sports

Kevin Harvick, Will Buxton Reveal Their Top-5 Drivers of All Time on 'SPEED'

Who are the top-5 drivers of all time — across any era, car or racing series? Former NASCAR Cup Series champ and NASCAR on FOX analyst Kevin Harvick and INDYCAR on FOX broadcaster Will Buxton revealed their picks on the first episode of "SPEED With Harvick And Buxton." "Dale Earnhardt, Mario Andretti, Richard Petty, Michael Schumacher and A.J. Foyt," Harvick said bluntly. Earnhardt and Petty are tied for the most NASCAR Cup Series championships (seven), along with Jimmie Johnson. Earnhardt is a Daytona 500 winner as both a driver and an owner, is an icon in American racing and is widely regarded as one of the greatest drivers in NASCAR history. [MOTORSPORTS: 'SPEED With Harvick And Buxton' Debuts February 23] Petty won a record 200 races and a record 123 poles during his career, which spanned more than three decades from 1958 to 1992. Andretti, who competed in both F1 (1968-82) and INDYCAR (1964-94), and won 12 Grands Prix across 14 F1 seasons and four INDYCAR championship titles, the Indianapolis 500 in 1969 and the Daytona 500 in 1967. Schumacher won a record-setting seven F1 championship titles and held the records for most wins (91), pole positions (68) and podium finishes (155) at the time of his retirement. Foyt is the first four-time winner of the Indianapolis 500 and the only driver to have won the Indy 500, 24 Hours of Le Mans, Daytona 500 and 24 Hours of Daytona. "They've got to be drivers who did everything," Buxton said. "You can't just have a specialist, which pretty much knocks out anyone from the last 20 years. … Mario is on Mount Rushmore straight away. Put him in any car, any track, any championship. [He's] a competitive winner through and though. Same with A.J., I think. "For me, Stirling Moss [is] exactly the same but in the 1950s. You could put him in anything, anywhere. Super competitive. A born winner. [He] didn't win the title in F1 but was still regarded as one of, if not the finest drivers of his generation. For me, Moss and Andretti are my two GOATs. They're head and shoulders above everyone." Moss competed in F1 from 1951 to 1961 and is widely regarded as one of the greatest drivers to never win the discipline's championship. "Dare we put Shane van Gisbergen?" Buxton added. "No, you can't do that," Harvick said. "He's still racing. … I think you have to be retired to be in this conversation. … I think until they're done, you don't really know, because it might be an easy decision instead of a debate." "I'd argue that Scott Dixon could be on the greatest of all time list," Buxton replied. "He won races every season for 21 years. Think about that. … I would love to see [Dixon venture into NASCAR racing]." Dixon, a six-time INDYCAR championship winner, has won the Indy 500 once, the 24 Hours of Daytona three times and the Petit Le Mans twice. "I'm not sure we've got [only] five," Buxton added. "It's the unanswerable question, and it's the great debate that we'll have forever within our sport." Follow "SPEED" on YouTube, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and TikTok.

Read full story at Fox Sports →