Dont get me wrong, I wasn't taking away from Richard Petty being called "The King". I believe if you base your judgment on his total career, not just his championships, he rightly deserves the title. But if you base your judgment solely on championships, then it becomes more debatable between him and Dale, since they both are tied for #1 with 7, and it took Dale less time to reach 7 in a different and possibly more difficult era.
And I may be an exception to the rule if you think Sr. fans don't give credit to Petty and Gordon. I also believe NASCAR runs in cycles and there's always been someone there to pick NASCAR up and carry it forward as another is leaving. Kind of like passing on the torch.
The King was the man in his era. He had the torch. When Richard faded, Dale Sr was there and he took the torch and carried it. When Dale was killed, Jeff Gordon was there and he took hold of the torch and carries it still today. He will until he either suffers the same fate as Dale did (lets pray that doesn't happen because I would never want anyone to go through that like we did in 2001) or he retires. Then someone will be there to pick up the torch from him and carry it.
So I give a great amount of credit to all three. I know allot of my friends can't stand Jeff Gordon, and we get into discussions about that allot. But I find myself defending him to a point because of what he's done for NASCAR, and because he's one heck of a race car driver. My fellow Earnhardt fans hate it when I say that, but oh well, that's reality. I may not like the direction NASCAR has taken with Gordon, because I'm an old NASCAR fan, and I may not like Jeff Gordon, but I can't honestly deny his impact on the popularity of "stock car racing". That would be like denying Richard Petty's contribution to NASCAR or Dale Earnhardt's contribution to NASCAR, each in their own way and time.
So I really admire and respect both Petty and Gordon, just not as much as Dale 
08-01-2007, 07:01 PM
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