasons but realistically if the rules were different teams would adapt and he would not have been at the top in each of those seasons, although he easily would have won in 2007 in anything but a “playoffs” or “Chase” format.
Why he is not the greatest: There are three main problems with Gordon’s GOAT case. He has considerably less championships than the guys usually ahead of him on these lists. Gordon’s peak was amazing but without Ray Evernham he was an elite but not dominant driver, winning only one championship in 15 full-time seasons without him (to be fair to Gordon, that is much more than you can say about Johnson and Petty). Finally, he was beaten by Jimmie Johnson in the same equipment. Gordon fans claim that he was past his prime, but Gordon was 29 and the reining champion when Johnson entered the sport. Gordon is only four years older than Johnson. If you are the greatest why are you losing perennially to another driver in the same equipment?
5) David Pearson: The “Silver Fox” was the other half of the most memorable rivalry in NASCAR history, his rivalry with Richard Petty. Pearson won three championships and is second on the all-time wins list with 105.
Why he is the greatest: He beat Petty more often than Petty beat him when they finished 1st and 2nd. He won the championship three times in four “full-time” seasons.
Why he is not the greatest: He was a part-time driver for nearly all of his career which allowed him to cherry pick races. Winning the championship thrice in four full-time seasons sounds more impressive than it is because there were so few full-time drivers then. In 1966, his first title year, no driver ran every race. Pearson ran 43 of 49 and Petty 39 of 49. Bobby Allison 33 of 49. He also has the same relative lack of competition issue Pearson has.

Honorable mentions (no order): Darrell Waltrip, Cale Yarborough, Tony Stewart, Lee Petty, Kyle Busch.

Another driver worth mentioning is Joey Logano as he now has joined the elite club of (ten) drivers with at least three championships. While he has been around forever, he is only 34 and squarely in his prime and drives for one of the “Big 3” teams. I fully expect him to crack the top 10 by the time he retires and he has a chance at the top 5 if he can finish with 4-5 championships.

What do you agree or disagree with? Who is your GOAT and your top 5? How high do you think Logano can get on the list before he retires?