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NASCAR has had a short but elite list of drivers that some could consider the greatest ever NASCAR drivers, but there may be a driver that people forget to mention regularly. That driver is none other than Gentleman Ned Jarrett. In his brief time in NASCAR Ned Jarrett put himself into the top 10 to 15 ever, raced against the best ever, and on a regular basis beat the best ever. This is the story of Ned Jarrett, NASCAR's under the radar GOAT.
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33 comments
Which drivers do you think deserve to be more remembered?
Buck Baker
People seem to only talk about Buddy now
Buddy Rice since you didn’t say nascar.
If we’re talking about pre modern era drivers, Marshall Teague. I think that one of NASCAR’s original superstars, known especially for piloting one of the original Hudson Hornets, and kicking butt at the Daytona Beach Course, is unfortunately lost in the shuffle today amongst others like Petty, Pearson, Jarrett, Foyt, Gurney, Andretti, Flock, and Thomas.
James Hylton.
@TheIceberg you should do a what if Bill Elliott never left melling racing 9 car or the 11 Junior Johnson Ford
Could’ve won a bunch of races in the 1970s
He’s one of those NASCAR personalities who was so great at the booth that people easily forget how great he was as a driver.
DW and Buddy Baker too.
Even his son Glenn Jarrett was good at being pit reporter. No wonder he named him Glenn because Fireball Roberts first name is Glenn.
Ned Jarrett in the booth brings back so many great memories. Him calling his son back to the win at Daytona is peak Sports broadcasting imo.
I mean he once won a race by 14 laps. I think that more than qualifies him.
14 Laps
Ned Jarrett could’ve been as good as he was in the 80s and 90s as he was in his day. A criminally underrated driver.
Could be one of the biggest what-ifs in the realm of NASCAR Racing, “What if Ned Jarrett continued racing into the 1970s and 1980s just like his contemporaries Petty and Pearson?”. My guess would be, apart from he won’t be a NASCAR Reporter and pundit until he eventually retires, he would be number 3 in NASCAR’s most successful drivers list, as well as Petty won’t have 200 wins and Pearson won’t win 105 races.
Amazing broadcaster, stellar driver, and outstanding human being! 50+ wins, 2 championships, and an almost 6 decade long motorsport career. If that’s not GOAT level status, I don’t know what is. We’ll never see the likes of him again. FACT.
The whole Jarrett Family is underrated…if not for Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt, Dale Jarrett would have won at least another Cup
If not for Gordon he would’ve won 1997.
It’s kinda funny how bad Dale was before he went to Yates compared to how excellent he was *with* Yates.
@GoodOl’Roll He was right there in 1996 as well, could have stolen a title from both Gordon and Terry Labonte with one or two better finishes
Ned Jarrett is Truly one of the GOATs as a driver and as a broadcaster
His most dominant win: 1965 Darlington, won by a staggering 14 laps
If Ned didn’t retire early and if Pearson ran the full schedule every year, the 3-way battles for championships and general domination through the late 60s and 70s would’ve been amazing.
I think Ned, Petty and Pearson would dogfight on each other and that would be interesting.
Ned isn’t a “what if” driver, he was one of the best, hall of fame, did it when it was often lethal, baddest asses to ever turn a wheel! All while being one of the kindest people ever. Also hearing him talk about Fireball is heartbreaking.
Truly a Gentleman in NASCAR as a driver and reporter.
One of my favorite Ned Jarrett stories was when Ned was calling a pit stop for Richard Petty at the 1979 (I think?) Martinsville race. He was calling it in the bathroom and did it right
I kinda think that Ned was NASCAR’s equivalent to Sir Jackie Stewart
Biggest What If imo is someone else you mentioned here, Joe Weatherly, the man won two championships in a row and died in the first race of the next season. Fun fact about Joe’s second championship, he won it while driving for 9 different teams since his main ride only entered big money events so he would go looking for rides for smaller races.
Ned Jarrett actually competed against Richard Petty in 286 races, and these are the results:
H2H Wins: 146-140 Richard Petty
Wins: 42-39 Richard Petty
Top 5s: 151-149 Richard Petty
Top 10s: 198-193 Ned Jarrett
Av. Finish: 8.7-8.9 Richard Petty
As you can see, Richard Petty was very slightly better, but he was remarkably close, with Petty also ranking higher in points in 4 of 5 years both were full-time (each starting a majority of races). To give you context on how close Jarrett was to Petty though, here’s how David Pearson did against Petty:
Starts: 551
H2H Wins: 290-261 Richard Petty
Wins: 108-97 Richard Petty
Top 5s: 292-289 Richard Petty
Top 10s: 367-349 Richard Petty
Av. Finish: 9.8-11.3 Richard Petty
Among the pre-modern era drivers, he’s very close to the likes of the Pettys and Pearson and accomplished all in only 6 full time seasons and 352 starts to his name.
There’s no comparison, he was great on and off the track. Reminds me of my dad. Humble and kind.
That’s crazy Ned’s first championship was won despite one win like Matt Kenseth in 2003
As fantastic a driver he was, my favorite thing about Ned was the story about him helping Wendell Scott. I also maintain that a large part of the success and growth of NASCAR in the 80s/90s was the three man booth of Ned, BP and Bob Jenkins. Those three were the voice of my childhood and helped foster a love of auto racing and stock cars
We all know Ned Jarrett from his broadcasting career, but I’m glad his driving career is starting to be appreciated. If Ned had continued driving, he probably might have been the driver nicknamed “The King” instead of Richard Petty, and probably would have been the one with seven championships instead of Petty.
Ned was incredibly underrated. I had the chance to meet him in ’09 and yes he definitely lived up to the “gentleman Ned” moniker. The Joe Weatherly crash is why we have window nets now and the Fireball Roberts crash is the reason we have fuel cells.
And I think the 3 biggest “What if” drivers are Tim Richmond, Davey Allison and Alan Kulwicki