Race Weekend Central

Driver vs. Driver Hall of Fame Matchups: Bill Elliott Vs. Rusty Wallace

~ai 81a6f7df 75df 4972 Bccf 0c68ba08b45c

(Graphic: Jared Haas)

With 99 wins and two titles between them, Bill Elliott and Rusty Wallace tore up the track in the late 1980s. For 25 years, they raced one another, and while Wallace has an edge in the win department, well, they didn’t call Elliott Million Dollar Bill for nothing. This month, we look closer at the …

Read more

Driver vs. Driver Hall of Fame Matchups: Bobby Allison Vs. Darrell Waltrip

~ai Cc59346e 0680 4bb0 Ab39 A0249e23de6c

(Graphic: Jared Haas)

84 NASCAR Cup Series wins. Only three drivers in the history of the series have won more than Darrell Waltrip and Bobby Allison (though Allison will tell you he has 85, a matter he’s disputed with NASCAR for decades. Between them, Waltrip and Allison won four of five titles between 1981 and 1985. Waltrip has …

Read more

Driver vs. Driver Hall of Famers: Lee Petty vs. Junior Johnson

~ai 60606b40 36bd 48f7 987a Bcafa1938c1e

(Graphic: Jared Haas)

Over 50 wins on NASCAR’s top circuit will put a driver into the Hall of Fame — every eligible driver to ever achieve that mark has already been enshrined, and there’s no doubt that the three active drivers who have achieved that number will be first-ballot locks. This month, we look closer at the drivers …

Read more

Driver vs. Driver Classic Matchups: Jeff Gordon vs. Jimmie Johnson

Drivervsdriver Johnsonvgordon

(Graphic: Jared Haas)

It started when the young driver asked the superstar for career advice. In 2001, NASCAR was reeling from the loss of Dale Earnhardt. Jeff Gordon, Earnhardt’s fierce rival, was on the way to a fourth championship. And Jimmie Johnson was barely a blip on the collective radar. Most fans know the story by now: Johnson …

Read more

Driver vs. Driver Classic Matchups: Dale Earnhardt vs. Jeff Gordon

1993 Talladega Cup Dale Earnhardt Jeff Gordon Racing Nigel Kinrade Nkp

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade/NKP)

NASCAR’s last great rivalry couldn’t have been between two more different drivers. In one corner, there was Dale Earnhardt, the blue-collar Intimidator, who was flirting with Richard Petty’s all-time mark of seven championships in the early and mid-1990s. In the other, Wonderboy: Jeff Gordon, the polished and groomed youngster from California whose meteoric rise began …

Read more

Driver vs. Driver Classic Matchups: Richard Petty vs. Dale Earnhardt

Dale Earnhardt Sr. Tribute 2011

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Seven Cup titles. When Richard Petty won his seventh and final championship in 1979, it was easily a feat for the record books. No other driver had more than three. Dale Earnhardt was a rookie driver in 1979, brash and hungry but as yet unproven. In Driver vs. Driver, we take a look into the careers of …

Read more

Driver vs. Driver Classic Matchups: Richard Petty vs. David Pearson

2017 Atlanta Cup Richard Petty Ty Dillon Matthew T Thacker Nkp

Photo: Matthew T. Thacker/NKP

The King. The Silver Fox. Richard Petty. David Pearson. They’re NASCAR’s most legendary rivalry—and there’s no other pair of drivers to begin a month of classic matchups with than the two winningest drivers the sport’s top series has ever seen. In Driver vs. Driver, we take a look into the careers of the sport’s greats …

Read more