As I have posted many times, I prefer non wing, however with or without, they are both sprint cars in spite of what many on iow would like to believe (and I have to remind my dad of that also). That said I think, after BC banked 25k tonight in Perris, you could argue he is the best sprint car racer in the country. He's won with and without a lid amongst the best in both, not to mention midget wins. Much to the shagrin of the non wing crowd, I submit that his wing experience has made him even faster without. Anyway Bryan Clausen is the best sprint car racer going right now!

Just because he wins the high dollar race of the year he is " The Best" is a bit of an overstatement. Ballou is on pace to set the all-time USAC single season record decimating the competition on more than one occasion. Claussen has shown great versatility this year winning on many platforms but he has not won enough of either to warrant that title at this time.

I believe you could have said that about Bryan Clauson for a while. I think the schedule he has put together for next year could bring more attention to the sport than it has had in years. With that being said, if I was still a HARF board member, my vote for driver of the year would go to Robert Ballou. That is taking nothing away from the great season that Brady Short had. He would be a candidate just from his drives at the Smackdown alone.

Poor Donnie Schatz wins 31 WoO races this year and isn't mentioned yet?

Did anyone else read the article on how much money Donnie made this year close to $800,000. Not trying to get off topic.

Rico Abreu would be my 1st pick. A lot of wins in different types of cars. Pavement and dirt. Clauson would be 2nd for being in wing and non-wing cars. Also has a 500 start. Schatz would be 3rd for the total number of wins in one type of car. Ballou has less wins in one type of car, in what is a regional club for the most parts of the year.

That is what makes racing unique when compared to other sports. One can compare hockey player to hockey player, soccer player to soccer player, basketball player to basketball player, etc., for the respective game is the same across the board.

When it comes to racing there are so many variables - pavement, dirt, open wheel, tin top, oval, road course, not to mention the different styles and formulas of the cars involved. With all of that, a direct comparison can rarely be made unless drivers jump to different cars.

I personally think Schatz would be fantastic in a non-wing car. Just like I think Dave Darland would have been tops in a winged car had he chosen to go that route. But these are just projections of what will more than likely never happen.

And one always has to factor in the equipment the driver has been using in his career and money behind it and him.

So, direct comparisons are out there for the debate of those involved. A never ending topic. Like judging drivers from different eras against each other - for example, would Jimmie Johnson had won all of his titles racing against Richard Petty and Cale Yarborough in their primes? How would Jackie Stewart fare if he was in his prime at the same time Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna were?

Us fans will debate until we die.

With his IndyCar efforts along with his sprint car success, one can make a good argument that Clauson is #1 in sprints. However, the way Schatz dominated this year...... I will default to a dead heat. A tie.

Yes, I know...... the coward's way out....

I feel confident in saying that if BC had ran the full USAC schedule Ballou's win total would be considerably less!

Clausen has attributed some of his midget success at least this year to racing the winged car with the NSL.

Whatever you want to say about which is better or which is harder to drive, one thing that can't be argued is that there is more money in winged racing and therefore there are more competitive cars. That by itself makes it harder to dominate.

I'd put Rico at the top right now only because schatz doesn't run non-winged. If he did I'd give him no more than 10 races before he won a usac race.

That is what the team made, but what did they spend? Donnie flies to most races. I would guess Ballou spent less than they did, by a lot. As for USAC being a regional series, I have a hard time calling a series that starts in Florida, ends in California and Arizona, goes to Pennsylvania, Nebraska, Minnesota and Wisconsin regional. Sure, they don't travel as much as the Outlaws, but I would say they are more national than anyone else. I also think the it may be as hard to win a USAC race as it is an Outlaw race, minus Donnie Schatz. They got beat by locals a few times this year.