Okay. You want to compare Dale Earnhardt to Richard Petty. Richard's first race was in 1958, his last was in 1992. That's 34 years of racing, in which he made 1,185 starts. Dale Earnhardt ran his first race in 1975, and his last in 2001. That's 26 years in which he made 676 starts. Richard had nearly a decade on Dale, so of course, he has more wins. (let's hope he would..) but i think to have as many championships in 8 less years of driving is quite a feat. Earnhardt was rookie of the year in 1979, he was a 4-time IROC series champion, (that's against the best of international drivers, not just NASCAR), he was the most popular driver in 2001, made the Hall of Fame in 2002, and was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2006. Pretty good stats to only be supported by dumb rednecks.

Now, the other name I hear in comparison is Jeff Gordon. Gordan has only a few less wins, but about 100 less top 10 finishes, and so far he's 11 years short of Dale's Winston Cup/Nextel Cup career. He's got 3 championships to make up in those 11 years, and honestly, i think he can do it. BUT, you will also notice Gordon now drives more agressively, and is much less of a pansy that he was when he started. However, should he not gain over 100 top 10's and 3 championships in the next 11 years, i will expect to never hear his name in comparison to Dale again.

Bottom line, the man was a legend. He knew how to drive that car like nobody else. I heard him say in an interview that he used an open face helment while most of the other drivers used full face helments because he could feel the change in the wind inside the car on his face when he was in the draft. He didn't need new technologies to give him an edge. I think he did pretty good for a dumb redneck. Give the man his due. If you remember, he was running 3rd in the Daytona 500 on the last lap the day he died. If only he could have had those 8 years to catch Petty, there's a good chance there would be no tie for all-time championships.