Ranking the Most Controversial Drivers in NASCAR History

Antagonist. Villain. Contentious. These are words that describe controversial athletes in every sport. In NASCAR, the most combative personalities can be the difference between driving to Victory Lane for a driver and ending the day in a concrete wall.

In a sport that has just 43 drivers on the track during any given weekend, NASCAR still has a long list of notorious drivers. Some have even earned monikers like "Rowdy" and "Intimidator" that perfectly encapsulate their personalities behind the wheel.

Spanning from the moonshine era through the modern days of NASCAR, drivers have found different ways of riling up their competition. From scandals off the track to causing commotion on it, there are myriad drivers who have embodied the controversial role at the Sprint Cup level.

Here's a look at some of the naughtiest drivers over the decades of the sport.

10. Brad Keselowski

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Brad Keselowski hasn't been in the sport for a long time, but he's accomplished quite a bit in his five full-time seasons. For better or for worse.

One of the most outspoken drivers in the sport today, Keselowski doesn't have many friends in the sport outside of teammate Joey Logano. However, his brash driving style has already helped him win a title. That's the beauty of it all—even as a lone wolf, he's still at the top of the sport.

Last season alone, Keselowski had post-race altercations with Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon. In years prior, he's been vocal about other teams poaching Roger Penske's employees. The list for Keselowski goes on and on, and he's only 31.

Even with the controversy constantly surrounding him, Keselowski doesn't back off his style.

"I know that when I have had whatever run-ins I have had throughout my career, I have had them because I have done the things that I feel like I need to do to be the best, and that is why I am in this sport," Keselowski said, via Dan Gelston of The Associated Press (h/t Yahoo Sports). "That is what drives me."

Last season, Keselowski bounced back from a down 2013 season with six wins—the most of his career. He might be viewed as one of dubious drivers today, but the results indicate he isn't being slowed by that title.

9. Junior Johnson

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During the moonshine era of NASCAR, there was no more controversial figure than Junior Johnson. The Wilkesboro, North Carolina, native won 50 races during his career and didn't exactly make many friends along the way.

That domination from Johnson might have been even more prominent if Bill France Sr. didn't pay attention and create rules to limit his success. Some of Johnson's antics were recently brought up in an outstanding article from Jeremy Markovich of SB Nation:

"

Junior put electric jackscrews in his cars, controlled by a button only he knew about, to make the car tighter or looser whenever he felt like it. He’d fill roll bars with BBs to get the car to the right pre-race weight, then hit a button to let them out while he was running laps to make his car lighter and faster. ...

Junior says the NASCAR rulebook as we know it is a result of Bill France, Sr. finding out what he was doing and then banning it. Years later, he said France told him that if he weren’t so hard on him, NASCAR wouldn’t have made it. Only Junior would’ve won.

"

Now a NASCAR Hall of Famer, Johnson is known as one of the most innovative drivers and owners in the sport's history. He was also considered a cheater for the aforementioned antics by his fellow drivers at the time.

8. Jeremy Mayfield

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During his early days in NASCAR, Jeremy Mayfield burned bridges with multiple teams. He ultimately landed with seven different teams, including his own Mayfield Motorsports team in 2009.

The beginning of that 2009 season would be his last. Mayfield was suspended after failing a drug test that season and has never returned to a NASCAR-sanctioned event. Despite the positive test, Mayfield remains adamant that he never used drugs.

“The easy road would have been, ‘OK, yeah, I will do your road to recovery Dr. Black and I will go to your rehab,’ but I just didn’t believe that that’s right,” Mayfield said, via Bob Pockrass writing for Sporting News. “And I still don’t believe it’s right. ... I don’t feel like I did anything wrong. And still don’t today.”

Mayfield also avoided jail time in 2014 over multiple charges, including drug possession, that were reduced thanks to a plea deal, and at the time, he said "that he would consider going through [NASCAR's] recovery program" so that he could race again, as paraphrased by Sporting News' Bob Pockrass. Between his globetrotter run across multiple teams during his career and controversy since his suspension, Mayfield is deserving of No. 8 on this list.

7. Kyle Busch

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Kyle Busch may currently be recovering from a broken leg and foot sustained at Daytona, but he's still considered one of the most brash active drivers.

Coming in as a young driver, Busch was commonly met with a rousing crowd booing him in response. Much of that was due to his causing Dale Earnhardt Jr. to wreck back in 2008, something fans didn't soon forget about.

That, my friends, is just something you don't do to a 12-time Most Popular Driver.

Since those early years, Busch has emerged as one of the top drivers in the sport. Though he doesn't have a title to show for his efforts yet, he has 29 Sprint Cup wins and even finished fourth in the standings in 2013.

Some of the boo birds might be gone, but Rowdy still remains a riveting figure in NASCAR.

6. Curtis Turner

Over the course of his NASCAR career, Curtis Turner earned the moniker Pops. That wasn't because he was an elder racer, but instead because he would regularly pop drivers from behind to get them out of the way.

Perhaps one of the hardest-charging drivers in the history of the sport, Turner wasn't well-liked during his time. Off the track, he was known also rambunctious and was banned from NASCAR for trying to form a union, which was later lifted in 1965.

Following his untimely death in an airplane accident in 1970, Turner left a legacy behind of fearlessness and great results on the track. Despite his controversy on the track, he's still considered one of the best drivers in the history of the sport.

5. Tony Stewart

The last two years have been extremely trying ones for Tony Stewart, but no NASCAR fan can forget his past.

Last year, Stewart struck and killed Kevin Ward in a sprint car and missed multiple races to grieve after the accident. The year prior, Stewart broke his leg in a sprint car and was forced to sit out the remainder of the season.

Prior to those incidents, Stewart was commonly known for his volatile behavior on the track. Back in 2012, the year after winning his third title, he threw his helmet at Matt Kenseth following an accident. Actions like that can't take place anymore with the new rules against leaving the car on the track.

That doesn't mean he can't show his anger off the track and in the car. Smoke has recently criticized NASCAR for their group qualifying on Twitter and blasted the series (NSFW language) about the 2015 rules package over the radio during a testing, per Fox Sports.

"Somebody just tell me where to run on the racetrack," Stewart said. "Because I sure as [expletive] don't know where to be. ... If I wanted to drive a [expletive] Nationwide car I'd save a day out of my week and run a Nationwide car."

Needless to say, Smoke is still the same as when he entered the series. Even through trials and tribulations, Stewart is still one of the most outspoken drivers ever to grace the Sprint Cup track.

4. Darrell Waltrip

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My, how the times have changed. After a career filled with testing NASCAR and often criticizing the sport, Darrell Waltrip is now a commentator with Fox and typically sides with the Sprint Cup's decisions.

Nicknamed Jaws for his aggressive style, Waltrip lived up to the name nearly every time he hit the track. Getting into altercations with the likes of Cale Yarborough, Bobby Allison and Dale Earnhardt throughout his career, Waltrip didn't make a habit of keeping friends.

Similar to Keselowski in his day, Waltrip didn't have anything given to him early in his career. So instead of waiting around, he made it his mission to feud with nearly every big name in the sport to earn his keep.

The results were also there for Waltrip, winning three titles and finishing as the runner-up another three years. His 84 wins are also tied for the fourth-most with Allison, proving that hard work and a little bit of rough racing can get a driver to the top.

3. Kurt Busch

These days, Kurt Busch has experienced much of his controversy off the track. But he also has a long list of issues behind the wheel of a stock car that have led to Busch earning the nickname Outlaw.

Previously with Roush Fenway Racing, Busch had a run-in with Jimmy Spencer and received a reckless driving citation. Trouble followed him with Penske as he was commonly upset with the team and media members.

That all came to a head a few years ago when he earned probation for an altercation with Ryan Newman. He followed that up with a suspension after a volatile conversation with reporter Bob Pockrass.

Of course, those issues pale in comparison to what's going on this season with Stewart-Haas Racing.

NASCAR suspended Busch prior to the Daytona 500 for actions detrimental to stock car racing stemming from a domestic abuse case with ex-girlfriend Patricia Driscoll. It was later discovered that he won't face charges for the alleged acts and he was later reinstated, via NASCAR.com.

Whether it's controversy finding Busch or him being the cause, he constantly seems to be under the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

2. Tim Richmond

One of the bad boys of the 1980s, Tim Richmond made a living out of being on the edge.

As a driver, Richmond won 13 races over eight seasons at the premier level and won another two in the former Busch Series. Away from the track, Richmond appeared to lead a promiscuous lifestyle, leading to him being diagnosed with AIDS before the disease was treatable.

Richmond's story was the inspiration for Days of Thunder, with Tom Cruise's character, Cole Trickle, loosely based on the driver. His flamboyant personality didn't exactly sit well with other drivers at the highest level of the sport.

Humpy Wheeler, former president of Charlotte Motor Speedway, once said of Richmond, via Ken Gross and Meg Grant of People, "We've never had a race driver like Tim in stock car racing. He was almost a James Dean-like character."

Though he passed away in August 1989, Richmond's legacy was both controversial as well as spellbinding. He also serves as proof that an open-wheel driver could come up and take the sport over, like many after him have done so often.

1. Dale Earnhardt

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He may have been a fan favorite, but Dale Earnhardt was not the easiest to share a track with. Earning the nickname as the Intimidator for his brazen style of driving, Earnhardt would often use any tactics necessary to earn a win.

During the process, he also won seven championships, tied for the most with Richard Petty. Clearly it worked.

Spinning out drivers late in a race was a common occurrence for Earnhardt, and it didn't matter who was ahead of him. He took out Rusty Wallace and famously won after taking out Terry Labonte at Bristol, or as he called it, just "rattling his cage."

There has never been another driver like Earnhardt, and there never will be again. Not only was he gutsy on the track, but he became one of the most famous drivers to ever live because of it. His untimely death during the 2001 Daytona 500 also helped propel him to icon status in the sport.

He still likely lives on, however, in the nightmares of some of the most famous drivers to race with him during his decades on the track. Because when the black No. 3 Goodwrench was charging, there wasn't much that would keep him from getting in front. Even if it took a little intimidation.

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