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

#1 Steve Kinser

then ?

Wanna go Swindell and Wolfgang as #2 and #3. Who's the last piece? Schatz, Lasoski, Mark Kinser, Meyers, Rahmer, etc

The problem with these types of lists is that people want to pretend Sprint Car racing began in around 1980 or even 1990. A.J. Foyt is not one of the four greatest Sprint Car drivers of all-time?

I can understand putting Schatz on the list, but you can't go wrong with the National Sprint Car poll's list of greatest drivers when they did that poll back in 2000. The top four of all time in 2000 were Kinser, Tommy Hinnershitz, A.J. Foyt and Jan Opperman.

#1 the "KING" kinser

#2 A J Foyt

#3 jan opperman

#4 "GP" Gary patterson,doug wolfgang,swindell,shuman???

“The saddest aspect of life right now is that science 
gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.” 

Good thread. Something to provoke a little positive thought. Is there a wrong answer? Lol.

mine would be:

Steve Kinser

AJ Foyt

Clarence "Hooker" Hood

Jan Opperman

There is no replacement for cubic displacement 

1) Steve Kinser

2)Jan Opperman

3)AJ Foyt

4)Sammy Swindell

Honorable mention: Schatz, Wolfgang, Hewitt, Kenny Weld 

My picks are based on drivers who have had the most multiple dominating seasons, as well as winning the biggest races during their careers and having won either national or track championships in major series or at major tracks.

1  Steve Kinser

2  Doug Wolfgang 

3 Donny Schatz

4 Jan Opperman

Kinser is a given. Wolfgang makes my list for three reasons. What he ackomplished in a shortened career, running daytime and night races, and he did so against Kinser. Donny Schatz, well we know what he's doing. Jan Opperman was simply an awesome talent and a true Outlaw and took on the "big boys" and beat them. Overlooked will probably be Kenny Weld who for all intents and purposes actually ackomplished more than Opp. I'm lucky, I have watched all of these drivers in their primes. There are so many drivers I didn't see that are going to be properly put on other fans' lists, so my list is of course only mine. 

1. Kinser

2. Opperman (sadly, I never got to witness his greatness)

3 Wolfgang (per Steve Kinser, the smoothest driver he's ever competed against and the toughest to beat when his confidence was up- that's good enough for me to rank him in the top 4)

4.  This one is a toughie, I never got to see Andretti, Foyt or Hinnerschitz nor have I even heard stories about how great they were in a sprint car (i have at least heard about Opperman from the old-timers in the stands, they never even speak of these guys).  So, with that said, I would put it between Kenny Weld, Sammy, and Schatz.  (had Weld not had his issues, he may have been better than everyone, Sammy has been doing it for 40+ years and has beaten everyone during that time (including Kinser, Wolfgang and Schatz), and Schatz is far and away the best in the business the past 10 years (and doing it in an era when EVERYONE has the same equipment which is even more remarkable).

1&2- I have to go with Kinser and Swindell because of how long they were among the best. Another reason is because they consistantly beat the best all across the country at the local stars home tracks.

3- Wolfgang because he was just plain great and probably would have amassed many more wins had he not gotten hurt. 

 4- This is a tougher one. I can't really give it to the eastern drivers although many of them were great but most of them raced regionally as opposed to the WoO who went nationwide.  I am torn between Foyt and Schatz and I have to go with Schatz just because of how dominate he has been.  

Kinser a lock at #1 and arguments galore for the other 3...All drivers listed above have merit and you could add Vogler, Bigelow, Pancho Carter, and Bubby Jones...We need 2 mountains one with wings on it and one without...lol

I can only go by the WoO era because that's all I've been alive for. 

I'd go Steve, Schatz, Sammy and Wolfgang. 

Honorable mention: Mark, Rahmer and the Dude

Crazy Horse

Sitting Bull

Red Cloud

Russell Means

None were sprint car drivers but if Mount Rushmore were to replace the former Presidents with those most deserving it would be these 4 great Native American Leaders.

Making a list like this is impossible. It would be a lot easier to do it by particular era's instead of all time but here's mine nonetheless:

1) Steve Kinser

2)Donny Schatz

3) Sammy Swindell

4) Doug Wolfgang/Jack Hewitt

Kinser

swindell

hood

foyt

You are correct,  So many fans of this era have never heard of Ted Horn, Gus Schrader, John Gerber  just to name a few and the list could go on and on.

Opperman, Swindell, Wolfgang, Kinser. My reasoning, these guys did it with wings, without wings, and rolled into tracks they had never been before, run by the rules of that track, and took home the money. Real Outlaws. With all due respect, Hinnershitz, Foyt, Andretti, and others from that era almost exclusively ran without wings. Also with respect, Schatz, Mark Kinser, and etc, have ran almost exclusively with wings and by WoO rules. You, also, have some outstanding USAC stars (Hewitt, Vogler, Kruseman, Darland, and etc) that have ran almost exclusively without wings. Hewitt might be an exemption. Others from the era of racing both types that deserve honorable mention, Ferkel, Shuman, Bobby Allen, Kenny Weld, Hooker Hood, Bobby Ward, Bubby Jones and some I know I'm forgetting. 

This is a toughie, and I don't know if you anybody could come up with a list and even a majority could agree with.  IMO you have two very different eras where you can't really compare the drivers because the cars were just so different. 

1.  In the pre 1970 era you had the Offenhauser engines with a much narrower rear tire and little to no aero.

2.  From the 1970+ era aero began to be introduced along with wider rear tires and the higher HP engines.

Andretti, Foyt, Betenhausen and many many others to throw into the mix along with Swindell, Kinser, and Schatz.

Some random thoughts:

As good of a driver as Foyt was, I don't think he would be in the top 4.  Being I don't think if you timewarped an AJ Foyt from 1970 he would adapt well to a 2015 sprinter.  My basis for this opinion is he didn't run well later in his career in Indycars once aero became a serious part of the equasion.  Just my opinion though. 

Mario?  I would possibly consider him for the top 4.  Again very tough call.  He was competitive all the way to the end in both aero and non aero dependant cars.  So using the same theory with Mario as with AJ, I think a 1970 Mario would be very tough in a 2015 sprinter. 

Schatz?  No idea.

Kinser?  I would say he would be me only 100% sure lock.  Just due to the fact of how competitive he was during the transition time.

Sammy?  I would say 50/50 yes.  Doesn't have as impressive a record but similar situation to Kinser.

This is an interesting discussion....

Have to include Ricky Hood in the list of drivers that ran well with or without the wing.

hinnershitz

foyt

kinser

schatz

the best of their era's

I will go:

1. Steve (easy)

2. Sammy (not so easy)

3. Opperman (what could have been)

4. Schatz (other than #1 tough to argue against him)

Foyt was just a total bad ass and if it were the race car driver Mt. Rushmore it would be a different story.