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.
NASCAR’s legacy isn’t just about the NASCAR Cup Series — or even its other national series, for that matter. Some of the sport’s greatest made their name racing modifieds.
Jerry Cook
Not enough people are aware of the immensely talented and fascinating world of NASCAR-sanctioned modified racing. Some may know names like Richie Evans or Mike Stefanik, or even recall that Ryan Preece was a force when he drove modifieds.
And then there’s Evans’ chief rival in the 1970s.
Hailing from the same hometown as Evans, Jerry Cook was born in Rome, N.Y., in 1943. Cook built his first modified car at the age of 13 and eventually hopped in himself when he was 18. In 1969, he won the track championship at Utica-Rome Speedway. The next season, Cook took his talents to the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour in 1970.
In order to win a championship on the Whelen Modified Tour, a driver has to have incredible endurance focus, as it often took 100-plus starts in a season to clinch it. Cook won his first title in 1971 and followed it up with another in 1972.
After a non-title year, Cook then completely dominated the tour from 1974-1978, winning the championship each season until Evans ended his reign and started his path to nine championships.
When Cook retired in 1982, he had 342 wins and six titles to show for his 26-year career.
He transitioned into a role with NASCAR as an official, and over that 34-year stint, he oversaw the Busch North Series and the Modified Tour, as well as the K&N Pro Series. In addition, he was the man who wrote the first Craftsman Truck Series rulebook in 1995.
Cook joined Stefanik and old pal and rival Evans in the NASCAR Hall of Fame. -Garrett Cook
Richie…
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