Comments on: Ned Jarrett: NASCAR’s Under The Radar GOAT

By: Steve Still

Steve Still — Wed, 16 Aug 2023 15:51:00 +0000

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

By: Daniel Foster

Daniel Foster — Wed, 16 Aug 2023 12:55:53 +0000

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.

By: Razor

Razor — Wed, 16 Aug 2023 12:14:54 +0000

In reply to GoodOl'Roll. I think Ned, Petty and Pearson would dogfight on each other and that would be interesting.

By: KR1736

KR1736 — Wed, 16 Aug 2023 11:00:24 +0000

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

By: Razor

Razor — Wed, 16 Aug 2023 06:47:12 +0000

In reply to IanPerez2000. I kinda think that Ned was NASCAR's equivalent to Sir Jackie Stewart

By: Razor

Razor — Wed, 16 Aug 2023 06:42:04 +0000

In reply to Austin Emms. 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.

By: KJ Productions

KJ Productions — Wed, 16 Aug 2023 04:38:25 +0000

That’s crazy Ned’s first championship was won despite one win like Matt Kenseth in 2003

By: T J

T J — Wed, 16 Aug 2023 03:29:20 +0000

There’s no comparison, he was great on and off the track. Reminds me of my dad. Humble and kind.

By: Brandon

Brandon — Wed, 16 Aug 2023 02:18:34 +0000

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.

By: Razor Shark

Razor Shark — Wed, 16 Aug 2023 01:32:11 +0000

In reply to Vincent Gagliano. 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.