Who are the top-5 drivers of all time — across any era, car or racing series?
Former NASCAR Cup Series champ and NASCAR on FOX analyst Kevin Harvick and INDYCAR on FOX broadcaster Will Buxton revealed their picks on the first episode of “SPEED With Harvick And Buxton.”
“Dale Earnhardt, Mario Andretti, Richard Petty, Michael Schumacher and A.J. Foyt,” Harvick said bluntly.
Earnhardt and Petty are tied for the most NASCAR Cup Series championships (seven), along with Jimmie Johnson. Earnhardt is a Daytona 500 winner as both a driver and an owner, is an icon in American racing and is widely regarded as one of the greatest drivers in NASCAR history.
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Petty received a document 200 races and a document 123 poles throughout his profession, which spanned greater than three a long time from 1958 to 1992.
Andretti, who competed in each F1 (1968-82) and INDYCAR (1964-94), and received 12 Grands Prix throughout 14 F1 seasons and 4 INDYCAR championship titles, the Indianapolis 500 in 1969 and the Daytona 500 in 1967.
Schumacher received a record-setting seven F1 championship titles and held the data for many wins (91), pole positions (68) and podium finishes (155) on the time of his retirement. Foyt is the primary four-time winner of the Indianapolis 500 and the one driver to have received the Indy 500, 24 Hours of Le Mans, Daytona 500 and 24 Hours of Daytona.
Mario Andretti in 2025. (Picture by HENRY NICHOLLS/AFP through Getty Photos)
“They have to be drivers who did every little thing,” Buxton mentioned. “You possibly can’t simply have a specialist, which just about knocks out anybody from the final 20 years. … Mario is on Mount Rushmore immediately. Put him in any automotive, any monitor, any championship. [He’s] a aggressive winner by means of and although. Identical with A.J., I believe.
“For me, Stirling Moss [is] precisely the identical however within the Nineteen Fifties. You could possibly put him in something, wherever. Tremendous aggressive. A born winner. [He] did not win the title in F1 however was nonetheless considered one in all, if not the best drivers of his technology. For me, Moss and Andretti are my two GOATs. They’re head and shoulders above everybody.”
Moss competed in F1 from 1951 to 1961 and is broadly considered one of many best drivers to by no means win the self-discipline’s championship.
“Dare we put Shane van Gisbergen?” Buxton added.
“No, you’ll be able to’t do this,” Harvick mentioned. “He is nonetheless racing. … I believe you must be retired to be on this dialog. … I believe till they’re completed, you do not actually know, as a result of it is likely to be a simple resolution as an alternative of a debate.”
Scott Dixon at Texas Motor Speedway in 2019. (Picture by George Walker/Icon Sportswire through Getty Photos)
“I might argue that Scott Dixon may very well be on the best of all time checklist,” Buxton replied. “He received races each season for 21 years. Take into consideration that. … I might like to see [Dixon venture into NASCAR racing].”
Dixon, a six-time INDYCAR championship winner, has received the Indy 500 as soon as, the 24 Hours of Daytona thrice and the Petit Le Mans twice.
“I am unsure we have [only] 5,” Buxton added. “It is the unanswerable query, and it is the good debate that we’ll have perpetually inside our sport.”
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