Full Throttle

Over a four-decade span of driving race cars, Mark Martin considers Ernie Irvan the only driver who became a true friend. Martin isn’t talking about being friendly. He’s talking about someone who understands your weaknesses and accepts your faults. Someone you can confide in when you’re down. Someone who cares.

That kind of friendship is hard to find among NASCAR drivers who compete against each other every week at speeds approaching 200 mph. “It’s one thing that’s been missing in my life,” Martin said. “And it’s something I look forward to finding as things wind down for me in racing.”

Despite the pressure of competition at NASCAR’s highest level, some rivals on the tracks do become friends off the track.

“The two drivers have to understand what happens on the track stays on the track,” said Jeff Gordon, who considers Ricky Craven a good friend. “We have a common bond and a common understanding of what we each go through.”

What drivers go through on the track can have an adverse affect on trying to stay friendly when they climb out of the their cars.

Racing means drivers are going to run into each other. Sometimes they accept it as part of the sport. Sometimes they don’t and tempers flare.

“All of us want to win,” Elliot Sadler said. “But when something happens on the track that I don’t like, I don’t take it back to the motorcoach area with me. You travel with these guys 40 weeks a year. You can’t let bad feelings take over your life.”

Different things bring about friendships for Nextel Cup competitors. Sadler has built a friendship with Ward Burton because both drivers are avid outdoorsmen. Both of them grew up in Virginia and love to hunt.

“We tease each other about our hunting techniques,” Burton said. “His method of hunting is a lot different than mine. He runs deer with dogs, which is a traditional way of hunting. I’m more into my wildlife foundation. We do a lot of conservation work.

“I tell Elliott the only time he sees any game is when its tongue is hanging out from a dog chasing it. He says I just look for food and shoot the game where they’re eating. But at the end of the day, Elliott’s feelings about the outdoors are as strong as mine.”

WHAT DO DRIVERS THINK OF OTHER DRIVERS?
The The Dallas Morning News Survey is “below the fold. The remainder of the above article can be read by following the source link.”

Source: WWFA.COM

We asked that question to the Nextel Cup competitors to see what responses we would get. The drivers were asked to answer a set of 10 questions anonymously in order to get honest responses.

Fifteen drivers didn’t respond or refused to participate, but 23 agreed to answer some of the questions. The only stipulation was they couldn’t vote for themselves or a teammate. Here’s how they rank each other:

BEST ACTIVE DRIVER
Matt Kenseth ? 9

Tony Stewart ? 6

Ryan Newman ? 4

Jeff Gordon ? 1

Kevin Harvick ? 1

MOST INTELLIGENT DRIVER
Matt Kenseth ? 7

Ryan Newman ? 5

Jeff Gordon ? 3

Mark Martin ? 3

Bobby Labonte ? 1

Ricky Rudd ? 1

MOST UNDERRATED DRIVER
Jamie McMurray ? 4

Matt Kenseth ? 3

Mark Martin ? 3

Ricky Rudd ? 1

Kevin Lepage ? 1

Jeff Burton ? 1

MOST PROMISING ROOKIE
Kasey Kahne ? 14

Brian Vickers ? 4

Scott Wimmer ? 2

Kyle Busch ? 2

MOST OVERRATED DRIVER
Brian Vickers ? 4

Michael Waltrip ? 3

Ken Schrader ? 3

Dale Earnhardt Jr. ? 2

Ryan Newman ? 1

Jeff Gordon ? 1

DRIVER WHO TREATS YOU FAIRLY
Mark Martin ? 4

Terry Labonte ? 3

Kevin Harvick ? 2

Dale Jarrett ? 2

Jeff Burton ? 2

Jeremy Mayfield ? 2

Ricky Rudd ? 1

Jeff Gordon ? 1

Johnny Sauter ? 1

Tony Stewart ? 1

Matt Kenseth _ 1

MOST AGGRESSIVE DRIVER
Ryan Newman ? 4

Jimmy Spencer ? 3

Jimmie Johnson ? 2

Dale Earnhardt Jr. ? 2

Rusty Wallace ? 1

MOST DANGEROUS DRIVER
Robby Gordon ? 6

Kevin Harvick ? 3

Jimmie Johnson ? 3

Brendan Gaughan ? 2

Johnny Sauter ? 2

Scott Riggs ? 1

WORST TEMPER
Tony Stewart ? 7

Kevin Harvick ? 3

Dale Earnhardt Jr. ? 2

BEST DRIVER IN HISTORY
Dale Earnhardt Sr. ? 10

Richard Petty ? 7

Jeff Gordon ? 3

Bobby Allison ? 1

Cale Yarborough ? 1