Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

PennLive releases No. 7 on list of Top 25 Sprint Car Drivers in the Country, and it is....

Who you got at No. 6?

Disagree here.  Not sure how you rate Blaney so much higher than Kreitz.  As far as big money and tough competition it's a no brainer.  Year in and year out Kreitz has been the better driver with tougher competition.  

Yeah, Dale has XYZ championships with the All-stars circuit, but how many times has he been able to win when travelling back east?  

Dale deserves to be on the list (He's one of the best and a for sure Hall of Famer) but I disagree on this one.  

I'm with Kossuth

Huh? How about earlier this year at Port Royal? I realize it's hard to judge a guy that races one track mostly against a guy that travels but Blaney's resume is FAR better than Donnie's, espescially the last decade. He just won 4 out of 7 OH speedweek races and finished 2nd in the others against some very stout competition(50+ car fields!). If Donnie did that in Pa, you'd be calling him a God. He didn't win any! Kreitz has been pretty much uncompetetive for the last decade and a half until a resurgence last year. Blaney is currently far and away the best non-outlaw driver which should place him top 5 IMO. The only PA driver close is Hodnett. I'm a PA guy too, but the homer-ism is embarrassing. LOL

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Understandable. The reason I went with Blaney is because he has a pretty good resume, Kings Royal - Historical Big One, and is really good now. Even won a non-sanctioned show at Port Royal. 

I'm a big fan of Kreitz. Think he should be in the Hall of Fame. But before the Hoosier deal, he struggled. Plus, he races one night a week. I understand the finances of it, but when you only run one night a week and struggle, it stands out more.

Regardless, it was close from 13 or 14 through No. 6. You could throw a blanket over these guys and make a case for each one of them.

Blaney is a scumbag who snubs little kids for autos after the races.

Ok, won 4 out of 7 speedweek races against LOCALs.....  I'm not bashing LOCAL racers at all, but that's what they are.  Local racers.  No more so than the Williams Grove racers.  Whether or not Kreitz does a circuit anymore IMO doesn't factor into this comparing the two.  Historically they are both close with Kreitz having a slight edge due to his National Open win (IMO)  He's a threat to win when he brings that blue 69k out when BIG MONEY IS ON THE LINE WHEN PEOPLE COME INTO TOWN.  I don't take his local stats into consideration much because just like with Dale they are locals, it's his record when folks travel into town is what I was looking at.  

As for current within the last 2 years?  Dale does have a couple of more wins against the outlaws so that does count for something, but he has also raced more.  Would Kreitz have more if he followed the tour around more?  I would hazard a guess probably.  But I do agree with that stat Dale is ahead slightly for the current until you look at it alittle deeper.  

I start pulling stats from when the two raced each other.    

How many times has Blaney come into Kreitz's house and run better in the last 2 years?  Particularly when more money than the typical purse was on the line.  

April 2014 $7,500 Memorial race at the Grove

April 2013 $5,000 to win race at the Grove

June 2013 $5,000 Dale finished better at the Grove

2013 Tuscarora 50 $12,000 to win

I respect your opinion, and I'm curious to see your thoughts additionally.  I'm not saying Dale is better or worse than Donnie.  I believe that those two are so close a 4 split between them doesn't really reflect on their respective abilities/accomplishments.  

Blaney won 4 of 7 races against the #6 guy on the list (Stevie), the #22 guy on the list (Shane Stewart) and the #8 guy on the list (Haud), clearly not just locals.

Well 3 of the 4 result links you posted are at a track that Donnie has raced every week for the last 30 years. He should do better than a guy that only runs there a few times a year. WG isn't an easy track. The other track, Port Royal, Blaney bested the locals by half a track earlier this season. The last time Donnie travelled to OH speedweek was about 15 years ago at KC(now atomic) and he didn't make it out of the C main if my memory serves. PA speedweek draws half as many cars and almost all are locals and Donnie hasn't pulled off a speedweek win in years. Last one I remember was when he punted Todd Shaffer on a restart at the Grove(LOL), '98?

As dsc pointed out, OH speedweek is more than just locals. In addition to the guys he pointed out, Jason Meyers, Hannagan, Danny Dietrich, McFadden and Kevin Swindell were also there along with all the OH regulars who are just as good on their hometracks as our PA guys are. Atomic had over 60 cars and I believe Eldora was the low count with 44.

I like Donnie and I'm glad to see him running good again after being not so good for quite a few years. I think he deserves a ranking probably in the 20-25 range but IMO Dale has been good for long enough and is really on top of his game lately, definitely the best non-WOO driver out there right now. I think he's top 5. I read somewhere that he's beat the WOO 9 straight years now?

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