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| | Friday, February 25 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| It's a sweep!
Dale Jarrett is No. 1 -- both in the minds of the fans and the RPM 2Night staff.
The Winston Cup champion will be honored later this week in New York as the top Winston Cup driver in 1999, but the you fans voted him No. 1 in the world. Jarrett once again edged Juan Montoya in the final voting.
The top 20 is below, along with a few comments from fans about each driver. Thanks for voting each week and be sure to keep an eye out for the first rankings of 2000.
1. Dale Jarrett TOTAL POINTS: 34,924 FIRST-PLACE VOTES: 872 "What a year it was. I have waited six years to finally say my favorite is No. 1. Dale Jarrett is the 'Racer of the Year!'"
Micheal Cei
"Dale Jarrett is No. 1. He is a class act, never a 'dirty' driver. His is honorable on the track and off. A true ambassador for NASCAR. I look forward to seeing him win the 2000 Daytona 500 in February."
Tom Mulvagh 2. Juan Montoya TOTAL POINTS: 34,036 FIRST-PLACE VOTES: 343 "The best driver in 1999 is without a doubt Juan Montoya. He dominated the best North America racing circuit in only his rookie season. Tony Stewart with three wins? Try Seven with Juan!"
Robert Sergott
"Juan Montoya is the best driver today. For him to come into the CART series as a rookie and explode like he did is amazing. The thing about Juan is, he's got absolute raw talent, none better. When he first entered the series he was a driver with too much talent and not enough brains. Sometimes you get a driver who has to learn to drive well. Juan didn't have to do that. Now he's grown and matured as a driver, he has too much talent and too much brains. By far the best driver around."
Alex Stout 3. Mika Hakkinen TOTAL POINTS: 31,867 FIRST-PLACE VOTES: 73 "The man who wins the Formula One drivers' crown is called the world champion. This is for good reason. ... It is for this reasons that I have selected Mika Hakkinen, the World Champion, as my No. 1 selection."
Steven West "Mika Hakkinen is probably the best driver of the year as he has handled the pressures of two determined Ferrari drivers over the entire year and emerged as the Champion in the end."
Arun 4. Dale Earnhardt Jr. TOTAL POINTS: 30,184 FIRST-PLACE VOTES: 190 "Dale Earnhardt Jr. deserves driver of the year. I say that not because of his name, but just look at his accomplishments. Two Busch Series Grand National championships, first his rookie year and then his sophomore year. The whole points race between Lil 'E and Kenseth was very interesting. Off the track and on they are buddies. Even when Earnhardt Jr. would beat Kenseth in a race he didn't seem real comfortable with talking about how he felt beating his friend, especially when he beat Kenseth because Matt had a wreck. This says a lot about his character. He seems to have a lot of wisdom beyond his 25 year."
Melissa "Dale Earnhardt Jr., has proven himself to be a talented and skilled driver. Not only is he good at what he does, he is fun to watch. He also has shown humility, which is a rare thing sometimes in the higher ranks of pro driving. I am sure genes have something to do with it and I am a big fan of Earnhardt Sr., so I am looking forward to many years of watching an Earnhardt thrill NASCAR fans. But no matter what, Dale Jr. has shown himself to be the 'real thing.'"
Margaret Kuhn 5. Bobby Labonte TOTAL POINTS: 26,795 FIRST-PLACE VOTES: 50 "My vote goes for Bobby Labonte for the No. 1 driver. The consistency as a driver and Jimmy Makar and the pit crew's consistency are proof enough for me."
Cheryl Kincaid 6. Tony Stewart TOTAL POINTS: 26,566 FIRST-PLACE VOTES: 117 "Tony Stewart should be the driver of the year. Being a rookie in the series, and ending up 4th in the points, not to mention having three victories. It's a no brainer."
Terry Moore "I voted for Tony Stewart for several reasons. Regardless of where he started he found his way to the front in most races. Even though he had three wins, he was in contention often to win. It shows that a good driver coupled with a good team can run good immediately regardless of driver Cup experience."
Jamie Kuntz 7. Greg Ray TOTAL POINTS: 26,403 FIRST-PLACE VOTES: 8 After another frustrating day at Indy, where he started on the front row and crashed on pit road, things took a dramatic turn for the better with three wins in the final seven races of the season and his first Indy Racing League championship. Ray swept both races at Pikes Peak and also won at Dover Downs. 8. Jack Sprague TOTAL POINTS: 25,555 FIRST-PLACE VOTES: 1 "Jack Sprage should be at least No. 3. A Champion is a Champion."
Hector Medellin 9. John Force TOTAL POINTS: 25,537 FIRST-PLACE VOTES: 29 "No one in the 1990's has ruled over their sport like John Force has. I think he could very well be the best driver in motorsport racing of all-time." Todd W. Blackburn Jonesboro, Ind. 10. Jeremy McGrath TOTAL POINTS: 24,316 FIRST-PLACE VOTES: 30 "I know, I know this is for Auto Drivers. (But) this is a vote for Jeremy McGrath of Supercross fame. Of course he isn't a driver, but a 'rider'. (But) Jeremy is a mutli-time Supercross champion who currently holds the win record in that sport and re-sets the record whenever he wins another race. He also has an Outdoor National title to his credit meaning that he can do more than just jump (Supercross), he can also take a pounding on the long-fast-brutal outdoor tracks. My vote is for Jeremy 'Showtime' McGrath."
Mike Patrick
Joe Lillard 11. Eddie Irvine TOTAL POINTS: 22,719 FIRST-PLACE VOTES: 10 "Eddie Irvine is definitely the motorsports man of the year. Here is a driver whose sole job at the beginning of the season was to run interference so Schuey could win. A freak accident later and he was the man bringing respect to the prancing horse's stables. He is the Cinderella at the pinnacle of motorsports' ball."
Colin Shaw 12. Mark Martin TOTAL POINTS: 22,104 FIRST-PLACE VOTES: 76 "Mark Martin should be the No. 1 driver because of all the things he has overcome. After his father's death he still went on to race. Yes, that is his job, but he didn't have to. Mark and his father were very close and he had to have lost a big part of him. After Mark hit the wall comming out of turn 2 in Daytona he still got in the car and drove. Severe pain and all. I have a great respect for the man and believe he should be No. 1." Stan Buys, Stuart Fla. "You've gotta vote for Mark Martin as No. 1. Lord knows I'm a No. 3 fan, but even a die-hard Earnhardt fan has to admire the guts it took this guy to race every week -- and even race Grand National, too! Most of us still would be off work from his first injuries, and we've got 'weenie' jobs. What an inspiration!
Joe Bolan 13. Michael Schumacher TOTAL POINTS: 20,957 FIRST-PLACE VOTES: 96 "Michael Schumacher is still the best driver in Formula 1 and thereby the best in the all forms of racing. Formula 1 has returned much of the responsibility for the team's success to the driver, although there's still such a huge disparity between those with the money and those without that the best driver can only do so much. But Schumacher ranks up there with Clark, Stewart and Senna as the best of their time."
Rick Folsom "If this list were based on pure talent, Michael Schumacher would be the hands down winner. It's tough to put a driver who didn't even win his series at the top, but if you look at what he has done with inferior equipment and a shortened season, I think you'll agree he belongs ahead of the pack."
Tom Taillon "Michael Schumacher is a cut above everyone else. He sits out two races with a broken leg and then returns and is faster than anyone."
Carl Howell 14. Jeff Gordon TOTAL POINTS: 18,747 FIRST-PLACE VOTES: 166 "I left Dale Jarrett at No. 1, but I moved Jeff Gordon to No. 2. I feel that he had a great year despite all the changes and obvious controversy that was going on at Hendrick Motorsports. And, after all, (the fans) even said (by voting in the poll) that the biggest factor in Dale winning the championship was the misfortune of Jeff Gordon."
Alda Opfer 15. Dario Franchitti TOTAL POINTS: 17,312 FIRST-PLACE VOTES: 16 "All Jackie Stewart could have asked for.Dario has enough fire in his blood to turn the world upside down, but he harnesses it and does 'the most with the least,' saving his tires, saving the car and almost always bringing it home in one piece. Another guy who's ultimate goal is in F1, and a serious contender for the most coveted trophy in open wheel racing."
Martin Berryman 16. Matt Kenseth TOTAL POINTS: 13,136 FIRST-PLACE VOTES: 7 Gave Earnhardt all he could handle for much of the season, leading the points race for much of the season until crashing in the season finale and winding up third behind Jeff Green in the final standings. He'll move up to Winston Cup next season as Martin's teammate. Won four Busch Series races. 17. Kenny Brack TOTAL POINTS: 12,233 FIRST-PLACE VOTES: 3 What would the list of top drivers be without the Indianapolis 500 winner? And Brack didn't stop impressing after Indy. The Swede finished second to Ray in the IRL points standings. 18. Heinz-Harald Frentzen TOTAL POINTS: 11,994 FIRST-PLACE VOTES: 11 Broke through in 1999 with two Formula One wins and actually contended for the world championship with three races remaining. The German will certainly be a threat again in 2000. 20. Greg Biffle TOTAL POINTS: 8,282 FIRST-PLACE VOTES: 1 "If it were not for NASCAR inspectors and I suspect some of Biffle's rivals griping about Biffles performance, he would have won the championship going away."
Rick Jurgens 20. Tony Schumacher TOTAL POINTS: 7,333 FIRST-PLACE VOTES: 1 "Tony Schumacher may not have won as many races as the other candidates, but was always in the hunt. He was the most consistant with out being the most dominant."
Bobby Kesl | ALSO SEE Final 1999 RPM 2Night Driver Rankings Jarrett races past Montoya in Driver of Year voting | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||