Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

I havent seen the lastest but after the last month of big races I thinf the top five in the country is pretty clear.

5. 48 Danny Deitrich

4. 41  David Gravel

3. 87 Arron Reuietzel

2. 15 Donny Schatz

1. 49 Brad Sweet

1S Logan Schueheart close to moving in

69k Lance Dewease clearly dropping down

Sweet having a sweet year

Schatz off just a tic but never say never

Gravel great replacement for JJ hope this team continues

Logan S. I think the most improved, next year could be the breakout year

Arrow R. Tearing up the all star players

If I run my ratings begining July 16 (before Kings Royal) to now (min 5 races needed)...

#    Rating    Name            Wins    Money
1    .8454    David Gravel        6    286,450
2    .8300    Brad Sweet        6    305,100
3    .6946    Aaron Reutzel        9    151,119
4    .6784    Donny Schatz        5    143,700
5    .6055    Logan Schuchart        3    191,700
6    .5991    James McFadden        5    83,083
7    .5642    Daryn Pittman        3    132,000
8    .4960    Gio Scelzi        3    50,100
9    .4901    Sheldon Haudenschild    1    111,200
10    .4609    Tim Kaeding        2    68,500

If I run my ratings begining Aug 6 (before Knoxvilel Nationals) to now (min 5 races needed)...

#    Rating        Name        Wins    Money
1    .7890    David Gravel        4    217,250
2    .7624    Aaron Reutzel        9    138,869
3    .6130    Logan Schuchart        3    152,825
4    .5701    James McFadden        3    54,358
5    .5524    Brad Sweet        3    89,000
6    .5241    Donny Schatz        2    74,700
7    .5221    Daryn Pittman        2    87,300
8    .4782    Tim Kaeding        2    63,950
9    .4514    Bill Balog        5    28,950
10    .4496    Kerry Madsen        1    32,800

Bill

SprintCarRatings.com

Ludicrous to put Deetrich before Logan. Logan probably should have won the Royal and had an all time charge to 2nd at Knoxville.

Deetrich is a fine driver but isn’t capable of performing at that level. 

I totally agree. Don't get me wrong, Danny is having a year. He beat the WoO on neutral turf at Bridgeport and he beat the All Stars in New York. He's all but locked up the Williams Grove and overall Central PA titles and that's no small feat.....but it's not the Kings Royal, Knoxville, the ASCoC tour and definitely not the WoO tour. The competition in PA is pretty tough but it definitely isn't what it was. He's a big fish and the pond is a hell of a lot smaller than it was even 5 years ago. The All Stars are coming in here and winning like they're the WoO these days. If he was doing what Reutzel is doing right now coupled with his success in the weekly deal, he may deserve consideration but even then can you put him ahead of Schuchart who has 7 WoO wins on the season plus 2nd place finishes at the Knoxville Nationals and the Kings Royal? Don't see how you could. Danny would probably be somewhere 7th-10th on the list at best.

I doubt very much if any Outlaws team would match or better the results DD  has had this year just this past week he showd his strength Hard Charger in the Dirt Classic and another second at Hagerstown.

The only chace would be Pittman but he has not been consistent.

Win total was the only reason i put DD ahead of Logan. 

Putting aside your assertion that Schatz wouldn’t have 14 wins in Central pa if he ran there full time....

how many wins would Deetrich have on the WoO tour? 

I don't like to play the would've could've game but if Gravel and Donny ran here weekly, they'd be every bit as fast as the 48. If he ran on the WoO tour with them, he wouldn't be as fast as they are either at least not without a few seasons under his belt. He does have more wins than Schuchart but you gotta factor quality into the equation. Schuchart has better quality to most of his wins than Dietrich and ran 2nd at the 2 biggest and most difficult races in the sport. Dietrich didn't run the Kings Royal so nothing to compare there but he did run Knoxville and he didn't even make the show. 

I don't like to play the would've could've game but if Gravel and Donny ran here weekly, they'd be every bit as fast as the 48. If he ran on the WoO tour with them, he wouldn't be as fast as they are either at least not without a few seasons under his belt. He does have more wins than Schuchart but you gotta factor quality into the equation. Schuchart has better quality to most of his wins than Dietrich and ran 2nd at the 2 biggest and most difficult races in the sport. Dietrich didn't run the Kings Royal so nothing to compare there but he did run Knoxville and he didn't even make the show. Dietrich has some big wins but a lot of his wins were during regular shows which are nowhere close the quality of competition present in all 7 of Logan's wins.

Schatz sweet gravel reutzel schuhart.

I'm no DD hater, but Schuchart definitely ahead of DD

Original poster probably should have said best 5 "winged" drivers....

The best winged sprint car drivers in the country are....Larson, Bell, Schatz, Gio, T. Kaeding. In that order.  That's my opinion on pure driving talent. Not fastest car or team. 

Would you by ANY chance be from California????

Bell is a terrific midget driver, but hasn't proven that much in sprint cars. Yea, he's good, but 2nd best??? Better than Schatz????

I dont know Rev I've seen him do some pretty spectacular things in a sprint car. That's why I put him #2. Just pure talent, like Larson. He might not have the greatest resume in terms of wins, but just the car control he has is unreal. 

Nope. Middle of Posse Land 

Ha?????????

How is it in sprint car racing do drivers prove their worth ?? By their talent or by their results ?? I would say both and I can't help but think everyone on here would agree, including yourself.

We need to get Bill V, to post some stats on talent to see how your top 5 compares to the rest of the 410 drivers in the country. Until then the top 5 proof is in the stats. We can reasonably argue the top 15 drivers in the country. Anything out of that and it’s just a waste of breath and time.

But let's give your top 5 a go looking at wins from 2018 and 2019 combined, just because the 2019 season isn’t over yet.

Larson: 9 wins out of 49 races (Hard to say what he could really do unless he races full time, no doubt he would be there, he's a beast) We'll never know

Bell: 5 wins out of 30 races (If he ran full seasons, he's a contender) We'll never know

Schatz: 33 wins out of 149 races

Gio: 6 wins out of 95 races (Could be a top 5 driver, but not now)

TK: 2 wins out of 58 races (Top 5 driver in Cali, not nation)

Now let’s look at the OP's top 5 the same way

Sweet: 27 wins out of 154 races (No doubt top 5)

Schatz: 33 wins out of 149 races (No doubt top 5)

Reutzel: 28 wins out of 142 races (No doubt top 5 and hard to believe he's just now in his second full season of 410 racing, very impressive)

Gravel: 19 wins out of 152 races (No doubt top 5)

DD: 25 wins out of 176 races (Top 5 in PA/OH not nation)

Good luck on compiling the results on the drivers talent Bill !! Looking forward to seeing your results �

Good thread OP.  I like to see threads like this - good discussion, good topic and reasonable people.

I agree with OP with the exception of DD.  I think Logan makes the list at #5.  DD has the talent to be there but Logan has solid numbers.  If Logan didn't have those numbers, DD would make the list as I think he has had a better year than Pittman, Stewart, Sheldon, etc.  If given the time, he could survive and would be successful on the WoO tour.  Maybe not a championship driver, but could certainly be in the top 5.

I interpret the Top 5 as proposed by the OP as different than the best.  Top 5 is based on stats and YTD performance.  More of an objective measurement.  Best to me combines that with some subjective measurement.  Is Larson one of the best?  I think so even though he doesn't have the numbers due to his day job.  I'm making a distinction that maybe doesn't exist, but it's a message board so who really cares.

Good points.

There's a difference in

#1 "who are the 5 most talented winged sprint car drivers?"

and

#2"if any driver pulled into town in their current ride, what 5 do you fear the most?"

When I answer question 1, I get: (in no order)

Larson

Schatz

Bell

TK

Gravel

When I answer question 2, I get:  (in no order)

Larson

Schatz

Gravel

Sweet

Schuchardt