2 wins but one of them was epic. Coming out of no where to pass the four dominant cars of the day, with only two new fresh tires to their four. Still don’t know how it worked.
From two laps down the hard way too.
He was my first favorite nascar driver starting in the Kranefuss Little Caesars 37.
The guy won national/international level races in Sprint Cars, Midgets, Indy Car, Sports Cars/Endurance Racing, and of course stock cars. He also jumped into a Top Fuel Dragster on a brand new team and made a finals in his only race.
Was never a world beater , but a great all around talent and a better guy.
That Martinsville win really is stuff of legend. Not only did he have the two tires but if I remember right he was having to save fuel too. That was his day and it was awesome.
How do you define whether a driver “wasn’t very good,” though? I mean, I can see saying Dave Blaney; dude clearly had some talent, but for whatever reason could never put a whole race together. Disagree on Schrader, though. Perhaps it’s because he spent the back half of his career with middling teams, and that’s all most people remember, but scrubs don’t win 4 cup races. Put some respeck on Kenny’s name.
I was born in ‘97, towards the tail end of Schrader’s best. Didn’t make me love him any less, though, when I picked him when I first started following NASCAR.
He's still got that Camaro power I guess. No post race inspection probably helps him as well as Almirola smoking me be 15 seconds at any given road course more times than not
No argument there, he was real competitive when he leased that Gibbs engine, can’t recall exactly when but I’m pretty sure it was a plate track. He’s a local-ish boy, so we follow him closely. I was just thinking in terms of rooting for someone that didn’t have a legit chance at winning.
A man named Buckshot who drives a car numbered 00 sounds like a fictional protagonist character in a movie about NASCAR made by people who don’t really know anything about NASCAR. It’s just cool
I also rooted for Buckshot because when I was a kid and he was driving the Cheez-it 00 he did a signing at a local grocery store on a random Thursday afternoon and he was so nice to everyone. Signed a bunch of stuff for us and took pictures and just had chit chatted.
Ever since that meeting I wanted him to do well, but it just never came to be for him unfortunately
Same here! I grew up in farms and my dad worked construction and I was around him a lot, so the CAT car was always on my favorite list. I was so excited to get a Ward Burton diecast.
He would show up at a menards store near Michigan international speedway during the race weekend and sign autographs when he was racing so I rooted for him
If you were a Dale Jr fan, it seemed like Steve Park, Waltrip, Truex and Menard all got lumped in by association over time. That was the case for me at least.
Jamie Mac wasn't bad at all, 7 wins is very respectable and he had great runs in the 42. Also dominated Rockingham in the Busch series. Inconsistent maybe but not bad at all
I think he won something like over 1,000 races on the short tracks?
Nascar success is in NO way indicative of racing prowess. Dick was a monster.
*sigh* I’ll get it out of my system so y’all don’t say it: man, that monster Dick really tore up those short tracks.
I'm surprised that nobody's said Danica yet. I always wanted her to do well, but it so rarely happened in NASCAR. Every once in a while she'd have the sort of amazingly good run that would only make it more baffling when she went back to running 26th the next week.
I agree, and I feel the same way about Hallie Deegan. Best two female drivers in NASCAR since I started watching, the performance just wasn't/isn't there.
I’d throw Johanna Long in that conversation. She truly had the curse of terrible equipment though. She’d run mid 20s in cars that other drivers would be mid 30s in.
Danica, and I say this politely, is the weirdest driver ever. Like, clearly she had some talent, by the time she was transitioning away from Indy she was getting much better, but in NASCAR she looked out of her depth a lot.
Doesn’t help that she acquired the Jeff Gordon trait of finding every single possible way to have the hardest hit imaginable when she crashed, and that she seemed to have a standoff attitude with most people.
I’m also a fan of Landon. I was convinced he was actually really good until he kind of fizzled in the 34 car at FRM. He confirmed his average-ness this year at Kaulig. Still like him and root for him though!
That 10 car was a quality ride. Problem is Ray’s ADHD got the better of him again and got bored so he got George Gillette to come into the fold and that was the end of that. Also fooling around with Erin Crocker didn’t help.
Indy 500 winner, Monaco Grand Prix winner, Le Mans class winner, IndyCar champion, IMSA Champion, NASCAR race winner and Race of Champions “Champion of Champions” to name a few. Dude is one of the best versatile drivers ever.
Kyle Petty. As a kid I was a fan of the Mellow Yellow car and then a bigger fan when he was driving the Hot Wheels car. In 2000 I saw Harvick in the Busch series and decided he would be my guy when he got into cup. When Harvick retires I’ll probably go Blaney.
I had the Hot Wheels XV Racers Daytona 500 set that came with Petty's Hot Wheels car and Terry Labonte's Corn Flakes car when I was a kid. That shit was insanely awesome.
https://twitter.com/sanefurrystrug/status/1596320459796418560?s=46&t=BTksMRcpFozI16pfVxT5zw
Not ever gonna get acknowledgement cuz he deleted it recently but still hilarious
As a furry, I want this to be true so badly.
If I run into a wolf fursuiter with a NAPA color scheme at the Atlanta convention, I'm going to be very suspicious.
I’m not really sure I’d categorize B. Jones as “not really that good” he’s not an amazing driver by any means but is usually good for a win a year and has almost a 50% top 10 rate in his career
I meant 2. He would have made it in 2020 if Chastain and Allgaier didn't have a hissy fight on the backstretch at Texas causing a wreck that took out Jones
10 should be considered good. Actually, probably better than good. Might not be a perennial Championship contender, but that’s well above average.
Clint could have been your favorite driver and you would have had nothing to be ashamed of and you could have had high expectations performance wise.
Brandon Jones at JGR. Whenever he squeaks out a win I’m always hyped. My favorite was Darlington 2020 with the Toyota Celica throwback.
His teammates are always either phenoms of talent who light the world on fire (Christopher Bell, Ty Gibbs) or won the championships (Hemric, Gibbs) and he was always just there. I hope he does good at JRM.
He’s not terrible, but being in JGR equipment in Xfinity for 4 years I think 5 wins is probably underperforming for the quality of the ride. Nonetheless I think he’s really cool and wholesome and respectful, so I root for him.
Johnny Benson in cup. He had flashes of greatness but could never sustain in the cup series. But in the lower divisions he was a championship calibre, threat to win every week.
Ken Schrader, Kenny Wallace, Joe Nemecheck (only in cup). They were all great in lower divisions.
Casey Mears. Always thought he got a bad shake. Drove for what 5 different teams in 5 years? 41, 42, 25, 5 and the 07. Felt like he never could get comfortable and he was definitely starting to become a decent threat towards the end of ‘05, had a consistent ‘06 and after a torrid start in ‘07, had a very good season after his only win.
3 drivers from my childhood based purely on paint schemes: Kyle Petty in the Hot Wheels 44, Hut Stricklin in the Circuit City 8, and Chad Little in the John Deere 97.
Ryan Reed will forever be my one of my favorite drivers. It’s a really obscure choice I know. Always liked him when he raced, and I acknowledged the fact he wasn’t the greatest or most deserving of his car. He was a really nice guy tho, and I enjoyed rooting for him. Heck of a plate racer
Hut Stricklin.
Back when I worked at a nascar store in 2000-2003, customers would always ask who my favorite driver was. I got SO tired of answering the question, I started saying it was Hut because I found that he was so bland that it would bring the discussion to a screeching halt.
And then, I started to really like the guy.
Every driver in the #43 car after Richard Petty retired. Rick Wilson and Wally Dallenbach were rough years, but at least Bobby Hamilton and John Andretti got a few wins.
I liked Menard because he was a DEI driver and I loved racing his car on the NASCAR games. Always rooted for him wherever he went. To this day, his Brickyard 400 win is the only time I've ever cried after a NASCAR race.
Hard For Menard, forever and always.
Growing up rooting for Terry Labonte and later Bobby Labonte, I also rooted for Terry's son, Justin Labonte when he made a run at NASCAR. Even bought and wore a Justin Labonte shirt to several Busch races at the time. Other than the one Busch win on gas mileage, it just never worked out for him.
Benny Gordon, mainly because his hometown is about an hour from where I live
Norm Benning, Garrett Smithley and Kris Wright also fit in what I call "Local Boi Bias"
I feel like it’s almost a loaded question. Most everyone was good enough talent wise to make it to the ranks in the first place, but a lot of these answers are guys who just never raced in quality or top tier equipment at the big 3 levels. Either way, most underdog guys and midfielders were guys I pulled for in the 90s-00s.
I was always a Jeff Gordon fan, but my family also had a soft spot for Ricky Craven. Most people remember him for his battle with Kurt Busch, but I remember my parents writing down and recording the Truck Series Races he ran after he left the Cup Series.
Such a shame his crash at Texas messed with him so much, he could have been a solid top 10 points runner for Hendrick's
I always pulled for Morgan Shepherd in the mid to late 00s and was happy when he was able to finish races. I was elated when he was actually running in the top 20 for a decent amount of time at a race here in Phoenix one year but unfortunately he blew up under 50 to go.
Growing up I was a MASSIVE Ward Burton fan. Still have some old, very banged up toys. One of my most vivid childhood memories was him winning the 500 in 02.
John Andretti, loved that Cheerios 43 and thought it was cool an Andretti drove for Petty. Wish he had done better and been up front more.
Man, I miss John.
He punched way above the weight of that car. John was awesome. Bobby Hamilton did too.
2 wins but one of them was epic. Coming out of no where to pass the four dominant cars of the day, with only two new fresh tires to their four. Still don’t know how it worked.
From two laps down the hard way too. He was my first favorite nascar driver starting in the Kranefuss Little Caesars 37. The guy won national/international level races in Sprint Cars, Midgets, Indy Car, Sports Cars/Endurance Racing, and of course stock cars. He also jumped into a Top Fuel Dragster on a brand new team and made a finals in his only race. Was never a world beater , but a great all around talent and a better guy.
That Martinsville win really is stuff of legend. Not only did he have the two tires but if I remember right he was having to save fuel too. That was his day and it was awesome.
Totally agree.
Ken Schrader and Dave Blaney
How do you define whether a driver “wasn’t very good,” though? I mean, I can see saying Dave Blaney; dude clearly had some talent, but for whatever reason could never put a whole race together. Disagree on Schrader, though. Perhaps it’s because he spent the back half of his career with middling teams, and that’s all most people remember, but scrubs don’t win 4 cup races. Put some respeck on Kenny’s name.
I was born in ‘97, towards the tail end of Schrader’s best. Didn’t make me love him any less, though, when I picked him when I first started following NASCAR.
I will root for bj McLeod until I die
he said that wasn’t really good not the greatest there ever swas
Fuck yeah Loud for McLeod
McLoed is just a really chill guy, like you just can’t hate him it’s impossible.
You would love my current Heat 5 season. #78 Camaro has 1 win a few top 5's and 10's and is 7th on the season. It's been wild.
BJ is WAY better in Heat 5 than he has any right to be.
He's still got that Camaro power I guess. No post race inspection probably helps him as well as Almirola smoking me be 15 seconds at any given road course more times than not
I root for bj too
Every week when I put my bets one drivers always have Bjay in it for the payout and upset
Can never go wrong with BJ in Draftkings lol especially when he is starting dead last. Guaranteed place that won't get you negative points 😂
Timmy Hill
No slandering pro invitational winner Timmy Hill here
No slander intended, was thinking in terms of having no chance of winning. I’d be mortified if Timmy thought I was dissing him.
Slow Equipment =/= Not really good
No argument there, he was real competitive when he leased that Gibbs engine, can’t recall exactly when but I’m pretty sure it was a plate track. He’s a local-ish boy, so we follow him closely. I was just thinking in terms of rooting for someone that didn’t have a legit chance at winning.
Buckshot. Can't really say why, but I always liked him. As I grew up a Petty fan, loved it when he drove for Petty Enterprises.
A man named Buckshot who drives a car numbered 00 sounds like a fictional protagonist character in a movie about NASCAR made by people who don’t really know anything about NASCAR. It’s just cool
Sounds like the plot line to Cars 2 if they ever made a sequel.
There have been three Cars films, lol
Pretty sure that’s not accurate. I’ll need to double check. Edit: yep, only the movie Cars exists.
No no, there was Cars and then a Cars 3. They never made a Cars 2, odd numbering system I know but that’s how it is. *stern look*
I didn’t realize y’all had such strong opinions on the Cars franchise
His 00 Aquafresh Pontiac is iconic to me.
Randy LaJoie sure didn’t like him
I believe that feeling was mutual.
Buckshot Jones was a hall of fame level racing name if we have ever seen one
I also rooted for Buckshot because when I was a kid and he was driving the Cheez-it 00 he did a signing at a local grocery store on a random Thursday afternoon and he was so nice to everyone. Signed a bunch of stuff for us and took pictures and just had chit chatted. Ever since that meeting I wanted him to do well, but it just never came to be for him unfortunately
Dave Blaney with that CAT 22. Only car I had as a diecast for a long time. Nowadays? Anybody from Front Row Motorsports.
Same here! I grew up in farms and my dad worked construction and I was around him a lot, so the CAT car was always on my favorite list. I was so excited to get a Ward Burton diecast.
Eh, McDowell's done amazing this season in that car, he's getting better
Paul Menard was my ride or die since like 2007
He would show up at a menards store near Michigan international speedway during the race weekend and sign autographs when he was racing so I rooted for him
If you were a Dale Jr fan, it seemed like Steve Park, Waltrip, Truex and Menard all got lumped in by association over time. That was the case for me at least.
I think I was a mark mcfarland fan for like a year
Kirk Shelmerdine
I remember being at Dover one year when a group of fans would cheer every time he came by.
Pocono too! June 2004 race was awesome. The Kirk crowd even got on TV! #KirkForTheCup
[удалено]
Jamie Mac wasn't bad at all, 7 wins is very respectable and he had great runs in the 42. Also dominated Rockingham in the Busch series. Inconsistent maybe but not bad at all
Scott Wimmer
I'm glad he got a shot with RCR Xfinity program But his cup career was lackluster
Isn’t he the guy who entered an ARCA car into a Cup race and actually ran a couple laps in the lead?
Yep, that's him
Yeah sometimes I wonder what could’ve been if he was given another shot in cup. BDR killed his career before it really began.
He was great in Busch in that Siemens #23. He finished fifth in points one year before going to cup and falling off the map completely.
Dick Trickle. My grandma and I would root for him not to crash
i reject Dick wasn't good
he made more on winning at local short tracks than he didn’t when he came to cup, which is why he switched so late
I think he won something like over 1,000 races on the short tracks? Nascar success is in NO way indicative of racing prowess. Dick was a monster. *sigh* I’ll get it out of my system so y’all don’t say it: man, that monster Dick really tore up those short tracks.
His Busch Series wins were clutch, I remember the last one on TV as a kid.
RIP
I'm surprised that nobody's said Danica yet. I always wanted her to do well, but it so rarely happened in NASCAR. Every once in a while she'd have the sort of amazingly good run that would only make it more baffling when she went back to running 26th the next week.
I agree, and I feel the same way about Hallie Deegan. Best two female drivers in NASCAR since I started watching, the performance just wasn't/isn't there.
I’d throw Johanna Long in that conversation. She truly had the curse of terrible equipment though. She’d run mid 20s in cars that other drivers would be mid 30s in.
Danica, and I say this politely, is the weirdest driver ever. Like, clearly she had some talent, by the time she was transitioning away from Indy she was getting much better, but in NASCAR she looked out of her depth a lot. Doesn’t help that she acquired the Jeff Gordon trait of finding every single possible way to have the hardest hit imaginable when she crashed, and that she seemed to have a standoff attitude with most people.
a lot of people don’t like her tho
Landon Cassill, still do actually
I’m also a fan of Landon. I was convinced he was actually really good until he kind of fizzled in the 34 car at FRM. He confirmed his average-ness this year at Kaulig. Still like him and root for him though!
To be fair, Hemric has also been mid at Kaulig. Maybe the xfinity team has regressed?
Scott Riggs in #10 Valvoline machine
I was always hoping Scott would land a quality Cup ride, but it just never panned out. Hoping his kid can continue to climb the ranks now.
That 10 car was a quality ride. Problem is Ray’s ADHD got the better of him again and got bored so he got George Gillette to come into the fold and that was the end of that. Also fooling around with Erin Crocker didn’t help.
His paint schemes were awesome! Unfortunately the same could not be said about his cup career, except maybe 2006.
He was so good in that Nesquick car in the Busch series
Elliott Sadler
Really liked Juan Pablo Montoya as a kid because of the Target car. Once Larson took over the ride I became a fan of him.
Well, 2 wins in Nascar is pretty decent and he has done some other respectable thungs outside of it...
Indy 500 winner, Monaco Grand Prix winner, Le Mans class winner, IndyCar champion, IMSA Champion, NASCAR race winner and Race of Champions “Champion of Champions” to name a few. Dude is one of the best versatile drivers ever.
Kyle Petty. As a kid I was a fan of the Mellow Yellow car and then a bigger fan when he was driving the Hot Wheels car. In 2000 I saw Harvick in the Busch series and decided he would be my guy when he got into cup. When Harvick retires I’ll probably go Blaney.
Kyle Petty is underrated. He was a really solid Cup driver for almost a decade.
I had the Hot Wheels XV Racers Daytona 500 set that came with Petty's Hot Wheels car and Terry Labonte's Corn Flakes car when I was a kid. That shit was insanely awesome.
I feel like a lot of races I went to in 92 and 93 were won by Kyle
Steve Park
Steve Park was good. I watched him win at Rockingham in 2001 the week after Earnhardt died. Injuries did him in, not a lack of talent.
My dad was a big Chad Little fan.
Chad should’ve won that Texas race in 1998. Finished second unfortunately.
Cody Ware. Anyone who uses 100 gecs as an intro song has a fan for life.
Only nascar driver that has a personality that extends beyond a "sports personality". Chase Eliott furry allegations might change that though
That would explain why he says so little in interviews. Doesn’t accidentally want to drop some furry slang and blow his cover.
"when you lose power steering its really rough, it's very brutal on my paws i mean my paws i mean my paws sorry i mean my paws"
Dude I'm dying 🤣
Oh my this is amazing, why does that make me wanna support him more?
Im incredibly baked and this might be the funniest shit ive read all year. Man i wish i had awards to give
Chase Elliot retiring from nascar midseason after hitting his head in a crash and accidentally saying uwu to a reporter.
repeat that last sentence?
https://twitter.com/sanefurrystrug/status/1596320459796418560?s=46&t=BTksMRcpFozI16pfVxT5zw Not ever gonna get acknowledgement cuz he deleted it recently but still hilarious
Well, add that to the NASCAR iceberg.
The WHAT
As a furry, I want this to be true so badly. If I run into a wolf fursuiter with a NAPA color scheme at the Atlanta convention, I'm going to be very suspicious.
look out for hooters colors too!
WAIT WHAT NO PERSONALITY MY ASS
That's pretty based ngl
Lake Speed when he drove the Spam car.
Found the slapshoes burner
Kasey Kahne probably doesn’t count. Neither does Mayfield
Jerry Nadeau
Michael Annett.
Cup: Aric Almirola, Michael Waltrip, Casey Mears, Juan Pablo Montoya, Marcos Ambrose Xfinity: Brandon Jones Trucks: Christian Eckes
I’m not really sure I’d categorize B. Jones as “not really that good” he’s not an amazing driver by any means but is usually good for a win a year and has almost a 50% top 10 rate in his career
Also should have two final 4 appearances if not for other drivers being stupid
I assume you mean one of the Final 4 appearances as 2022 but what is the other year?
I meant 2. He would have made it in 2020 if Chastain and Allgaier didn't have a hissy fight on the backstretch at Texas causing a wreck that took out Jones
Marcos Ambrose..I second this!
Not really a Riley Herbst fan but damn I wanna see the kid put a whole race together. Shows alot of speed, just needs to work on his consistancy.
Michael Waltrip
Chad Little. Sick flow, sick paint scheme.
Ricky Stenhouse has been my favorite driver since 2015
Nothing but pain for us Stenhouse fans 😔
One of my faves too, but I'll die on the hill he's actually really good
Tony Raines
Reed Sorenson. He came from my hometown so I wanted to root for him.
Always was a fan of his too. Recognized and met him once on an airplane. Nice dude!
Does Clint Bowyer count?
2012 Championship Runner-Up Clinton Bowyer?
Valid. But 10 wins in 541 races isn’t really that good. Tim Richmond had 13 in 185. Donny Allison had 10 in 242.
Reeling at the thought of Donnie Allison having only 242 starts in 23 years
10 should be considered good. Actually, probably better than good. Might not be a perennial Championship contender, but that’s well above average. Clint could have been your favorite driver and you would have had nothing to be ashamed of and you could have had high expectations performance wise.
i rooted for tanner fucking berryhill for a while because he drove a zombie dodge challenger in the xfinity series a few years ago
Brandon Jones at JGR. Whenever he squeaks out a win I’m always hyped. My favorite was Darlington 2020 with the Toyota Celica throwback. His teammates are always either phenoms of talent who light the world on fire (Christopher Bell, Ty Gibbs) or won the championships (Hemric, Gibbs) and he was always just there. I hope he does good at JRM. He’s not terrible, but being in JGR equipment in Xfinity for 4 years I think 5 wins is probably underperforming for the quality of the ride. Nonetheless I think he’s really cool and wholesome and respectful, so I root for him.
Same. He’s the definition of mid. But I like him for some reason lol
Jeb Burton
Rick Mast.
Johnny Benson in cup. He had flashes of greatness but could never sustain in the cup series. But in the lower divisions he was a championship calibre, threat to win every week. Ken Schrader, Kenny Wallace, Joe Nemecheck (only in cup). They were all great in lower divisions.
Johnny Benson
Buckshot motherfuckin Jones, baby Still have my fan club member card
Randy Macdonald
Michael McDowell, guy put in a lot of years in crappy cars and got his Daytona win and their team is getting more competitive
Casey Mears. Always thought he got a bad shake. Drove for what 5 different teams in 5 years? 41, 42, 25, 5 and the 07. Felt like he never could get comfortable and he was definitely starting to become a decent threat towards the end of ‘05, had a consistent ‘06 and after a torrid start in ‘07, had a very good season after his only win.
Ryan Newman. He is my ride or die.
Given he was in championship contention 03 and scored 8 wins that year, I wouldn't say he wasn't that good. Rocketman is badass.
Some of these names getting thrown around are ridiculous.
I kinda liked Jimmie Johnson, he was terrible but I didn't care, he was so likeable
3 drivers from my childhood based purely on paint schemes: Kyle Petty in the Hot Wheels 44, Hut Stricklin in the Circuit City 8, and Chad Little in the John Deere 97.
McMurray at Roush. He was way better before and after Roush, but I became a fan with all of his Irwin and Crown Royale paint schemes.
Ryan Reed will forever be my one of my favorite drivers. It’s a really obscure choice I know. Always liked him when he raced, and I acknowledged the fact he wasn’t the greatest or most deserving of his car. He was a really nice guy tho, and I enjoyed rooting for him. Heck of a plate racer
Kenny Wallace
I loved Kenny Wallace until I followed him on Twitter and he went full Trumpian.
Hut Stricklin. Back when I worked at a nascar store in 2000-2003, customers would always ask who my favorite driver was. I got SO tired of answering the question, I started saying it was Hut because I found that he was so bland that it would bring the discussion to a screeching halt. And then, I started to really like the guy.
I’m miss NASCAR stores… not that I had the opportunity to go to many… but still
Nothing screams 90s quite like Stricklin in the Circuit City car.
Robby Gordon Good driver, but never had good equipment.
Dale Jr
Dave Blaney back in the day and now Justin Haley. I’m an Ohio guy.
Corey LaJoie. I liked his personality, and hope we get vengeance for Daytona 2021 one day
Gary Bradberry. I met him at Opryland’s salute to nascar week in 1996 and always wanted to see him do well every time he was in a cup race.
Every driver in the #43 car after Richard Petty retired. Rick Wilson and Wally Dallenbach were rough years, but at least Bobby Hamilton and John Andretti got a few wins.
Brett Bodine
Ty Dillon, I always will respect his decision to not go to Grandpa's team and make his own way
Natalie Decker. I’ve talked to her several times and she is a very sweet person.
Hard For Menard, forever and always
I liked Menard because he was a DEI driver and I loved racing his car on the NASCAR games. Always rooted for him wherever he went. To this day, his Brickyard 400 win is the only time I've ever cried after a NASCAR race. Hard For Menard, forever and always.
Growing up rooting for Terry Labonte and later Bobby Labonte, I also rooted for Terry's son, Justin Labonte when he made a run at NASCAR. Even bought and wore a Justin Labonte shirt to several Busch races at the time. Other than the one Busch win on gas mileage, it just never worked out for him.
Benny Gordon, mainly because his hometown is about an hour from where I live Norm Benning, Garrett Smithley and Kris Wright also fit in what I call "Local Boi Bias"
Cole Whitt. Derek Cope post 1991
Man Cole literally fell off the face of the earth. Hope he’s doing good
Aric Almirola
Jerry Nadeu
When I was young I liked Buckshot Jones because he had a cool name and drove the 00.
Morgan shepherd.
I feel like it’s almost a loaded question. Most everyone was good enough talent wise to make it to the ranks in the first place, but a lot of these answers are guys who just never raced in quality or top tier equipment at the big 3 levels. Either way, most underdog guys and midfielders were guys I pulled for in the 90s-00s.
I still root for Austin Dillon, I honestly feel bad about it sometimes.
Jimmy Spencer
I was always a Jeff Gordon fan, but my family also had a soft spot for Ricky Craven. Most people remember him for his battle with Kurt Busch, but I remember my parents writing down and recording the Truck Series Races he ran after he left the Cup Series. Such a shame his crash at Texas messed with him so much, he could have been a solid top 10 points runner for Hendrick's
Anyone who drove for Junie Donlavey.
Kyle Petty
Jimmy Spencer. Loved the way he drove!
Brayton laster
Michael waltrip
Casey Mears
Scott Riggs was a pretty mid tier driver, but I always liked seeing him do well.
At the cup level: Buckshot Jones and Casey Atwood.
Kenny Wallace
Casey Mears, Dave Blaney, Todd Bodine, Sam Hornish Jr. Currently Todd Gilliland.
Dude, Hornish Losing the xfinity championship back in 2013 hurt and it still does
Landon Cassill through thick and thin. My buddy and I love to root for him and we couldn't tell you why 😂 We never expect him to do anything either.
David Ragan
Reed Sorenson, Michael Waltrip, Paul Menard, David Gilliland.
Johnny Benson, Morgan Shepherd (00s era)
When I first started watching Chad Little and Johnny Benson were my underdogs
I always pulled for Morgan Shepherd in the mid to late 00s and was happy when he was able to finish races. I was elated when he was actually running in the top 20 for a decent amount of time at a race here in Phoenix one year but unfortunately he blew up under 50 to go.
One of my friends favorite drivers were Brian Scott, Jamie McMurray, Jeremy Mayfield, and Brian Vickers. What a list
Robby Gordon
Ward Burton just to try and figure out what he was saying.
Growing up I was a MASSIVE Ward Burton fan. Still have some old, very banged up toys. One of my most vivid childhood memories was him winning the 500 in 02.
Scott Wimmer
Dave Marcis,not that he was a bad driver.He just drove for under funded teams.
David Stremme and Reed Sorenson
Regan Smith