NASCAR is celebrating its 75th anniversary all throughout the 2023 season.
In 1998, NASCAR had a panel select a list of its 50 greatest drivers for its golden anniversary.
Likewise, we at Frontstretch decided to put together our own list of the 75 greatest NASCAR drivers in honor of this year’s milestone. Seventeen of our writers weighed in to pick the 75 drivers, and we’ll be releasing four to seven drivers from that list every weekday for the next three weeks.
Similar to the one in 1998, this list is not a ranking of the top-75 drivers. Instead, we’ve broken the list down into categories, with a new category released each day (see the full list below). Within those categories, the drivers are listed in alphabetical order.
No, today isn’t about NASCAR’s future stars. We’re talking the second- or even third-generation types, the offspring of legends who became legends themselves.
Buddy Baker
Born in Florence, S.C., and son of two-time NASCAR champion Buck Baker, Buddy Baker was known as the Gentle Giant due to his tall frame, broad shoulders and jovial sense of humor.
His career spanned 33 years, going on to win 19 races in NASCAR’s top division.
Baker achieved his greatest success on the sport’s larger tracks, winning four times at Talladega Superspeedway and twice at Daytona International Speedway. He drove the famed silver-and-black No. 28 Gray Ghost for Ranier Racing to a Daytona 500 win when the race’s average speed of 177.602 mph, which remains a race record. That car was crew chiefed by NASCAR Hall of Famer Waddell Wilson.
His 1,099 laps led at Talladega also remain a record for Baker, who got wins at the mammoth Alabama track for two storied car owners: Bud Moore from 1975 to 1976 and Ranier in 1980.
Baker is one of nine drivers to, over the course of his career, win a Daytona 500, the Coca-Cola 600, the Talladega spring race and the Southern 500.
He joined the ranks of driver-owner in the latter part of his career behind the wheel, which came to a close in 1992.
Perhaps most impressive for Baker? His 19 wins at 10 tracks came despite only running every race in a season three times.
Baker remained a fan favorite following his driving career, moving into the broadcast booth for multiple networks and later to SiriusXM. He died in 2015. -Brad Harrison
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