If you are on any social media page, and follow the main NASCAR page you most likely have seen there top ten drivers of the decade post as seen below. Which received a ton of negative feedback for drivers that were or were not on the list. Instead of a top ten best drivers though I decided it was finally time to highlight the not top five of the decade.
Let’s face it no one wants to read today, much less about ten NASCAR drivers who didn’t do anything in there careers and still currently might not be doing anything. These are five drivers who may or may not have just turned some laps for a little to long in the major series of NASCAR. I want to also say that I will not be excusing current drivers. So they could still actively be abusing the seat of a cup series car as I type this article.
5. Jamie McMurray
- Wins: 4
- Top 5’s: 33
- Top 10’s: 88
- Poles: 8
- Laps Led: 999
Jamie is a good guy and a halfway average driver. While he never had the wins or championships to his name. He did have a way of winning the big races. Almost all seven of his career wins have come in some of the biggest races. His ability to win the big races and nothing else is why the man landed fifth on the list of the not top ten. I couldn’t realistically rank him any higher due to his big race ability
4.Juan Pablo Montoya
Stats from 2010 to his leaving the cup series in 2014.
- Wins:1
- Top 5’s: 12
- Top 10’s: 32
- Poles: 7
- Laps Led: 696
To have the pedigree in motorsports that Juan does have to his favor. The success overall just didn’t pan out for Juan in the cup series. He only had two career wins, but some argue should have had more due to the equipment he was in and who he drove for in the series. None the less his underachievement has landed him in the not top five. I mean he does have at least one memorable moment in the jet dryer incident that no one at Ganassi wants to speak of to this date, even with the car sitting in Dale Jr.’s graveyard.
3. Paul Menard
- Wins: 1
- Top 5’s: 19
- Top 10’s: 67
- Poles: 1
- Laps Led: 302
Paul is one of those drivers who consistently finished in the latter part of the top fifteen and top twenty-week in and week out. He also somehow gathered a cult following behind him in fans. When he announced his retirement earlier in the 2019 season the outcry from fans honestly shocked me to an extent. None the less Paul was in solid equipment his whole career and was only able to obtain one win. While it was a crown jewel one crown jewel doesn’t make you a memorable driver. While him being an awesome person landed up and coming fan-favorite Matt DiBenedetto a top tier ride with the Wood Brothers. Paul greatly underachieved in the equipment he was in and is number three in the not top five of the decade.
2. Michael McDowell
Stats once again from 2010 to Currently
- Wins:0
- Top 5’s: 3
- Top 10’s:8
- Poles:0
- Laps Led 79
The only explanation for him still having a job is sponsorship at this point. Collectively since coming into the series in 2008, he has absolutely done nothing. I hate to say it but ever organization he has driven for is no better now than they were before he drove for them. In the long term of things, in ten years fans will barely remember Michael McDowell. His only call to fame was his run-in with fan-favorite Chase Elliott a few seasons back. He is right up there for the top spot of the not top five.
1. Danica Patrick
Stats from 2012-2018
- -Wins: 0
- Top 5’s: 0
- Top 10’s: 7
- Poles: 1
- Laps Led: 64
Let me get this out of the way. Danica made an impact in her own way. She broke through the barrier of the male dominate cup series. She showed a bunch of young women that it was possible to do so. The unfortunate part though is she didn’t show them how to be successful. She had no wins and no top-fives in a seven-year-long career.
While driving for yes and up and coming team in Stewart Haas racing she was also a part of a said team when Kevin Harvick won a championship. She had simply no excuse to not have any wins except for one singular glaring reason. Danica was not meant to be in the cup series. She used her name and was just one more of the not top five to use her sponsorship to her advantage and have a career much longer than she ever deserved.
Conclusion
Honorable mentions for my list are long. They can stretch from the two time Xfinity series champion Rick Stenhouse down too the now-retired David Ragan. Either way, it has been a good decade for us NASCAR lovers and the next one looks to start out even better with the new car and hopeful schedule changes coming in 2021.
The decade was long and we saw a ton of drivers come and go throughout the decade. We had a ton of good ones and do very man bad ones. Here is my opinion on the decades not top five NASCAR drivers of the decade. What do you think? Disagree hit me up on Twitter. Have a Happy New Year from the Belly Up Racing family!
