Culture|Garage

Colin McRae. Mickey Thompson. Dan Gurney. Paddy Hopkirk. “Big Daddy” Don Garlits. These names are synonymous with excellence in motorsport. We hear of them every day in the enthusiast community; Mika Hakkinen, Mario Andretti, Michael Schumacher, Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough- all drivers who have achieved big feats, immense victories, suffered through crashes and sanctioning-body “politics,” and yet persevered to do one thing- win.

All these names conjure up images of youngsters arguing over who the best baseball player is, grousing over trading cards and shooting stats back and forth like an oratory rehash of the Battle of Britain. It is in this spirit that I ask of you, our readers this week- Who is the greatest racing driver of all time, and why?

For me, nobody ranks higher than Parnelli Jones. The guy did it all- Trans-Am, SCCA, Rally races, the Baja 1000 and more. His style was aggressive, his demeanor cool. If you didn’t let him pass, he’d knock you outta the way, but outside of the race, he would treat you like a friend. He even took on a small role in the original “Gone in 60 Seconds” as himself. To me, he was a dynamo- he always did his best with what he had, and even ended up running a successful business, as if his triumphs in racing weren’t enough. And seriously, anyone who has the guts to strap into a jet-turbine powered Indy car is an ace in my book. But enough about that, what say you?

via: JMRay

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