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Question of the day for March 21, 2011

Tim Leeming
@tim-leeming
13 years ago
3,119 posts

Ok folks. The discussion of the driver who contributed the most to the sport in the decade of the 50s brought some good discussion and some really great responses. So, let's take this into the decade of the 60s, one of the most turbulent in our country. Which DRIVER, in your opinion, contributed the most to the growth of the sport in the 60s? I await your responses.

Tim




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What a change! It's been awhile since I've checked in and I'm quite surprised. It may take me awhile to figure it our but first look it's really great.
updated by @tim-leeming: 12/05/16 04:02:07PM
Richard Guido
@richard-guido
13 years ago
238 posts
Geeze Tim, I just can't think of who that might be ......?????
Ernest Sutton
@ernest-sutton
13 years ago
181 posts
There are many starsand significant contributing drivers in every decade, but the 2 who come to mind during the decade of the '60s are Richard Petty and David Pearson. Also, although he wasn't around for the whole decade, Fireball Roberts was very significant to the sport, as well............as was Junior Johnson. It's very difficult to narrow it down to just 1 driver, but if I had to, I would have to give the nod to Richard Petty.
Jeff Gilder
@jeff-gilder
13 years ago
1,783 posts
Fireball


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Founder/Creator - RacersReunion®
Mike Sykes
@mike-sykes
13 years ago
308 posts
There were two super stars of the 60's The first was Fireball. Since we lost him in the early part of the 60's his death brought about a lot of safety changes, fuel cell development and a more plauseable fire suit and on board fire system later. Then comes the King with all his wins and getting the media to pay more attention to the sport when it was more or less a southern sport. So my vote would have to be split between Fireball and Richard.
Cody Dinsmore
@cody-dinsmore
13 years ago
589 posts
I thought Fireball was the one for the decade of the 50's....but in the 60's would probably have to be David Pearson. He won three championships in 66', 68', and 69', the only full seasons he ever run in his career. He was also 1960 rookie of the year. I just think that even though he didn't run as many races as the other guys...I'd pick Pearson.
Frank Craig
@frank-craig
13 years ago
71 posts
There is no question.Wendell Scott,because of what he had to go through in those times.
Ernest Sutton
@ernest-sutton
13 years ago
181 posts


Frank Craig said:
There is no question.Wendell Scott,because of what he had to go through in those times.
As much as I respect what Wendell Scott did against incredible odds (considering the environment of that decade), I don't believe he had as much impact on NASCAR racing as the others memtioned here (Petty, Pearson, Roberts, and Johnson to a degree). I was going to Grand Naational races in those days and saw Wendell race many times.........I always greatly admired what that man was able to accomplish in what was typically known as a "white man's sport" in those days. I will always have a huge amount of admiration for his determination and stick-to-itiveness to just keep on keeping on with only his family for help and support.
Russell Rector
@russell-rector
13 years ago
80 posts
They are many drivers that contributed during the 60's , but the one that seamed to contribute continueously was Richard Petty/Petty Enterprizes. The innovations that they came up with helped step up the durability of the cars. Also Richard was one of the first drivers to understand that the fans werethe reason he had a job. His availability to the fans was one of the reasons of the increased popularity of NASCAR.
Michael W. Smith
@michael-w-smith
13 years ago
109 posts
AJ Foyt