The Auto Racing Journal: Tony Stewart

JEFF GORDON (LEFT) MEETS HIS CREW AFTER ONE OF HIS FINAL WINS.

I was recently watching a Twitter thread about the GOAT of NASCAR, meaning the greatest of all time.

It seemed that Dale Earnhardt Sr. was the GOAT in about half the posts, although David Pearson, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Richard Petty and Tony Stewart, among others, were popular. It seemed that Jimmie was the GOAT on the second-most ballots.

Years ago, I asked Pearson who he thought was the greatest ever. His answer, "I thought it was me!"

You could make an argument for David, even though he "only" won three Cup titles.

I didn't see Darrell Waltrip, Bobby Allison and Cale Yarborough listed, but it's easy to argue that each was as good as those offered. I was looking for Mark Martin's name, and I finally found one vote for him.

Several people listed Paul Menard.

And another person listed Ricky Goathouse, probably a reference to Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Joey Logano, Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth seemed to be reasonable choices, although one might not rank them with Dale Sr., Petty and Johnson.

The long list of head-scratchers included, among others, Erik Jones, Frank Kimmel, Bubba Wallace, David Reutimann, Brandon Jones, Matt Crafton, Cody Ware, Cole Custer, Brian Vickers, Kasey Kahne, David Ragan, Carl Edwards, Jimmy Spencer, Kyle Petty, Ryan Preece and Ty Dillon.

I'd have to go with either Dale Earnhardt Sr. or Richard Petty as the GOAT. You couldn't go wrong with either.

I'm surprised Dale Earnhardt Jr. didn't get a vote.

One other thing: I didn't wade through the whole list. It would take too long.

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More entries from TARJ

• Angel in Black: Remembering Dale Earnhardt Sr.

(a book of great stories about the Intimidator)

• Then Junior Said to Jeff...

(the book of great NASCAR stories)

• My best day as a sports writer