1,000 Greatest Drivers: Tim Flock

Lead singer of venerable new wave act A Flock of Monkeys.

I caught a cold yesterday, so I’m probably going to cut my intro short. With this entry, I’ve now finished writing about all the major NASCAR stars of the ‘50s. I personally think Flock was the greatest of all of them. He ranks second in all-time winning percentage (only barely behind Herb Thomas) and third in my stock car model (behind only Roger McCluskey and Lee Petty). However, McCluskey’s stock car greatness almost entirely came in the USAC Stock Car Series and I think Petty is inflated because he got to benefit from being Richard’s teammate his first couple years before Richard Petty was Richard Petty. Lee didn’t really dominate NASCAR until after Flock and Thomas’s careers were essentially over, so ultimately I had to decide between Flock and Thomas for best of the decade. I went with Flock primarily because he hit a higher peak than Thomas did, and also because Thomas’s peak dominance in 1953 and 1954 came during a time when Flock largely was not racing due to a freak injury in 1953 followed by Flock sitting out most of the 1954 season after he had a hissy fit upon being disqualified from an apparent race win. I also think Thomas was inflated a little by having the best crew chief of his era Smokey Yunick (outrageous he’s still not on the NASCAR HoF ballot yet). Thomas has plenty of great arguments as well: he was much better on paved ovals, which came to dominate the future NASCAR schedule and a lot of Flock’s issues seemed to be self-inflicted while Thomas seemed to be more of a victim of circumstance. But Flock and Thomas both drove for Kiekhaefer and Flock was way better there, so I think I opt for Flock. Having said that, their head-to-head record against each other is eerily similar: