Most Versatile WINNING Driver in History

[sopwith21]

Okay guys, we need your help. DO NOT CHANGE THE FORMULA!!! Stick with the exact question and help us please! We are trying to determine how many race drivers in history have WON automobile races on ALL of these surfaces:

1. Dirt tracks of any kind. This includes but is not limited to dirt ovals, Mickey Thompson, all-dirt rallies, short course off road circuits, etc. Any track that is genuine, 100% dirt.

2. Road courses.

3. Asphalt ovals.

4. Desert race courses such as Baja, Vegas to Reno, Dakar, etc.

Yes, local and club racing counts so long as the driver WON. Any type of car counts if it has four wheels. Near misses are irrelevant. Car type is irrelevant.

We are still early in the search, but the list so far has turned up only two names - Parnelli Jones and Robby Gordon. Parnelli won on asphalt ovals (Indy 500, no less!), desert courses, Trans Am road races and he won on DIRT ovals in midgets. Robby Gordon won on asphalt at Michigan, won on road courses in NASCAR, he began his career in desert racing and his dirt wins came on the indoor off-road dirt tracks of the Mickey Thompson series. They were all dirt, so they count.

We are finding that its difficult to find drivers who even drove on all those surfaces, let alone won. Most of the modern drivers are specialists nowadays... they are groomed specifically for open wheel, stock cars, etc., and have very little racing experience on other surfaces. Please help if you can. We need more than ideas or maybes... we need to know for sure.

Many thanks for any thoughts you have - and help us stay on topic!

[lbpdz]

Didn't Paul Newman do that?

[Bruce Palmer]

Two names that come to my mind as guys that would race anyrthing with wheels on it would be A.J. and Kenny Schrader. Oh, and I suppose Mario should be included.... F1, USAC, NASCAR.... plus who knows what I'm missing.

How about the Unsers Al & Bobby, Sprints, Indy, Pikes Peak (now there's a venue). The Unsers owned Pikes Peak for years (literally generations).

This is a good question, thanks.

[sopwith21]

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but our research shows so far:

Paul Newman had a class win - yes, that counts - at Daytona in 95 and tried Baja in 04, but never won. I can't find anything but road racing wins for Newman.

Foyt won on ovals at Indy, won on dirt everywhere, and won at LeMans, Daytona and Sebring in road racing. I can find no record of him competing in a desert race.

Schrader won on dirt in midgets and sprints, on asphalt ovals, but nothing on road courses or desert/off-road.

Al Unser Sr. won on dirt, asphalt ovals and he even did some time in sportscars and F5000 although I can't find any wins there. But nothing in the desert or off-road. And Pike's Peak is partially asphalt and part gravel, BTW, not a dirt track.

Bobby Unser won on dirt and asphalt ovals, and came out of retirement at age 50 to win the Fastmasters tournament on a road course, but nothing in off-road or desert racing.

So of all the drivers named, we can find only one with definite off-road/desert experience. Good names, but believe me, this is a TOUGH question. Any more takers?

Remember, stick to the criteria!! This is a research project so please stay the course! Thanks!

[sopwith21]

BTW, it looks like Mickey Thompson may make it into this elite group.

If we have any more additions, it will have to be from guys like MT or Herschel McGriff (who doesn't qualify, BTW).

Edited January 26, 2010 by sopwith21

[redneckz II]

Paul Newman had wins in Trans-Am in 1982 and 1986. He also had a win in IMSA GTS in 1995. In SCCA C-production, a championship in 1979 with Bob Sharp racing. He also had championships in the SCCA GT-1 in 1985 and 1986. He tried the Baja 1000 in 2004. He had a champ car win in 1972. Good Luck with the info gethering, Rich. Edited January 26, 2010 by redneckz II
Champ car info

[gnosez]

Steve Millen might make it in your limited scope. Let's see M. Thompson's off-road truck series winner - '86,88 & 89. Indy Light '86. Twenty IMSA GTS wins. Both the 24 hrs of Le Mons and 12 hrs of Sebring in one year.

If you want to expand your search to include drivers who did all this without seatbelts, rescue, fuel cells, crash barriers, communications, or radial tires then look no further than Juan Fangio, Phil Hill, Sterling Moss and Dan Gurney.

Edited January 26, 2010 by gnosez

[sopwith21]

Paul Newman had wins in Trans-Am in 1982 and 1986. He also had a win in IMSA GTS in 1995. In SCCA C-production, a championship in 1979 with Bob Sharp racing. He also had championships in the SCCA GT-1 in 1985 and 1986.

Very true, but all those only qualify him on road courses.

He tried the Baja 1000 in 2004.

Didn't win overall and I don't think he won his class unless someone has more info.

He had a champ car win in 1972.

Even if that was an oval, it still leaves him short.

Tough to find these guys, isn't it? We hear all the time about guys who won in different types of cars, but to find guys who win on totally different types of racing surfaces is really hard.

[sopwith21]

Steve Millen might make it in your limited scope. Let's see M. Thompson's off-road truck series winner - '86,88 & 89. Indy Light '86. Twenty IMSA GTS wins. Both the 24 hrs of Le Mons and 12 hrs of Sebring in one year.

If you want to expand your search to include drivers who did all this without seatbelts, rescue, fuel cells, crash barriers, communications, or radial tires then look no further than Juan Fangio, Phil Hill, Sterling Moss and Dan Gurney.

Millen won on dirt (Mickey Thompson, rallies) and road courses. He was in IROC but we're not sure if he won. That would have qualified him on asphalt ovals. But even if he did, he still has no desert wins.

Fangio, Hill and Gurney aren't even close.

Not as easy as we think, is it? The most common combination is a driver with wins on dirt, road courses and asphalt ovals, or a driver with off-road racing and road course wins. But finding a single driver who has won on all four is nearly impossible.

[fal308]

What about Mark Miller? He's won class in Dakar, overall in Baja 1000 twice and 500, class at Pike's Peak, NASCAR Truck series (not sure if he won or not)

There's may be some who fit the criteria in the Dakar crowd or the WRC crowd.

[geezer]

Did you take a look at Rick Mears career? It seems to me he did the whole gamut. The desert win might take some research being somewhat overshadowed by his other accomplishments but that's where he started out, along with a string of dirt track wins, a USAC roadcourse win at Brands Hatch in England, 3 national CART championships which included several road course wins, 4 time Indianapolis 500 winner, a win at Pikes Peak (I know ..don't count) but in my opinion, hands down, he still fits your criteria to a T.

I think if you delve into the late '50s and early '60s a few lesser known/remembered racers with wins on a less grand scale, could also possibly fill the bill. You are correct, racers were much more diversified then they are today.

Edit: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1126113/2/index.htm

Edited January 29, 2010 by geezer

[sopwith21]

I think Roger would be a better candidate, but we can't find any asphalt oval wins. I may call the Mears family and see because you are right, they are among the top candidates in US racing history.

Mark Miller is a tough one but we'll keep trying. Having a hard time verify his specific race wins.

We've already checked the entire winner's list for Baja, BTW.

And yes, I believe the only way to find more drivers is to go back to the 50s and 60s and look for the top drivers in smaller racing series. I'm telling you, there just aren't many guys that have done this, especially in the last half century.

Thanks! Any more ideas?