by Larry Rahn

Created on: January 07, 2010   Last Updated: January 09, 2010

My list of the 20 all time drivers in NASCAR doesn't necessarily go by the number of championships won, but, also by their style, fan popularity, ambition, skill and respect among their peers. Covering only the senior series which has had several different names, Stock, Grand National, Winston , Nextel and Sprint Series they are as follows.

#1,the front runner has to be the "King" Richard Petty from Level Cross, North Carolina. His 200 wins and 7 championships leads the group. Petty in his winged cars with the STP sponsorship was usually always at or very near the front. Although some of his wins came when Chrysler had the big hemi and the other manufacturers were a little behind, his driving skills were second to none. When all the car makers got in line with the bigger engines his wins decreased.

#2, "The Intimidator" Dale Earnhardt in the famous black #3. Dale came along and tied Petty in championships won with 7 in his career. Some people didn't care for Dale's style of driving, but, he was there to win, not to run second, as he proved several times. Even the pass in the grass is still remembered as an exciting finish between #3 and #9. His famous words about Talladega, "take off the restrictor plates and let 'em race"

Close behind at #3 is the man from South Carolina, Cale Yarborough. Cale was quite the competitor, almost of the Earnhardt mold. No one can ever forget the fist fight in turn 3 with the Allison brothers. Cale would win 4 championships in his career. Even today when he shows up at a track, he is a fierce competitor in all respects.

Coming in at #4 is ole "Jaws", Darrell Waltrip, the man from Kentucky.Three championships and several encounters on and off the track with "The Intimidator" , Darrell emerged as a very talented driver and has now emerged as one of the favorite announcers of the sport for TV.

#5 on the list is Dupont's favorite person, Jeff Gordon. With 4 championships under his belt already he came on the scene in early 90's and almost immediately came to the front with the crafty Ray Everham as his crew chief. Together the "Rainbow Warriors" would set the trend for quite a while and collect some good prize money in New York. One of the first teams to employ personal trainers for the pit crew members and tape their race day actions for further improvement. The "Rainbow Warriors" started a trend in pit crew strategies and training for stops under 14 seconds.

One of the original start up group, Lee Petty, father of Richard comes in

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