Several recent polls among
motorsports journalists have declared either Jeff Gordon
or Dale Earnhardt the NASCAR driver of the decade. Many
believe they are all wrong. Keying on points is the best and
fairest way to determine the top driver of the entire
decade. Each season's championship is based on
consistency over the entire season. Every race awards
the same number of points; the point system is designed
to recognize performance over the entire schedule. Therefore,
it seems logical to recognize a multi-season winner in the
same manner. Mark was the only driver that finished in
the Top 10 in points every season in the '90s. Note
that Jeff Gordon only competed in seven of the 10
seasons. Mark's average points position of 3.6 for the
decade was the best of all drivers.
Another key championship
measure is Top 10 results. Every year, the champion
most often has more Top 10s than any other driver. Here
too, Mark had the most Top 10s of the decade (217)
nearly three in every four races. He also recorded the
most Top 5s in the '90s (151); one in every two races.
Finally, Mark's overall results were better than both
Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon. Mark recorded a 10.3
average finish for the 309 races run in the '90s,
compared to Earnhardt's 10.9, and 11.5 for Gordon. Even
though Mark has never won a NASCAR Winston Cup title,
his performance measures over the entire decade point
out to many the conclusion that the champion of the
'90s was Mark.