Who's your favourite ever IRL/CCWS driver?

[CGormally]

I'm just asking this because I'm curious to know which drivers were your favourites. My favourite driver was Michael Andretti. He could win on a variety of tracks and was one of the very few IRL/CCWS drivers who attempted F1. OK, he may not have been the best in F1, but at least he was prepared to take up a challenge.

[jimispeed]

I'm just asking this because I'm curious to know which drivers were your favourites. My favourite driver was Michael Andretti. He could win on a variety of tracks and was one of the very few IRL/CCWS drivers who attempted F1. OK, he may not have been the best in F1, but at least he was prepared to take up a challenge.

Top 3:

Mario Andretti

Alex Zanardi

Robert Doornbos

Sorry, I couldn't just pick one.....

[CGormally]

Top 3:

Mario Andretti

Alex Zanardi

Robert Doornbos

Sorry, I couldn't just pick one.....

I completely forgot about Mario. Not only did he win in IndyCars but he was also F1 World Champion back in 1978. He would have to be up there at the top for me too.

[mileman]

Alex Zanardi!!!

[!!WALDO!!]

I completely forgot about Mario. Not only did he win in IndyCars but he was also F1 World Champion back in 1978. He would have to be up there at the top for me too.

In 1962 Mario accomplished something nobody else ever did? For this at the time carried more weight than anything else he accomplished because drivers won, Daytona, Sebring, the 500, the World Championship before him and after him but nobody ever did this prior or after.


A.J. Foyt IV
Sarah Fisher
Ed Carpenter

[Blancvino]

1 - Mario Andretti
2 - A J Foyt
3 - Unsers, Bobby, Al, and Al Jr.

[Indyman]

Alex Zanardi ... the Donut specialist!

Hmmmmm Donuts

[bblocker68]

Super Tex. I wear #14 because of him and Jim Rice (Red Sox). He was the reason I started watching this stuff, starting back in 1977.

Greg Moore. There was no one like him and I dearly watch missing him race. He was neither CC or IRL, but I bet he could've helped bring everyone together. He had a knack for that sort of thing.

[geek49203]

AJ was probably the best driver overall in his prime, especially at ovals. Mario... what else can you say? Then again, given the life expectancy of their era, I wonder how many other drivers might've done great things if they wouldn't have died in a wreck somewhere -- Jim Clark comes to mind.

I had a crush on Sarah, and still wonder what would've happen if it wasn't for the debacle of the Chevy Gen III motor and the subsequent withdrawal of Chevy (her patron saint sponsor) from the IRL. She never would've been a champion, but I watched her take the lead under green flag at MIS, the first woman to ever lead an "Indy" race after taking the lead under green. She bore the indignity of her demise well, and did some great work with local charities (Girl Scouts).

Dan Wheldon is a great interview, even if half of what he says comes back to haunt him.

Milka is great with the fan, and has got the best boob job in motor sports (Danica's pics in Sport Illustrated are a testimony to the power of PhotoShop).

Dario had a combination of skill and great guy personality.

Paul Dana was a nice guy. He was quiet, artistic, and great with kids. He brought Ethanol to Indy, which definitely changed the game in the IRL in an era of global warming hysteria.

[!!WALDO!!]

In 1962 Mario accomplished something nobody else ever did? For this at the time carried more weight than anything else he accomplished because drivers won, Daytona, Sebring, the 500, the World Championship before him and after him but nobody ever did this prior or after.


A.J. Foyt IV
Sarah Fisher
Ed Carpenter

I see many drivers who never raced in the IRL/CCWS as the thread requested.

The answer to the question: Mario won three Feature races in one day at two different tracks in ARDC Midgets.

[fugariracing]

Having only followed since '96, Zanardi would have to be my fave. Although I have a special place for Michel Jourdain Jr. because he was one of the nicest guys out there in CART and we stayed in contact for a number of years after I met him in '98.

[Lemmy-Boy]

1. Nigel Mansell - The man who brought CART to global prominence (at least for a short while).
2. Jacques Villeneuve - F1 World Champion / CART Champion / Indy 500 Champion within a span of 2 years...enough said.
3. Hiro Matsu$hita - Hehe...my favorite backmarker.

[bblocker68]

I see many drivers who never raced in the IRL/CCWS as the thread requested.

The answer to the question: Mario won three Feature races in one day at two different tracks in ARDC Midgets.

Bummer. You are going to get drivers from CART and before becasue they are engrained in our memories. The CCWS camp considers USAC/CART drivers as part of the CCWS family.

[BobGarage]

mine, in no particular order:-

Justin Wilson
Mark Blundell
Nigel Mansell

[!!WALDO!!]

Bummer. You are going to get drivers from CART and before becasue they are engrained in our memories. The CCWS camp considers USAC/CART drivers as part of the CCWS family.

I could say

A.J. Foyt
Don Branson
Rodger Ward

None drove in the IRL/CCWS. No it tells you that nobody is impressed with the CCWS drivers or IRL and they change the thread to fit their needs rather than answering truthfully.

Notice I did.

[F1boat]

Alex Zanardi. I still admire and respect him tremendously. Possibly my fave driver in any category, ever.

[garyshell]

In no particular order I have three:

Greg Moore - just because the guy was just so damn nice. Two images of him remain in my mind forever. One was at MidOhio after a practice or qualifying session. All the rest of the drivers were long since gone. Greg sat on top of one of the tables in the pit stall, talking to his crew as they worked on the car. I listened in, and it wasn't any sort of debriefing or anything technical just social chit chat. The other was my getting to a talk to him at Sebring when the FIA cars came for the first time in decades. He was SOOOOOOO approachable I chatted with him for ten or fifteen minutes.

Number 2, is Alex Zanardi. Mr. Tenacity and Perseverance, before and after the wreck. (Read his book!!! What a joy.)

Number 3, Juan Pablo Montoya. His car control was just freakin' amazing. The stand out story there was one of the broadcast announcers telling the story of seeing some telemetry readouts where Juan went full lock left to full lock right to gather the car up, the entire time with his foot fully in the throttle. Not even the slightest bit of lift. I can't count the times watching the race seeing him muscling the car with my jaw agape in disbelief. Simply amazing control.

Gary

[bblocker68]

I could say

A.J. Foyt
Don Branson
Rodger Ward

None drove in the IRL/CCWS. No it tells you that nobody is impressed with the CCWS drivers or IRL and they change the thread to fit their needs rather than answering truthfully.

Notice I did.

You changed the thread to fit your needs? Last I looked, you listed 3 IRL drivers in your original post. If you are talking about what you are posting here, that is merely for the sake of argument, which seems to be the sole purpose of your being here on thses forums.

[!!WALDO!!]

You changed the thread to fit your needs? Last I looked, you listed 3 IRL drivers. Looks like you are confusing yourself.

Who's your favourite ever IRL/CCWS driver? So I named three current IRL drivers.

Not drivers that never raced in either series.

It is like me saying my favourite CART drivers were
Ted Horn
Ralph DePalma
Louis Meyer

Great drivers weren't they but one problem, they never raced in CART.

[grungex]

You do know that Anton plans to merge the history of USAC/CART/IRL/CCWS, right? Thus nullifying your pointless quibble.

[!!WALDO!!]

You do know that Anton plans to merge the history of USAC/CART/IRL/CCWS, right? Thus nullifying your pointless quibble.

CART/CCWS already claimed Ralph DePalma, Ted Horn and Louis Meyer. So you are quibbling with a fact dating back 25 years.

[grungex]

No, you are the one doing the quibbling. I, and probably everybody else, already recognized that CCWS and CART are synonymous for the purposes of this thread. You are the only one expresing angst over the difference.

[!!WALDO!!]

No, you are the one doing the quibbling. I, and probably everybody else, already recognized that CCWS and CART are synonymous for the purposes of this thread. You are the only one expresing angst over the difference.

Nope, wrong.

[bblocker68]

In no particular order I have three:

Greg Moore - just because the guy was just so damn nice. Two images of him remain in my mind forever. One was at MidOhio after a practice or qualifying session. All the rest of the drivers were long since gone. Greg sat on top of one of the tables in the pit stall, talking to his crew as they worked on the car. I listened in, and it wasn't any sort of debriefing or anything technical just social chit chat. The other was my getting to a talk to him at Sebring when the FIA cars came for the first time in decades. He was SOOOOOOO approachable I chatted with him for ten or fifteen minutes.

Number 2, is Alex Zanardi. Mr. Tenacity and Perseverance, before and after the wreck. (Read his book!!! What a joy.)

Number 3, Juan Pablo Montoya. His car control was just freakin' amazing. The stand out story there was one of the broadcast announcers telling the story of seeing some telemetry readouts where Juan went full lock left to full lock right to gather the car up, the entire time with his foot fully in the throttle. Not even the slightest bit of lift. I can't count the times watching the race seeing him muscling the car with my jaw agape in disbelief. Simply amazing control.

Gary

Gary, I had the same experience with Greg at Long Beach on a Friday. He just hug out and was chatting in the Tent and was openly talking to the crowd, just hanging out. Memo Gidley was the same way at Laguna Seca. I went up and shook his hand and was chatting about turn 9 and the corkscrew and had to head over to the hopitality trailer. He asked me to walk over with him and hang out for a bit. I had a nice time just talking about racing in general. Great guys!! It's awesome to see drivers be so cordial and really take an interest in you.

[SoCalPVguy]

Milka Duno, I wanna duno her...

http://www.nypost.com/seven/05272007/photos/news017a.jpg

[LTalbot]

1 Alex Zanardi
2 Al Unser Jr.
3 Mario Dominguez

[keysersoze]

Chronology

1. Tom Sneva: late 70s and 80s
2. Robby Gordon: early 90s
3. Alex Zanardi: late 90s
4. Alex Barron: late 90s-present

[MAX_THRUST]

Milka or Danica, or can I have both at the same time???

[RJL25]

sorry but Milka is NOT hot.. shes just not! shes average at best. Danica is a pretty girl but also not especially hot either...

now i have that off my chest, my fravorite was zanardi, i thought he was the best before his accident, and my admiration for him only grew in the aftermath

[MAX_THRUST]

I agree with you Danica is the better, but poor Sarah don't even get a look in.

Greg Moore - driving and as a man.
Alex Zanardi - driving and as a man.
JPM - driving and as a man.
Jaques V - driving.
PT - driving.
and last but not least. Parker Johnstone. What a top bloke. May not have been the most succesful, but the most likeable.

[gm99]

My favorite has got to be Alex Zanardi - for his exciting style of racing, his donuts, his legendary interviews and not at least for the way he has coped with his injuries.

Greg Moore is also high on that list - he was in my opinion truly amazing on the ovals, and a very kind man outside of the cockpit.

Third would be Jimmy Vasser - drivers don't come any nicer than him, yet he proved that nice guys don't always finish last.

Helio Castroneves is also both extremely fast and nice, and I sincerely hope he will finally win the championship that he truly deserves.

Paul Tracy - he may not be everyone's cup of tea, but he contributed greatly to the excitement of any race he's ever been in.

[nanders]

Mario Andretti

I'm somewhat not surprised that no one has picked Michael Andretti though.

[garyshell]

I'm somewhat not surprised that no one has picked Michael Andretti though.


Oh, maybe because he whined and blamed someone else for practically every incident he was ever involved in?

Actually I believe there was one mention of him early in this thread.

Gary

[wedge]

Greg Moore - all round great guy and great driver.

He was Gilles for my generation. Just like Dario and TK and co keep saying he's still terribly missed to this day.

He did some amazing things in the 99 Players car, most notably going wide on the Rio frontstretch and passing Alex Zanardi on the outside round T1.

Another favourite memory is his second career win at Detroit, Norbet Haug was one of the first people to congratulate and that gave the seal of approval that Greg was special.

Funnily Greg and Gilles had similarites:

Gilles raced with the #27 throughout his career, Greg had the #99

Both raced hard but fair.

Both died before winning titles and signed for a top teams for the following season - Gilles signed for McLaren and Greg signed for Penske.

Other guys I really admired were Mansell ('93 season), JV, PT, Robby Gordon, JPM, Kenny Brack, Gil de Ferran, Helio Castroneves, Dan Wheldon (ovals), Scott Dixon, Marco Andretti (road courses)

[BenRoethig]

Of all time? Super Mario Andretti.

[Easy Drifter]

Gilles raced for McLaren once. His favourite # in Atlantics was 69! No comment.
Driver: Steve Kinser. OK, now jump all over me.

[Skid Marx]

Alex Zanardi - driving and as a man.


+1000!

[!!WALDO!!]

Driver: Steve Kinser. OK, now jump all over me.

Nope, never jump on you. I know Steve and Dana Kinser and I never saw a finer driver.

NSSN gave him and rightfully so, the Sprint Car driver of the last Century. Foyt was considered second.

Amazing driver, saw him in the best Sprint race I saw in 1982 at Santa Fe when he showed up in the Genesee Beer Wagon in a USAC Show and got beat by a half a car by Chuck Gurney, everyone else was in a different area code.

[ChampUSfan]

Paul Dana
Buddy Rice
Ed Carpenter
Vitor Meira
Townsend Bell
Cristiano da Matta

[DazzlaF1]

I only started watching and then following champcar/IRL since 1997 so my favourite drivers reflect that era

CHAMP CAR
1. Alex Zanardi
2. Dario Franchitti
3. Greg Moore
4. Sebastien Bourdais
5. Paul Tracy
6. Juan Pablo Montoya
7. Michael Andretti
8. Mark Blundell
9. Patrick Carpentier
10. Scott Pruett

IRL
1. Dario Franchitti
2. Helio Castroneves
3. Scott Dixon
4. Tony Kanaan
5. Dan Wheldon
6. Sam Hornish Jr
7. Vitor Meira
8. Buddy Rice
9. Darren Manning
10. Danica Patrick

OVERALL - Dario Franchitti

[infoxicated]

My favourite changes throughout the season, depending on their attitude and demeanour, but my top five are:

Dan Wheldon - tenacious, classy.
Danica Patrick - tenacious, hot, hosts the "you know" drinking game that gets me very drunk.
Helio Castroneves - great attitude, very sporting.
Buddy Rice - classy, humble, obvious passion for IndyCar Racing.
Darren Manning - determined, good attitude, appears to really want to be in IndyCar.

I've also had a long standing love/hate relationship with Paul Tracy - I don't mind him winning, because when he does it's usually a brilliant drive, but then I find it easy to roll about my sofa laughing when he screws up and crashes out in spectacular fashion. I guess Paul does polarise people like that, though. :)