Best american

chinorenaultf1 · Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2005 02:26 Post subject: Best american

To me this category is made for 2 men, AJ Foyt & Mario Andretti. MA won the F1 championship but never really surpassed AJF while racing in america. Plus Foyt was contemporary with Fangio & when he retired he had been contemporary with senna, plus he won indy more than anybody, if he only hadn´t had so much dislike for f1´s political handling (that whole not being able to surpass your team mate + the FIASCO), he won Le Mans & Daytona making him the best all around drivewr there is (maybe we can say the same thing about Robbie Gordon, he raced Indy, NASCAR & does rallying, he finished 5th(not sure about this) in Dakar this year). Now Andretti has been more succesfull in europe but you gotta remember he´s american only in papers, he was born in Italy so it´s just natural he prefered europe to do his racing. Personally I vote Foyt. I don´t include Phil Hill because after being champ he sorta disapeared
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Rob · Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2005 23:06 Post subject:

Dan Gurney has to be considered. He raced wheel to wheel with Jim Clark for years.

Ron Sparks · Kart Novice Joined: 08 Feb 2005 Posts: 12 Location: USA

Mark Donohue: No one like him, before or since.

Ron Sparks

Rob · Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2005 16:19 Post subject:

Funny, it has been on my mind all day to mention Mark.

D-Type · Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2005 22:46 Post subject:

Don't forget NASCAR - Dale Earnhardt, Cale Yarborough, Richard Petty, etc

And what about the early days? David Bruce-Brown, Jimmy Murphy, Peter de Paolo etc.

Or the middle period - Wilbur Shaw, Rex Mays, Ted Horn, etc

What your 2 person poll has done is ask whether people consider the US National Champioship (including Indy), whether called AAA, USAC, CART, IRL or whatever championship is more significant than the FIA/CSI World championship.

It is not possible o compare chalk and cheese or apples and oranges.
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chinorenaultf1 · Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2005 17:52 Post subject:

Foyt & Andretti went head to head many times & Foyt came out on top most of those ocations. If I don`t include NASCAR is because Foyt represents every american racing series since he won mostly every major event in america, the only reson he didn´t race in F1 is because he had a HUGE dislike with european racing, I´m 100% sure he could´ve taken the championship easily, he just didn´t want to. The impresive thing about Foyt is that he was good in any kind of car he got his hands on. Andretti was the best american that raced in F1, that´s why only both of them are included, because they both represent america´s finest racing in different ways.
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D-Type · Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2005 00:08 Post subject:

I think one of the competitors in http://www.pig-n-ford.com/ must be the best. I'm sure that the only reason they didn´t race in F1, NASCAR and Indianapolis is because the had a HUGE dislike of racing on paved circuits. I´m 100% sure any of them he could´ve taken the CART, NASCAR or World Championship easily, they just didn´t want to.
None of those namby-pamby so-called 'professional' racing drivers could even carry a pig! I'd love to see one of them trying to start a car on the handle. And none of them would be able to manage a foot-operated epicyclic gearchange.
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Sean Brian Kirby · Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2005 21:41 Post subject:

chinorenaultf1 · Posted: Sat Apr 16, 2005 00:32 Post subject:

WHO CHANGED MY POLL???!!!!!!!! Evil or Very Mad

THAT´S NOT FAIR, IF I DON´T CONSIDER ANY OF THOSE NASCAR "RACERS" AS THE BEST AMERICANS IS BECAUSE STOCK CARS ARE HIGHLY OVERRATED, THEY DON´T BELONG IN A CATEGORY WITH GURNEY, FOYT & ANDRETTI (I INCLUDED GURNEY BUT WHEN IT POSTED, THE OPTION WASN´T THERE). WHILE WE´RE AT IT (NOT RESPECTING POSTS) WHY DIDN´T U ADD PHIL HILL (F1 CHAMP)
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Rob · Posted: Sat Apr 16, 2005 00:59 Post subject:

Don't get cross chino. It was probably some crazy yankie, dizzy from watching cars going around in circles.

D-Type · Posted: Sat Apr 16, 2005 01:20 Post subject:

Don Capps · Posted: Sat Apr 16, 2005 16:05 Post subject:

Sean Brian Kirby · Posted: Sat Apr 16, 2005 20:28 Post subject:

I changed the poll. I gasped at the absence of Gurney (my personal top Yank'), and then added a few more names. Naturally I threw in Lockhart because he was simply as great a god of speed as anyone you care to name. (Self-taught fifth-grade dropout engineering genius and demonically fast.) It is hard to make such a list without Petty. Or Shelby (himself a winner at Le Mans). One can readily see by the dearth of choices how much restraint I showed. For instance, how does one put Petty on such a list without Pearson? Or Earnhardt? And a list with Lockhart missing Milton and Murphy (the latter of whom some say was the greatest of them all) - or the uncle and nephew who competed against Murphy in the same car (nephew serving as riding mechanic - a fascinating tale in itself), Ralph de Palma and Pete di Paolo? I could not let the poll stand without Gurney as a selction, and decided to offer a very small selection of other prime examples of the American racer at his best. As noted, Andretti (not John), Foyt, and Gurney all had some of their greatest victories in NASCAR. And these days, it is fun to draw comparisons when armed with a knowledge of the past. For instance, one cannot look at Ryan Newman (freshly a 30-pole man) without thinking of Billy Arnold, who either won or wrecked, so terrificly fast was he. Or between Newman and Donahue and Lockhart, all very fast and engineers.

To be honest, I kept the list so small in deference to the maker of the poll.
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Don Capps · Posted: Sat Apr 16, 2005 22:50 Post subject:

All this simply shows is how dumbass these sorts of "polls" really are.
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D-Type · Posted: Sun Apr 17, 2005 21:29 Post subject:

Don, I think its time to lay off - we've made the point. Had chinorenaultf1 titled the thread "Mario or AJ?" or something like that there would be no problem. It was simply a trifle ill-advised to use the all-embracing "Best American"
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