Dale Earnhardt or Richard Petty for North Carolina? NASCAR best, state-by-state, Part 7

Editor's note: This is the seventh in a 10-part series listing the best all-time NASCAR racer from each of the 50 states.

It's tempting to overthink this one.

At a time when the word gets thrown around way too much, the "icon" label truly fit Dale Earnhardt. It wasn't just that he won, it was also how he won and, generally, how he carried himself through the bulk of his legendary NASCAR career.

His career tragically ended in 2001, after 76 Cup wins and those seven championships, which matched Richard Petty's total and was later matched by Jimmie Johnson.

Given that his career was spent during a NASCAR where parity was much thicker than it was a generation earlier, one might be tempted to increase the value of Earnhardt's 76 wins and perhaps decrease the value of those races won by fellow Tar Heel Richard Petty.

But you'd have to do some serious decreasing, since the King piled up 200 of 'em.

If we were ever going to be tempted to declare a tie on who represents one of the 50 states, it'd be today and it'd be North Carolina.

But rules are rules, so let's roll into our seventh installment, and let's start it out in the badlands of New Mexico.

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New Mexico: Tanner Gray (Artesia)

Why Tanner: Basically it’s Tanner because none of those Unsers spent enough time dabbling in NASCAR. Tanner has raced full-time in the Truck Series the past four seasons, with 10 top-5s and 22 top-10s.

Others from New Mexico: Taylor Gray, Al Unser, Al Unser Jr., Bobby Unser.

Fun fact: Brothers Bobby and Al Unser, a pair of IndyCar gods, raced a combined nine NASCAR races and posted four top-5 finishes. Al Unser Jr. ran just one, the 1993 Daytona 500, but finished 36th after wrecking with Bobby Hillin and Kyle Petty on Lap 158. One of Little Al's 11 career IROC wins came at Daytona, however.

New York: Geoff Bodine (Chemung)

Why Geoff: The 1986 Daytona 500 is one of his 18 career Cup wins, which came on the biggest tracks, the shortest, and road courses. Had six top-10 championship finishes.

Others from New York: Boris Said, Todd Bodine, Brett Bodine, Jerry Cook, Christian Eckes, Richie Evans, Stewart Friesen, Doug Heveron, Jim Hurtibise, Andy Lally, Dick May, Mike “Magic Shoes” McLaughlin, Steve Park, Bill Rexford, Greg Sacks, Regan Smith, Bill Wimble

Fun fact: Geoff Bodine ruled the Northeast world of Modified racing before coming to NASCAR, once winning 55 of 84 starts (1978). He gave Hendrick Motorsports its first win, which kept the upstart team afloat at the time, and he is probably one of the two best NASCAR racers not in the Hall of Fame (along with Carl Edwards).

North Carolina: Richard Petty (Level Cross)

Why Richard: While some of the strongest Dale Earnhardt devotees might want to make an argument, you have to go with the “King of Stock Car Racing.” Those seven championships have been matched, but the 200 wins will stand the test of time.

Others from North Carolina: Lee Petty, Dale Earnhardt, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Harry Gant, Tommy Houston, Jack Ingram, Junior Johnson, Ned Jarrett, Ralph Earnhardt, Dale Jarrett, Benny Parsons, Jim Paschal, Kyle Petty, Morgan Shepherd, Herb Thomas and, frankly, we could be here all day.

Fun fact: Topping the familiar and iconic Richard Petty accessories (boots, belt buckle, shades) is his familiar (and flashy) Charlie 1 Horse cowboy hat. If you feel like you’ve seen it elsewhere, other Charlie 1 Horse devotees include Kid Rock, Hank Williams Jr., Gretchen Wilson and Tracy Lawrence.

North Dakota: Donny Schatz (Minot)

Why Donny: We could’ve gone with Bryce Haugeberg, who’s had two top-10s in 16 ARCA starts over the past three years. Donny, after all, has just one career Truck Series start in his NASCAR history. But he’s also a 10-time World of Outlaws champ with more than 300 career wins.

Others from North Dakota: Bryce Haugeberg is it.

Fun fact: You might see this lack of NASCAR racers from North Dakota and assume it’s an auto-racing desert, but that’s not true. The state features a dozen oval tracks — all dirt or clay-based.

Ohio: Ryan Blaney (Hartford Township)

Why Ryan: It's a close call between Blaney and Tim Richmond, but Blaney's 2023 Cup championship gives him the nod here. He reached 10 career wins this year and his championship capped a run of seven seasons in the top 10.

Others from Ohio: Tim Richmond, Dave Blaney, Austin Cindric, Rodney Combs, Sam Hornish Jr., Banjo Matthews, Lonnie Rush Jr., Lee Raymond, Ben Hess, Mike Klapak, Jack Bowsher, Bobby Bowsher.

Fun fact: Tim Richmond’s career exploded in the summer of ’86, during his first season with Hendrick Motorsports. Between June 8 and Sept. 7, he won six of 10 starts, on a superspeedway (Daytona), road course (Watkins Glen), a short track (Richmond) and a Lady in Black (Darlington). Nine of his 13 wins came in his final 25 starts before illness ended his career at age 32.

Previously, Alabama through New Jersey

Alabama: Bobby Allison, Alaska: Keith McGee, Arizona: Alex Bowman, Arkansas: Mark Martin, California: Jimmie Johnson

Colorado: Wally Dallenbach Jr., Connecticut: Joey Logano, Delaware: CJ Faison, Florida: Fireball Roberts, Georgia: Bill Elliott

Hawaii: Will Rodgers; Idaho: Brian Scott; Illinois: Fred Lorenzen; Indiana: Tony Stewart; Iowa: Dick Hutcherson

Kansas: Clint Bowyer; Kentucky: Darrell Waltrip; Louisiana: Skip Manning; Maine: Ricky Craven; Maryland: Timmy Hill

Massachusetts: Ralph Moody; Michigan: Brad Keselowski; Minnesota: William Sawalich; Mississippi: Ricky Stenhouse; Missouri: Rusty Wallace.

Montana: Tony Raines; Nebraska: Bob Burdick; Nevada: Kyle Busch; New Hampshire: Dale Shaw; New Jersey: Martin Truex Jr.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Richard Petty vs. Dale Earnhardt in N. Carolina; NASCAR best, Part 7