New stars stake claims in Indy, Monaco

Two of the world's four biggest races took place Sunday and it was no blood on victory lane.

Scott Dixon of New Zealand's first Indianapolis 500 win puts him at No. 150 on my list of all-time greatest race car driver. Earlier in the day, Lewis Hamilton of the United Kingdom claimed his first Grand Prix of Monaco. Hamilton is well down on the list at No. 181. Both, though, have a lot of years plus the backing to make run up my standings.

There was a little movement in the all-time top 100. Fernando Alonso took 10th in Monaco, but the points did not move him up. Helio Castroneves finished fourth at Indianapolis and pushed him up four spots.

Finally, Rubens Barichello, who first claimed a top 10 at Monaco in 1993, finished sixth. Barichello has never won at Monaco or claimed a Formula One title, still the years of top finishes moved him into the top 100, bumping NASCAR star Geoff Bodine from the top 100.

Here is the updated top 100:

Pole pos. Racer Country Years Total
1. A.J. Foyt, United States, 1959-1992, 87.69
2. Graham Hill, United Kingdom, 1958-1974, 81.65
3. Richard Petty, United States, 1960-1987, 79.77
4. Michael Schumacher, Germany, 1992-2006, 77.35
5. Jacky Ickx, Belgium, 1968-1985, 70.78
6. Ayrton Senna, Brazil, 1984-1993, 69.98
7. Alain Prost, France, 1982-1993, 67.12
8. Derek Bell, United Kingdom, 1972-1996, 65.14
9. Phil Hill, United States, 1958-1964, 64.37
10. Tom Kristensen, Denmark, 1997-2006, 63.84

11. Al Unser, United States, 1965-1992, 62.05
12. Cale Yarborough, United States, 1965-1987, 60.72
13. Jackie Stewart, United Kingdom, 1965-1973, 58.59
14. Frank Biela, Germany, 1999-2007, 58.20
15. Emanuele Pirro, Italy, 1991-2007, 57.18
16. Rick Mears, United States, 1979-1991, 56.93
17. Stirling Moss, United Kingdom, 1953-1961, 56.17
18. Bobby Allison, United States, 1968-1988, 54.53
19. Wilbur Shaw, United States, 1927-1940, 54.29
20. Olivier Gendebien, Germany, 1955-1962, 53.95

21. Emerson Fittipaldi, Brazil, 1971-1994, 53.34
22. Lou Meyer, United States, 1928-1937, 52.44
23. Henri Pescarolo, France, 1970-1999, 52.06
24. Juan Manuel Fangio, Argentina, 1950-1957, 52.02
25. Mario Andretti, United States, 1965-1995, 52.00
26. Bobby Unser, United States, 1966-1981, 51.17
27. Yannick Dalmas, France, 1988-2002, 51.15
28. Maurice Trintignant, France, 1953-1961, 50.45
29. Johnny Rutherford, United States, 1963-1986, 48.88
30. Mauri Rose, United States, 1934-1950, 48.83

31. Marco Werner, Germany, 2002-2007, 48.63
32. Bruce McLaren, Australia, 1959-1969, 48.09
33. Jeff Gordon, United States, 1993-2007, 47.10
34. Dale Earnhardt, United States, 1979-2000, 46.54
35. Hurley Haywood, United States, 1973-1994, 46.33
36. Niki Lauda, Austria, 1974-1984, 45.87
37. Denny Hulme, Australia, 1965-1973, 45.63
38. Rodger Ward, United States, 1956-1964, 45.51
39. Jody Scheckter, South Africa, 1974-1979, 45.45
40. Hans Joachim Stuck, Germany, 1976-1996, 45.37

41. Al Holbert, United States, 1976-1987, 45.17
42. Dale Jarrett, United States, 1991-2006, 45.11
43. Al Unser Jr., United States, 1983-2003, 44.91
44. Bill Elliott, United States, 1978-2001, 43.53
45. Gordon Johncock, United States, 1965-1991, 43.33
46. Klaus Ludwig, Germany, 1979-1988, 43.31
47. Jim Clark, United Kingdom, 1959-1967, 43.12
48. Rinaldo Capello, Italy, 1999-2006, 42.51
49. Luigi Chinetti, Italy, 1932-1951, 42.08
50. Fernando Alonso, Spain, 2003-2008, 41.49

51. Tazio Nuvolari, Italy, 1932-1936, 39.99
52. David Coulthard, United Kingdom, 1995-2006, 39.00
53. David Pearson, United States, 1962-1984, 38.59
54. Tom Sneva, United States, 1976-1984, 38.58
55. Woolf Barnato, United Kingdom, 1928-1930, 38.40
56. Juan Pablo Montoya, Colombia, 1999-2008, 38.39
57. Darrell Waltrip, United States, 1974-1997, 37.95
58. Sterling Marlin, United States, 1980-2005, 37.91
59. Tommy Milton, United States, 1920-1927, 37.29
60. Arie Luyendyk, Netherlands, 1985-1998, 36.97

61. J.J. Lehto, Finland, 1992-2005, 36.85
61. Helio Castroneves, Brazil, 2001-2008, 36.85
63. Bobby Rahal, United States, 1981-1995, 35.49
64. Gijs van Lennap, Netherlands, 1971-1976, 35.35
65. Benny Parsons, United States, 1969-1987, 35.16
66. Michele Alboreto, Italy, 1981-2001, 34.82
67. Gerard Larrousse, France, 1969-1974, 34.73
68. Jimmy Bryan, United States, 1952-1958, 34.32
69. Dan Gurney, United States, 1959-1970, 34.32
70. Michael Waltrip, United States, 1990-2003, 34.15

71. Andre Rossignol, France, 1923-1928, 34.09
72. Andy Wallace, United Kingdom, 1988-2006, 33.71
72. Buddy Baker, United States, 1969-1988, 33.71
74. Ted Horn, United States, 1936-1948, 33.62
75. Jack Brabham, Australia, 1957-1970, 33.49
76. Jean-Pierre Jaussaud, France, 1973-1980, 33.17
77. Nelson Piquet, Brazil, 1979-1996, 32.77
78. Jan Lammers, Netherlands, 1980-2005, 32.75
79. Raymond Sommer, France, 1932-1950, 32.53
80. Fred Lorenzen, United States, 1960-1971, 32.35

81. Jochen Rindt, Austria, 1965-1970, 32.31
82. Nigel Mansell, United Kingdom, 1982-1993, 32.24
83. Rudolf Caracciola, Germany, 1929-1939, 32.09
84. Lorenzo Bandini, Italy, 1962-1967, 32.01
85. Mika Hakkinen, Finland, 1994-2000, 31.95
86. Vern Schuppan, Australia, 1975-1984, 31.91
87. Ronnie Peterson, Sweden, 1970-1978, 31.17
88. Jacques Villeneuve, Canada, 1993-2001, 31.07
89. Jim Rathmann, United States, 1952-1962, 31.07
90. Jimmy Murphy, United States, 1920-1924, 30.95

91. Jimmie Johnson, United States, 2003-2007, 30.89
92. Hans Herrman, Germany, 1958-1970, 30.88
93. Buddy Lazier, United States, 1996-2004, 30.81
94. Michael Andretti, United States, 1983-2006, 30.63
95. Paul Frere, Belgium, 1955-1960, 30.53
96. Rubens Barrichello, Brazil, 1993-2008, 30.11
97. Mauro Baldi, Italy, 1983-2002, 30.01
98. Eddie Cheever, United States, 1981-2002, 29.96
99. Allan McNish, United Kingdom, 1998-2006, 29.87
100. Bob Wollek, France, 1977-1998, 29.82

Two to stop climbing all-time lists

Women's pro sports took a couple of hits this week with the announcement golfer Annika Sorenstam would retire at the end of the season and tennis star Justine Henin would put down her racket immediately.

Of the two, Henin is much more surprising. She was still ranked No. 1 and has clearly been the top player, winning three major titles in 2006 and 2007 and making the finals in three more.

There are some rumors that perhaps there is something else behind her retirement than burnout. We'll see. If it is just burnout, my guess is she'll be like Lindsay Davenport and Martina Hingis and make a comeback in a couple of years.

Sorenstam on the other hand has been talking about retiring for several years. She's 37 and quirky enough that I doubt we'll see her again after this year. When she announced the retirement many writers cast her as the greatest women's golfer ever. I still have her at No. 2 and the only way she can overtake Mickey Wright in my rankings is to win the last three majors.

I doubt that will happen, but I wouldn't put it past her to win two of the last three.

Here are the top 16 women's tennis players and top 10 women's golfers, to refresh your memory.

Tennis:

Rank, Player, Country, Years, Points
1. Martina Navratilova, Czechoslovakia, 1974-2006, 1308.50
2. Steffi Graf, Germany, 1987-1999, 1215.50
3. Chris Evert-Lloyd, United States, 1973-1988, 953.50
4. Monica Seles, Yugoslavia, 1990-1998, 684.00
5. Margaret Smith-Court, Australia, 1968-1975, 675.00
6. Billie Jean King, United States, 1968-1979, 650.50
7. Evonne Goolagong-Cawley, Australia, 1971-1980, 579.50
8. Serena Williams, United States, 1999-2007, 503.00
9. Aranxta Sanchez-Vicario, Spain, 1989-1998, 468.50
10. Martina Hingis, Switzerland, 1996-2006, 449.00
11. Venus Williams, United States, 1997-2007, 440.00
12. Justine Henin, Belgium, 2001-2007, 429.00
13. Hana Mandlikova, Czechoslovakia, 1980-1987, 334.00
14. Lindsay Davenport, United States, 1998-2005, 312.00
15. Virginia Wade, England, 1968-1977, 197.00
16. Mary Pierce, France, 1994-2005, 194.00

GOLF

Rank, Player, Years, Points
1. Mickey Wright, 1958-1973, 150.19
2. Annika Sorenstam, 1995-2008, 142.82
3. Karrie Webb, 1996-2007, 128.43
4. Pat Bradley, 1977-1996, 118.66
5 Kathy Whitworth, 1963-1984, 117.39
6. Patty Berg, 1937-1965, 112.83
7. Julie Inkster, 1984-2006, 107.39
8. Patty Sheehan, 1981-1997, 99.77
9. Louise Suggs, 1946-1969, 97.69
10. Amy Alcott, 1976-1994, 94.56

Oscar wins and loses

When you've fought as many title fights and big names as Oscar De La Hoya, tune up fights do little good in my ranking. De La Hoya, as expected, waded through the harmless punches of Steve Forbes for a unanimous decision Saturday night. Most people keeping score gave Oscar all 12 rounds.

But since non-title fights are worth so little and De La Hoya was already ranked No. 53, he actually slipped a couple of percentage points to fall behind Pascual Perez.

Of course, De La Hoya can make all that up and more in his September rematch against Floyd Mayweather.

The 'new' rankings of No. 50 to No. 60.

Rank, fighter, years, country, points
50. Flash Elorde, 1951-71, Phillippines, 51.315
51. Jimmy McLarnin, 1923-36, U.S., 51.251
52. Stanley Ketchel, 1904-10, U.S., 51.021
53. Pascual Perez, 1952-64, Argentina, 50.932
54. Oscar De La Hoya, 1992-07, U.S., 50.754
55. Lennox Lewis, 1989-03, United Kingdom, 50.711
56. Bob Foster, 1961-78, U.S., 50.704
57. Floyd Patterson, 1952-72, U.S., 50.664
58. Vicente Saldivar, 1961-73, Mexico, 50.623
59. Kostya Tszyu, 1992-05, Australia, 50.605
60. Benny Leonard, 1911-32, U.S., 50.562

Calzaghe moves into top 50

It may not have been an official title fight, but Calzaghe's close -- and disputed -- win over Bernard Hopkins was enough to move him to No. 49 in my ranking of the 100 greatest fighters.

Although the fight itself isn't worth much on my scale now -- it will be worth a lot more when Hopkins goes into the International Boxing Hall of Fame -- Calzaghe picked up 92 bonus points for beating one of the best 125 fighters ever. The bonus points pushed him up 13 positions.

The Executioner didn't suffer much with the loss. A win would have eventually pushed him into the top 20. The loss dropped him just one spot. It'll be interesting to see who both fight next or whether Hopkins finally decides to give it up.

Here are the updated No. 20 through No. 50 greatest fighters ever.

Rank, figher, years, country, points
20. Willie Pep, 1940-66, U.S., 57.220
21. Jose Napoles, 1958-75, Cuba, 56.234
22. Salvador Sanchez, 1975-82, Mexico, 56.016
23. Ricardo Lopez, 1985-01, Mexico, 55.704
24. Eder Jofre, 1957-76, Brazil, 55.341
25. Bernard Hopkins, 1988-08, U.S., 54.374
26. Julio Cesar Chavez, 1980-05, Mexico, 54.110
27. Roberto Duran, 1968-01, Panama, 54.076
28. Felix Trinidad, 1990-08, Puerto Rico, 53.578
29. Thomas Hearns, 1977-06, U.S., 53.432
30. Abe Attell, 1900-17, U.S., 53.132
31. Khaosai Galaxy, 1980-91, Thailand, 53.056
32. Sandy Saddler, 1944-56, U.S., 53.025
33. Sugar Ray Leonard, 1977-97, U.S., 53.003
34. George Foreman, 1969-97, U.S., 52.962
35. Antonio Cervantes, 1964-83, Colombia, 52.905
36. Tommy Ryan, 1887-07, U.S., 52.803
37. Carlos Zarate, 1970-88, Mexico, 52.574
38. Azumah Nelson, 1979-98, Ghana, 52.548
39. Mike Tyson, 1985-05, U.S., 52.547
40. James Jeffries, 1896-10, U.S., 52.458
41. Gene Tunney, 1915-28, U.S., 52.352
42. Joe Frazier, 1965-81, U.S., 52.302
43. Floyd Mayweather Jr., 1996-07, U.S., 52.236
44. Terry McGovern, 1897-08, U.S., 52.224
45. Yoko Gushiken, 1974-81, Japan, 52.167
46. Eusebio Pedroza, 1973-92, Panama, 52.145
47. Evander Holyfield, 1984-07, U.S., 52.053
48. Jack Johnson, 1897-28, U.S., 51.446
49. Joe Calzaghe, 1993-08, United Kingdom, 51.363
50. Flash Elorde, 1951-71, Phillippines, 51.315

The new king ... sort of

For those of you who somehow found this blog in 2006 or 2007, you'll remember Tiger Woods had a ways to go to catch Jack Nicklaus as the greatest golfer of all time.

At least in my old system.

This winter I decided to standardize my rankings among the various sports. I was using a mix of ways to decide the greatest athletes and the one for golf -- which was the first system I finished -- was tilted toward longevity instead of dominance.

I had one year, three year, five year, 10 year and career point totals added up, then added the career totals again and divided by two. That meant a players career total ended up being worth 60 percent of the final ranking.

That of course tilted my list Jack's way, since he still has more major victories and a lot more second place finishes than Woods.

But if you look at the 10 greatest seasons in major championship golf history, Tiger has accomplished three of them:

1. 2000 -- Woods earned 91 points in my system, winning the U.S. Open by 15 shots, the British by eight and the PGA in a playoff. He set scoring records in each tournament.
2. 1953 -- Ben Hogan, won all three majors he played in.
3. 1930 -- Bobby Jones, the original Grand Slam.
4. 2005 -- Tiger Woods, winning the Masters and British Open, second at the U.S. Open and fourth at the PGA.
5. 1980 -- Jack Nicklaus, won the U.S. Open and PGA championship.
6. 1962 -- Arnold Palmer, won the Masters and British Open.
7. 1960 -- Arnold Palmer, won the Masters and rallied from seven back to win the U.S. Open.
8. 1972 -- Jack Nicklaus, opens the year winning the Masters and U.S. Open but then is edged by Lee Trevino in the British.
9. 2002 -- Tiger Woods, won the Masters and British Open and loses by a shot to Rich Beem in the PGA.
10. 1948 -- Ben Hogan, won the U.S. Open and PGA championship.

If you look at dominance, even Nicklaus remarked in 2000 that he was never as good as Woods at his very peak.

After changing my rankings to a combined total of the best three year, six year, 10 year and career scores -- similar to all of my other rankings other than boxing -- then Tiger passed Nicklaus last year and just continues to build on his lead.

In fact, there was no movement in my new all-time golf tournament. Mickelson is one more top 10 finish away from passing Seve Ballesteros, otherwise from now on it's Tiger everyone is chasing.

Here's my new top 72 golfers after the Masters -- oh and congratulations Trevor Immelman, who has the potential to make this field in the next few years:

Rank, player, country, years, points
1. Tiger Woods, United States, 1994-2008, 179.44
2. Jack Nicklaus, United States, 1959-1998, 178.61
3. Ben Hogan, United States, 1939-1967, 145.30
4. Arnold Palmer, United States, 1954-1977, 127.39

5. Bobby Jones, United States, 1919-1930, 122.57
6. Tom Watson, United States, 1974-2000, 118.94
7. Walter Hagen, United States, 1913-1940, 118.49
8. Gene Sarazen, United States, 1921-1956, 108.67

9. Gary Player, South Africa, 1956-1984, 108.41
10. Sam Snead, United States, 1937-1974, 103.41
11. Nick Faldo, England, 1978-2003, 101.33
12. Byron Nelson, United States, 1935-1955, 90.94

13. Lee Trevino, United States, 1967-1986, 82.67
14. J.H. Taylor, England, 1893-1925, 81.90
15. Harry Vardon, England, 1894-1922, 81.47
16. Seve Ballesteros, Spain, 1976-1991, 79.46

17. Phil Mickelson, United States, 1990-2008, 79.35
18. Jim Barnes, Eng/U.S., 1913-1930, 77.25
19. Greg Norman, Australia, 1979-1999, 77.23
20. Raymond Floyd, United States, 1965-1994, 75.77

21. Ernie Els, South Africa, 1992-2007, 72.92
22. James Braid, Scotland, 1894-1914, 71.88
23. Nick Price, Zimbabwe, 1982-2005, 69.27
24. Peter Thomson, Australia, 1951-1971, 67.91

25. Jimmy Demaret, United States, 1938-1962, 66.93
26. Cary Middlecoff, United States, 1948-1959, 66.40
27. Ralph Guldahl, United States, 1933-1941, 65.57
28. Bobby Locke, South Africa, 1936-1957, 65.24

29. Craig Wood, United States, 1929-1944, 64.70
30. Hale Irwin, United States, 1973-1993, 63.05
31. Julius Boros, United States, 1950-1973, 62.58
32. Billy Casper, United States, 1958-1976, 60.90

33. Leo Diegel, United States, 1920-1933, 60.81
34. Johnny Miller, United States, 1966-1985, 58.53
35. Ben Crenshaw, United States, 1972-1995, 58.13
36. Harold Hilton, England, 1892-1913, 57.08

37. Paul Runyan, United States, 1931-1951, 57.08
38. Vijay Singh, Fiji, 1993-2006, 56.74
39. Tom Weiskopf, United States, 1969-1982, 55.53
40. Henry Cotton, England, 1927-1958, 55.48

41. Denny Shute, United States, 1928-1950, 55.30
42. Payne Stewart, United States, 1985-1999, 55.07
43. Jock Hutchison, Scot/U.S., 1908-1928, 54.47
44. Bernhard Langer, Germany, 1981-2005, 54.19

45. Ted Ray, England, 1902-1925, 53.91
46. Lloyd Mangrum, United States, 1940-1956, 53.05
47. Horton Smith, United States, 1928-1954, 51.87
48. Henry Picard, United States, 1932-1950, 51.85

49. Hubert Green, United States, 1974-1989, 51.18
50. Lawson Little, United States, 1934-1951, 50.84
51. Mark O'Meara, United States, 1979-2003, 48.08
52. Alex Smith, Scot/US, 1898-1921, 48.03

53. Larry Nelson, United States, 1979-1991, 47.75
54. Jose Maria Olazabul, Spain, 1984-2006, 47.67
55. Jim Furyk, United States, 1996-2007, 47.03
56. Fred Couples, United States, 1980-2006, 45.63

57. Doug Ford, United States, 1955-1962, 44.72
58. Davis Love III, United States, 1995-2005, 44.67
59. Gene Littler, United States, 1953-1979, 44.65
60. Retief Goosen, South Africa, 1997-2007, 44.48

61. Tony Jacklin, England, 1967-1972, 44.42
62. Lanny Wadkins, United States, 1970-1993, 44.35
63. Curtis Strange, United States, 1980-1995, 44.32
64. Jim Ferrier, Aus/U.S., 1936-1964, 43.97

65. Johnny Farrell, United States, 1922-1937, 43.71
66. Harry Cooper, Eng/U.S., 1923-1942, 43.71
67. Jack Burke Jr., United States, 1951-1965, 43.34
68. Tommy Bolt, United States, 1952-1971, 42.83

69. Tom Kite, United States, 1970-2001, 42.83
70. David Graham, Australia, 1975-1990, 42.66
71. Charles Evans Jr., United States, 1909-1927, 42.13
72. Jerry Pate, United States, 1974-1982, 40.69

Cotto, Dawson wins should mean bigger fights

Miguel Angel Cotto, as expected, outclassed Alfonso Gomez in a WBA welterweight title match and moved up three spots on my list of the 100 greatest boxers ever.

Light heavyweight Chad Dawson also easily outpointed former champ Glenn Johnson.

Cotto, who already has beaten fighters such as Sugar Shane Mosley and Zab Judah, now will get a shot at Antonio Margarito, who knocked out Kermit Cintron.

Should Cotto win that fight, it will increase the public clamor for fellow welterweight champ Floyd Mayweather (No. 43 on my list) to take him on. The undefeated Mayweather's lone legitimate criticism is that he hasn't really taken on a top fighter in his prime.

Dawson can't even get a Margarito-level fight as the top light heavys continue to duck him. Antonio Tarver, who knocked off Clinton Woods Saturday on the same card, has shown no interest in taking on Dawson.

At 39, Tarver seems to be more interested in talking about how great he is than proving it against the 25-year-old Dawson. Dawson is going to have trouble in general proving his ability. Five of the six top light heavyweights in the world are age 35 or above. Fighters like Tarver, Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones Jr. are taking on hand-picked opponents to build their legacies.

Dawson is No. 143 on my list.

Here is the updated No. 60 through No. 69 standings:

60. Tony Canzoneri, 1925-39, U.S., 50.429
61. Harry Greb, 1913-26, U.S., 50.428
62. Joe Calzaghe, 1993-07, United Kingdom, 50.066
63. Duilio Loi, 1948-62, Italy, 49.893
64. Emile Griffith, 1958-77, U.S., 49.476
65. Miguel Angel Cotto, 2001-08, Puerto Rico, 49.470
66. Naseem Hamed, 1992-02, United Kingdom, 49.407
67. Chiquita Gonzalez, 1984-95, Mexico, 49.112
68. Dariusz Michalczewski, 1991-05, Poland, 49.014
69. Michael Carbajal, 1989-99, Canada, 48.883

Next week Calzaghe gets his chance to significantly move up the list when he takes on Bernard Hopkins (No. 25). Should Hopkins win, he could move into the top 20.

Ochoa climbing quickly in all-time women's golf tourney

Lorena Ochoa, the pride of Mexico, soared into the top 25 of the all-time women's golf tournament.

Ochoa has won the past two women's golf majors by a total of nine shots and is severely slowing Annika Sorenstam's march to the top of the rankings.

Here is the updated top 54 golfers in women's pro golf history:

Rank, player, years, points
1. Mickey Wright, 1958-1973, 150.19
2. Annika Sorenstam, 1995-2008, 142.82
3. Karrie Webb, 1996-2008, 128.43
4. Pat Bradley, 1977-1996, 118.66
5. Kathy Whitworth, 1963-1984, 117.39
6. Patty Berg, 1937-1965, 112.83
7. Julie Inkster, 1984-2006, 107.39
8. Patty Sheehan, 1981-1997, 99.77
9. Louise Suggs, 1946-1969, 97.69
10. Amy Alcott, 1976-1994, 94.56
11. Sandra Haynie, 1963-1983, 92.15
12. Babe Didrikson Zaharias, 1940-1954, 91.11
13. Meg Mallon, 1990-2004, 86.76
14. Betsy Rawls, 1951-1969, 83.66
15. Laura Davies, 1987-2005, 81.77
16. Se Ri Pak, 1998-2008, 81.28
17. JoAnne Carner, 1970-1992, 80.33
18. Nancy Lopez, 1975-1997, 79.58
19. Donna Caponi, 1969-1982, 69.94
20. Beth Daniel, 1980-2006, 68.88
21. Susan Maxwell Berning, 1965-1979, 67.02
22. Mary Mills, 1963-1974, 65.27
23. Sandra Palmer, 1967-1986, 61.52
24. Lorena Ochoa, 2002-2008, 60.45
25. Dottie Pepper, 1988-2001, 60.04
26. Carol Mann, 1963-1975, 59.63
27. Marilyn Smith, 1963-1972, 59.60
28. Jan Stephenson, 1976-2000, 59.47
29. Hollis Stacy, 1976-1996, 56.85
30. Sally Little, 1975-1988, 56.17
31. Ayako Okamoto, 1983-1993, 56.00
32. Liselotte Neumann, 1988-2005, 52.38
33. Rosie Jones, 1983-2005, 50.75
34. Jane Geddes, 1985-1996, 50.01
35. Tammie Green, 1989-1998, 48.13
36. Clifford-Ann Creed, 1963-1976, 43.90
37. Kelly Robbins, 1994-2004, 43.85
38. Brandie Burton, 1991-2001, 42.54
39. Cristie Kerr, 1999-2007, 40.96
40. Jane Blalock, 1971-1980, 39.45
41. Beverly Hanson, 1955-1958, 39.33
41. Betty Jameson, 1942-1954, 39.33
43. Marlene Hagge, 1956-1972, 39.17
44. Sherri Steinhauer, 1992-2006, 38.63
45. Judy Kimball-Simon, 1962-1967, 38.56
46. Grace Park, 1999-2005, 38.55
47. Shirley Englehorn, 1963-1970, 35.14
48. Donna Andrews, 1992-1998, 35.02
49. Judy Rankin, 1964-1979, 34.07
50. Colleen Walker, 1987-1997, 33.23
51. Pat Hurst, 1996-2006, 32.84
52. Chris Johnson, 1983-2000, 32.79
53. Nancy Scranton, 1986-2000, 32.67
54. Helen Alfreddson, 1992-2006, 31.97

Abraham moves up, Pavlik next?

Germany's Arthur Abraham moved up eight spots with a win over overmatched Elvin Ayala.

He has a June 7 bout scheduled with an unnamed opponent. He is on record saying he wants to fight Kelly Pavlik, which would be a mega bout for the summer and be a major step up in opponents. His top victories so far are over a then undefeated Edison Miranda in September 2006 and Howard Eastman in July 2005.

Here is the new No. 85 through No. 100 list in boxing's all-time top 100.

85. Fabrice Tiozzo, 1988-06, France, 47.309
86. Wilfredo Benitez, 1973-90, Puerto Rico, 47.300
87. Jorge Arce, 1996-07, Mexico, 47.260
88. Arthur Abraham, 2003-08, Germany, 47.214
89. Freddie Welsh, 1905-22, United Kingdom, 47.195
90. Maxie Rosenbloom, 1923-39, U.S., 47.071
91. Myung Woo Yuh, 1982-93, South Korea, 46.932
92. Ratanapol Sor Vorapin, 1990-07, Thailand, 46.792
93. Pongsaklek Wonjongkam, 1994-07, Thailand, 46.763
94. Bob Montgomery, 1938-50, U.S., 46.653
95. Lou Ambers, 1932-41, U.S., 46.542
96. Sven Ottke, 1997-04, Germany, 46.465
97. Victor Galindez, 1969-80, Argentina, 46.395
98. Mickey Walker, 1919-35, U.S., 46.395
99. Orlando Canizales, 1984-99, U.S., 46.371
100. Jimmy Wilde, 1910-23, United Kingdom, 46.333

Pacquiao still a ways from top 100

Although many people consider Phillippines fighter Manny Pacquiao one of the top three pound-for-pound fighters today he still remains a ways from my all-time top 100.

After his thrilling but controversial win of Juan Manuel Marquez last night he sits at No. 134. Just behind Michael Nunn and just ahead of Fernando Montiel.

That will change as time goes on. He already owns wins over three future Hall of Fame fighters in Marquez, Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera. As those fighters are inducted, the point totals he recieved for beating them will more than double.

Another point is that although Pacuiao has already been in 24 title fights, 15 of those were for minor or stepping stone titles. Now that he has one of the four major belts back he should begin wracking up points.

At only age 29, unless Pacquiao's lifestyle catches up to him, he has 12 to 15 more fights to possibly climb into the top 50.

No movement after 12 Hours of Sebring

Timo Bernhard, Romain Dumas and Emmanuel Collard combined to win the 12 Hours of Sebring for Penske Racing.

It was the first Sebring for Bernhard and he added it to his 2003 win at the 24 Hours of Daytona. For Dumas, it was his first major win of any kind although he has finished in the top 10 at the 24 Hours of LeMans twice.

Collard is the most accomplished of the trio. Collard won the 24 Hours of Daytona in 2005 and has been a top 10 finisher at LeMans four times dating back to 1996, including a second-place showing in 2005.

Still, Collard's overall score puts him at 209th overall.

Thailand flyweight drops a spot in busy weekend

There were major championship fights at both ends of the boxing spectrum this weekend but little change in my all-time top 100 boxer ranking.

Pongsaklek Wonjongkam of Thailand failed to get his WBC flyweight title back Saturday night, fighting Daisuke Naito of Japan to a draw.

Wonjongkam fell to 63-3-1 and is 2-1-1 against Naito. The draw caused Wonjongkam to fall one spot in my ranking to No. 92, trailing Ratanapol Sor Vorapin, the former IBF minimum weight champion, also of Thailand. Vorapin and Wonjonkam are the No. 2 and No. 3 highest ranked Thai fighters in history. Khaosai Galaxy is the all-time best at No. 31.

Here's the new No. 91-100 ranking.

Rank, fighter, years, country, points
90. Myung Woo Yuh, 1982-93, South Korea, 46.932
91. Ratanapol Sor Vorapin, 1990-07, Thailand, 46.792
92. Pongsaklek Wonjongkam, 1994-07, Thailand, 46.763
93. Bob Montgomery, 1938-50, U.S., 46.653
94. Lou Ambers, 1932-41, U.S., 46.542
95. Sven Ottke, 1997-04, Germany, 46.465
96. Arthur Abraham, 2003-07, Germany, 46.436
97. Victor Galindez, 1969-80, Argentina, 46.395
98. Mickey Walker, 1919-35, U.S., 46.395
99. Orlando Canizales, 1984-99, U.S., 46.371
100. Jimmy Wilde, 1910-23, United Kingdom, 46.333

Also this weekend, David Haye knocked off Enzo Maccarinelli in the second round to add the WBO cruiserweight title to his WBA and WBC titles. He picked up valuable "unified title" points by picking up three of the top four belts and moved into the top 150 at No. 149. It may take him a bit to threaten the top 100 though. He's apparently moving up to heavyweight. I'll be interesting to see if he can add enough muscle to stand in with the 230-plussers today.

Speaking of heavyweights, Samuel Peter, the Nigerian Nightmare, TKO'd Oleg Maskaev to take one of the top belts away from an Eastern European. Peter is No. 2 on my list of the three heavyweight title holders at No. 130 all-time. Ruslan Chageav, while Wladimir Klitschko is No. 116.

Klitschko's recent win against Sultan Ibragimov clears things up a bit but Chageav apparently is going to fight Nikolay Valuev in a rematch, while Vitali Klitschko may get first crack at Peter.

Where Haye plays in, who knows. It'd be an actual event if Peter for Wladimir Klitschko again, but that will have to wait.

Greatest pro basketball pickup teams

Let's say you were going to have a 5-on-5 tournament, best player at each position. Which NBA or ABA team would be able to put together the best team?

It's not a question of best franchise. Then you'd have to talk titles and of course it'd be centered around Boston and the Lakers. It's the question of which team has had the best players at each position over the course of professional basketball.

Each year I do a pro basketball ranking. To come up with the best team I simply gave franchises -- and I use this term loosely -- points by position. I have Kareem as the greatest center so the Lakers get 30 points (the scoring is a 1 to 30 scale) as well as the Milwaukee Bucks.

Now, some teams have bounced from city to city. I doubt a L.A. Laker fan really considers George Mikan an L.A. player. Just like Sacramento fans don't consider Tiny Archibald -- a Kansas City King -- to be one of theirs.

So for this ranking, you'll see some teams that no longer exist.

In all, 37 different teams scored.

No. 37 -- New Orleans Jazz, 5 points from Pistol Pete Maravich.
No. 36 -- Charlotte Hornets, 14 points from Alonzo Mourning.
No. 35 -- Kansas City Kings, 15 points from Tiny Archibald.
No. 33 (tie) -- Toronto Raptors, 20 points from Vince Carter.
No. 33 (tie) -- Buffalo Braves, 20 points from Bob McAdoo.
No. 32 -- Cleveland Cavaliers, 9 points from Brad Daugherty, 11 points from LeBron James and one point for World B. Free.
No. 31 -- Minneapolis Lakers, 23 points for George Mikan.
No. 30 -- Sacramento Kings, 20 points for Chris Webber, four points for Mitch Richmond.
No. 29 -- Syracuse nationals, 26 points for Dolph Schayes.
No. 28 -- Atlanta Hawks, 21 points for Dominique Wilkins and six points from Lou Hudson.
No. 27 -- Minnesota Timberwolves, 28 points from Kevin Garnett.
No. 26 -- Los Angeles Clippers, 14 points for Elton Brand and 15 points for Terry Cummings.
No. 25 -- Miami Heat, 14 points for Alonzo Mourning and 20 for Tim Hardaway.
No. 24 -- Portland Trailblazers, 13 points for Maurice Lucas, 26 points for Clyde Drexler. This does seem low but Bill Walton didn't play long enough. Terry Porter wasn't a highly enough ranked point guard.
No. 23 -- Dallas Mavericks, 22 for Dirk Nowitzki and 21 for Steve Nash.
No. 22 -- Washington Bullets/Wizards, 12 for Wes Unseld, 25 for Elvin Hayes and 11 for Earl Monroe.
No. 21 -- Cincinnati Royals, going way back, 19 points for Jerry Lucas and 30 for Oscar Robertson.
No. 20 -- Orlando Magic, 26 points for Shaquille O'Neal and 25 points for Tracey McGrady.
No. 19 -- Philadelphia Warriors, 29 points for Wilt Chamberlain and 23 for Paul Arizan.
No. 18 -- Houston Rockets, 28 points for Hakeem Olajuwon, 25 points for Tracey McGrady.
No. 17 -- Kentucky Colonels, 22 points for Artis Gilmore, 21 for Dan Issell and 12 for Lou Dampier.
No. 16 -- Indiana Pacers, 17 points for Mel Daniels, 23 points for George McGinness and 16 for Reggie Miller.
No. 15 -- St. Louis Hawks, 27 points for Bob Petit, 18 for Cliff Hagan and 14 for Lenny Wilkens.
No. 14 -- San Francisco/Golden State Warriors, 13 points for Nate Thurmond, 27 points for Rick Barry, four for Mitch Richmond and 20 for Tim Hardaway.
No. 13 -- Seattle Supersonics, 16 points for Spencer Haywood, eight for Tom Chambers, 18 for Ray Allen and 26 for Gary Payton.
No. 12 -- Utah Jazz, 29 points for Karl Malone, 12 for Adrian Dantley and 27 for John Stockton.
No. 11 -- Denver Rockets/Nuggets, 11 for Dikembe Mutombo, 21 for Issel, 20 for Alex English and 17 for David Thompson.

Here is the top 10:
No. 10 -- Detroit Pistons, 18 for Bob Lanier, 10 for Dennis Rodman, 19 for Grant Hill, two for Joe Dumars and 23 for Isaiah Thomas.
No. 9 -- New York/New Jersey Nets, 30 for Julius Erving, 20 for Vince Carter and 25 for Jason Kidd.
No. 8 -- New York Knicks, 21 for Patrick Ewing, 15 for Dave DeBusschere, nine for Bernard King, 11 for Earl Monroe and 22 for Walt Frazier.
No. 7 -- San Antonio Spurs, 25 for David Robinson, 30 for Tim Duncan and 27 for George Gervin.
No. 6 -- Phoenix Suns, 24 for Charles Barkley, 25 for Connie Hawkins, 21 for Walter Davis and 21 for Steve Nash.
No. 5 -- Milwaukee Bucks, 30 for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 16 for Bobby Dandridge, 19 for Sydney Moncrief and 30 for Oscar Robertson.
No. 4 -- Chicago Bulls, 22 for Artis Gilmore, 10 for Dennis Rodman, 16 for Scottie Pippen, 30 for Michael Jordan and 10 for Norm Van Lier.
No. 3 -- Los Angeles Lakers, 30 for Abdul-Jabbar, 28 for Elgin Baylor, 29 for Jerry West and 29 for Magic Johnson. The problem here is no great power forwards in the franchise's history and Karl Malone doesn't count here.
No. 2 -- Boston Celtics, 27 for Bill Russell, 18 for Kevin McHale, 29 for Larry Bird, 24 for Bill Sharman and 28 for Bob Cousy.

Leaving ...

No. 1 -- Philadelphia 76ers, even though the Sixers have just two NBA titles, they have had star power throughout the decades. Here's the starting five: Chamberlain (29), Barkley (24), Erving (30), Hal Greer (23) and Allen Iverson (24).

Try starting a bar discussion by saying the best five 76ers would beat the best Celtics or Lakers and see how that goes.

Bute knocks Joppy from boxing's top 100

Lucien Bute defeated three-time middleweight champion William Joppy last night in his second title defense of the IBF Super Middleweight title.

The knockout loss sent Joppy -- now 39-5-1 -- tumbling from the top 100. Bute -- 22-0 with 18 knockouts -- is No. 137.

Also, Ratanapol Sor Vorapin, who came out of retirement last year, has added a string of knockouts over little known fighters. It's been enough to climb back into the top 100.

Here's the new No. 90 through 100.

Rank, fighter, years, country
90. Myung Woo Yuh, 1982-93, South Korea
91. Pongsaklek Wonjongkam, 1994-07, Thailand
92. Ratanapol Sor Vorapin, 1990-08, Thailand
93. Bob Montgomery, 1938-50, U.S.
94. Lou Ambers, 1932-41, U.S.
95. Sven Ottke, 1997-04, Germany
96. Arthur Abraham, 2003-07, Germany
97. Victor Galindez, 1969-80, Argentina
98. Mickey Walker, 1919-35, U.S.
99. Orlando Canizales, 1984-99, U.S.
100. Jimmy Wilde, 1910-23, United Kingdom

The 25 greatest racers in the world

Here are my picks as the top 25 racers to climb into a cockpit.

Rank, Racer, Country, Years, Total
25. Mario Andretti, United States, 1965-1995, 52.00
* 7th highest Indy racer
* 10th ranked U.S. driver
(One of two drivers to score top 10 tens at Monaco, LeMans, Indy and Daytona. Only driver with Formula One title, Indy 500 and Daytona 500 wins on resume)

24. Juan Manuel Fangio, Argentina, 1950-1957, 52.02
* 7th highest Formula One driver
* No. 1 ranked Argentine
(Five Formula One titles in just eight years, two-time Monaco winner and added two 12 Hours at Sebring wins)

23. Henri Pescarolo, France, 1970-1999, 52.06
* 8th highest endurance driver
* No. 2 ranked French driver
(Four time LeMans winner with a 24 Hours at Daytona win as well)

22. Lou Meyer, United States, 1928-1937, 52.44
* 6th highest Indy driver
* No. 9 U.S. driver
(First three-time Indy 500 winner. Also had three AAA titles to his credit)

21. Emerson Fittipaldi, Brazil, 1971-1994, 53.34
* 5th highest Indy driver
* No. 2 driver from Brazil
(A two-time Formula One champion, he switched to Indy car racing and won two Indy 500s and a CART championship)

20. Olivier Gendebien, Germany, 1955-1962, 53.95
* 7th highest endurance racer
* No. 3 German driver
(Won four LeMans titles in a five-year span to go along with two Sebring wins)

19. Wilbur Shaw, United States, 1927-1940, 54.29
* 4th highest Indy driver.
* No. 8 U.S. driver
(Won three Indy 500s, along with three second place finishes, and added two AAA titles)

18. Bobby Allison, United States, 1968-1988, 54.53
* Third highest NASCAR driver
* No. 7 U.S. driver
(Two Daytona 500 wins and three runner up finishes plus one Winston Cup title)

17. Stirling Moss, United Kingdom, 1953-1961, 56.17
* 6th ranked Formula One driver
* No. 4 from the United Kingdom
(Three time Monaco winner was twice runner up at LeMans. Also finished in top three in Formula One championship -- but never first -- for seven straight years)

16. Rick Mears, United States, 1979-1991, 56.93
* 3rd ranked Indy car driver
* No. 6 U.S. driver
(One of three four-time Indy 500 winners. Also had three CART titles)

15. Emanuele Pirro, Italy, 1991-2007, 57.18
* No. 6 endurance driver
* No. 1 Italian driver
(Five LeMans wins and four third-place finishes in the past nine years. Added a Sebring title in 2007)

14. Frank Biela, Germany, 1999-2007, 58.20
* No. 5 endurance driver
* No. 2 German driver
(Five wins at LeMans to go along with four at Sebring)

13. Jackie Stewart, United Kingdom, 1965-1973, 58.59
* No. 5 Formula One driver
* No. 3 driver from United Kingdom
(Three Monaco wins and three Formula One titles in nine years. Also recorded top 10s at LeMans and Indianapolis)

12. Cale Yarborough, United States, 1965-1987, 60.72
* No. 2 NASCAR driver
* No. 5 driver from U.S.
(Four Daytona 500 wins and three Winston Cup titles. Also one of rare NASCAR drivers to compete outside of NASCAR with one top 10 at Indy to his credit)

11. Al Unser, United States, 1965-1992, 62.05
* No. 2 Indy car driver
* No. 4 driver from U.S.
(Four Indy 500 wins with three CART titles and a win at 24 Hours of Daytona. Also one fourth place finish in Daytona 500)

10. Tom Kristensen, Denmark, 1997-2006, 63.84
* No. 4 endurance racer
* No. 1 driver from Denmark
(All-time leading LeMans winner with seven, including six in a row. Also has four Sebring wins)

9. Phil Hill, United States, 1958-1964, 64.37
* No. 3 endurance racer
* No. 3 driver from U.S.
(Won three LeMans titles, two Sebring races and a 24 Hours at Daytona. Also won a Formula One title and was top three at Monaco three times)

8. Derek Bell, United Kingdom, 1972-1996, 65.14
* No. 2 endurance racer
* No. 2 driver from United Kingdom
(Six time winner at LeMans and a top 10 finisher there 16 times. Also won three 24 Hours at Daytona races)

7. Alain Prost, France, 1982-1993, 67.12
* No. 4 Formula One driver
* No. 1 driver from France
(Won four Monaco titles and four Formula One titles in 12 seasons)

6. Ayrton Senna, Brazil, 1984-1993, 69.98
* No. 3 Formula One driver
* No. 1 driver from Brazil
(Three time Formula One champion. Won six times at Monaco, including his last five before being killed at age 34)

5. Jacky Ickx, Belgium, 1968-1985, 70.78
* No. 1 endurance racer
* No. 1 driver from Belgium
(Six LeMans wins to go along with two at Sebring and one at 24 Hours of Daytona. Also competed in Formula One, finishing in top three at Monaco in 1971 and 1972 and finishing in top three of Formula One championship from 1968 to 1972)

4. Michael Schumacher, Germany, 1992-2006, 77.35
* No. 2 Formula One driver
* No. 1 German driver
(His six Monaco wins and seven Formula One series championships are both records. Perhaps had more wins in him but retired in 2006 at just 37)

3. Richard Petty, United States, 1960-1987, 79.77
* No. 1 NASCAR driver
* No. 2 driver from U.S.
(Most dominant single series driver ever. Won seven Daytona 500s and seven Winston Cups. Finished in top 10 at Daytona 17 times and was in top three of season series 15 times)

2. Graham Hill, United Kingdom, 1958-1974, 81.65
* No. 1 Formula One driver
* No. 1 driver from United Kingdom
(Won five times at Monaco and claimed two Formula One championships. Also won 24 Hours at LeMans and the Indianapolis 500 making him the only driver to win racing's "Triple Crown")

1. A.J. Foyt, United States, 1959-1992, 87.69
* No. 1 Indy car driver
* No. 1 from U.S.
(First four-time Indy 500 winner and only driver to win Indy and Daytona 500s along with 24 Hours at LeMans. Claimed six CART titles from 1960 to 1975 and later in his career tacked on two wins at 24 Hours of Daytona and one at Sebring. In 1967, became the first and still only driver to win two -- Indy and LeMans -- of racing's big four races in same year. He added a CART title that season)

World's greatest racers, part III

Now we start getting in to some of the big, big names in auto racing in the past 95 years. Here are the No. 50 down to No. 26 greatest racecar drivers in the world.

Rank, racer, country, years, points
50. Fernando Alonso, Spain, 2003-2007, 41.19
49. Luigi Chinetti, Italy, 1932-1951, 42.08
48. Rinaldo Capello, Italy, 1999-2006, 42.51
47. Jim Clark, United Kingdom, 1959-1967, 43.12
46. Klaus Ludwig, Germany, 1979-1988, 43.31
45. Gordon Johncock, United States, 1965-1991, 43.33
44. Bill Elliott, United States, 1978-2001, 43.53
43. Al Unser Jr., United States, 1983-2003, 44.91
42. Dale Jarrett, United States, 1991-2006, 45.11
41. Al Holbert, United States, 1976-1987, 45.17
40. Hans Joachim Stuck, Germany, 1976-1996, 45.37
39. Jody Scheckter, South Africa, 1974-1979, 45.45
38. Rodger Ward, United States, 1956-1964, 45.51
37. Denny Hulme, Australia, 1965-1973, 45.63
36. Niki Lauda, Austria, 1974-1984, 45.87
35. Hurley Haywood, United States, 1973-1994, 46.33
34. Dale Earnhardt, United States, 1979-2000, 46.54
33. Jeff Gordon, United States, 1993-2007, 47.10
32. Bruce McLaren, Australia, 1959-1969, 48.09
31. Marco Werner, Germany, 2002-2007, 48.63
30. Mauri Rose, United States, 1934-1950, 48.83
29. Johnny Rutherford, United States, 1963-1986, 48.88
28. Maurice Trintignant, France, 1953-1961, 50.45
27. Yannick Dalmas, France, 1988-2002, 51.15
26. Bobby Unser, United States, 1966-1981, 51.17

Now it's getting tough. Johncock was a two-time Indy winner. Jarrett won three Daytona 500s and two winston Cups and he's behind Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon in this group. I'd never heard of Hurley Haywood, but he's one of the top endurance racers ever to come out of the U.S. He won three LeMans races, two 12 Hours at Sebrings and four 24 Hours at Daytonas. Maurice Trintignant won twice at Monaco and once at LeMans, and Bobby Unser was a three-time Indy 500 winner.

Greatest racecar driver in the world, take two

In my first post I explained how the yearly point totals worked but not how I add them up for a ranking. I use the same 3, 6, 10 and career system as in my other rankings.

To show how, I'll break down the career of one of the most versatile drivers ever -- Dan Gurney.

Gurney scored points in my system in 11 years from 1959 to 1970.

His best year, in terms of points, was 1967 when he recorded his only win among the four biggest races in the world, the 24 Hours at LeMans with A.J. Foyt. He did not score in any other category.

In 1963, he took fifth in the Daytona 500 (six points) and seventh in the Indianapolis 500 (four points) for 10 points for the year.

His third best year was a tie for 1968 and 1969 when he was runnerup at Indianapolis for nine points each. So his ranking for top 3 years was 20 + 10 + 9 divided by 3 for 13.0 points.

I used those top three years, added 1968's 9 points for Indy and then 1970 when he was third at Indy (8 points) and 1961 when Gurney took fifth at the Grand Prix of Monaco (6 points) and fourth in the Formula One series (1 point).

So his six best years were 20 + 10 + 9 + 9 + 8 + 7 divided by 6 for a score of 10.5 points.

For his best 10 years he had an average of 7.7 and his total career points, which included bonus points for winning the 12 Hours at Sebring and 24 Hours at Daytona I divided by 25 for a score of 3.1. Why 25? A.J. Foyt scored points in an incredible 25 years between 1959 and 1993 so he sets the standard.

Although the system rewards drivers like Gurney who went out and tried to win races outside their comfort zone -- Gurney and Mario Andretti are the only drivers to record top 10 finishes in Monaco, LeMans, Indy and Daytona -- it rewards winning even more. Even though Gurney was a threat at all four events for 12 years, he won just one so he's ranked a somewhat pedestrian 68th.

So now that you know a little bit more, here are the No. 75 through No. 51 greatest racecar drivers ever.

Rank, racer, country, years, points
75. Jack Brabham, Australia, 1957-1970, 33.49
74. Ted Horn, United States, 1936-1948, 33.62
72. Buddy Baker, United States, 1969-1988, 33.71
72. Andy Wallace, United Kingdom, 1988-2006, 33.71
71. Andre Rossignol, France, 1923-1928, 34.09
70. Michael Waltrip, United States, 1990-2003, 34.15
68. Jimmy Bryan, United States, 1952-1958, 34.32
68. Dan Gurney, United States, 1959-1970, 34.32
67. Gerard Larrousse, France, 1969-1974, 34.73
66. Michele Alboreto, Italy, 1981-2001, 34.82
65. Helio Castroneves, Brazil, 2001-2006, 35.04
64. Benny Parsons, United States, 1969-1987, 35.16
63. Gijs van Lennap, Netherlands, 1971-1976, 35.35
62. Bobby Rahal, United States, 1981-1995, 35.49
61. J.J. Lehto, Finland, 1992-2005, 36.85
60. Arie Luyendyk, Netherlands, 1985-1998, 36.97
59. Tommy Milton, United States, 1920-1927, 37.29
58. Sterling Marlin, United States, 1980-2005, 37.91
57. Darrell Waltrip, United States, 1974-1997, 37.95
56. Juan Pablo Montoya, Colombia, 1999-2008, 38.39
55. Woolf Barnato, United Kingdom, 1928-1930, 38.40
54. Tom Sneva, United States, 1976-1984, 38.58
53. David Pearson, United States, 1962-1984, 38.59
52. David Coulthard, United Kingdom, 1995-2006, 39.00
51. Tazio Nuvolari, Italy, 1932-1936, 39.99

Who was the greatest racecar driver in the world?

A few weeks ago I posted the ultimate NASCAR race, grids 1 through 43.

Richard Petty took the top spot naturally, but of course a NASCAR ranking wouldn't include two of the biggest names in U.S. auto racing -- A.J. Foyt and Mario Andretti.

Both Foyt and Andretti won Daytona 500s but spent the vast majority of the careers in open-wheel racing, chasing titles world wide.

So I started thinking about how to rank racers in Indy Car with NASCAR and Formula One. Even with the explosion of NASCAR in the U.S., the Formula One series title remains the most coveted in the world.

On the other hand, U.S. open wheel actually has the longest running series championship if you trace Champ Car -- which thankfully merged with the Indy Racing League to hopefully save open-wheel in the U.S. -- all the way back. It's evolved from the AAA series that actually was going on before the Indianapolis race became a 500-miler, to USAC, to CART and finally to Champ Car/IRL.

But the series title meant little. When people look at A.J. Foyt's career, they mention the four Indy 500 wins, the Daytona 500 and his 24 Hours of LeMans wins. Very few rank his six USAC series titles among his greatest accomplishments.

So the series titles aren't of equal stature and drivers can't drive more than one circuit a year, so you don't see the best worldwide squaring off.

Where you do occasionally see the best going head-to-head is in the most historic races. Doing a little research I found that Formula One's Grand Prix of Monaco, endurance racing's 24 Hours of LeMans and the Indianapolis 500 are considered the Triple Crown of Auto Racing.

For my rankings, though, I'm adding a fourth to the list -- the Daytona 500. Although it doesn't have the history as the other three, the first Daytona 500 was in 1959 -- it has surpassed the Indy 500 as the top race in the U.S., again thanks to NASCAR's growth.

So I based my rankings on golf, which centers around the four majors for men and women. The winning driver of the above four races received 20 points, with second place worth nine, third place eight and on down to 10th place receiving a point.

I didn't totally disregard season-long results. The Formula One title is the most prestigious in the world. Winning it is worth six bonus points, second in the series gets three, third is worth two and fourth place earns a point.

NASCAR, even though it hasn't been around as long, has long been considered a more prestigious series than open-wheel in the U.S. The fact that Dale Earnhardt won seven Winston Cups is central to his reputation. So the Grand National/Winston/Nextel Cup is worth five points to the winner, two to second and third gets a point.

The various open-wheel series championships were worth four points to the winner and one point to second place. During the Champ/IRL split, though, the winner of each series received two points.

Endurance racing has had just a handful of season series even worth mentioning. Truthfully, beyond LeMans, the 12 hour at Sebring and 24 hours at Daytona races are bigger than any series. The winners of those races each year received two points.

A few points for the ranking:

* It was tilted ever so slightly toward Formula One. A Monaco Grand Prix win and Formula One series title is worth 26 points. A Daytona 500 and Nextel Cup championship is worth 25. An Indy 500 and AAA/USAC/CART/IRL at most was worth 24 and if you swept the endurance "Triple Crown" of LeMans, Sebring and Daytona, that was worth 24 points.

* Endurance racers had a slight advantage overall. Because of the length of the races, teams use between two and four drivers. That means there's a lot more points available each year to endurance racers. You could win as many points being the No. 4 driver at LeMans as being the lone winner at Monaco.

* One-series wonders had to really, really dominate to get near the top. This really limits NASCAR drivers because that series is so full very, very few over the years have ventured outside NASCAR. You'll see what I mean as the standings unfold.

* Modern drivers have an advantage because safety equipment is so much better. Who knows what a guy like Bill Vukovich would have accomplished if he hadn't been killed dominating the Indy 500 after winning two straight in the 1950s?

I'll release the top 100 over the next four nights. In reverse order, here are the No. 100 down to No. 76 greatest auto racers worldwide.

Rank, racer, country, years, points
100. Geoff Bodine, United States, 1984-2000, 29.71
99. Bob Wollek, France, 1977-1998, 29.82
98. Allan McNish, United Kingdom, 1998-2006, 29.87
97. Eddie Cheever, United States, 1981-2002, 29.96
96. Mauro Baldi, Italy, 1983-2002, 30.01
95. Paul Frere, Belgium, 1955-1960, 30.53
94. Michael Andretti, United States, 1983-2006, 30.63
93. Buddy Lazier, United States, 1996-2004, 30.81
92. Hans Herrman, Germany, 1958-1970, 30.88
91. Jimmie Johnson, United States, 2003-2007, 30.89
90. Jimmy Murphy, United States, 1920-1924, 30.95
89. Jim Rathmann, United States, 1952-1962, 31.07
88. Jacques Villeneuve, Canada, 1993-2001, 31.07
87. Ronnie Peterson, Sweden, 1970-1978, 31.17
86. Vern Schuppan, Australia, 1975-1984, 31.91
85. Mika Hakkinen, Finland, 1994-2000, 31.95
84. Lorenzo Bandini, Italy, 1962-1967, 32.01
83. Rudolf Caracciola, Germany, 1929-1939, 32.09
82. Nigel Mansell, United Kingdom, 1982-1993, 32.24
81. Jochen Rindt, Austria, 1965-1970, 32.31
80. Fred Lorenzen, United States, 1960-1971, 32.35
79. Raymond Sommer, France, 1932-1950, 32.53
78. Jan Lammers, Netherlands, 1980-2005, 32.75
77. Nelson Piquet, Brazil, 1979-1996, 32.77
76. Jean-Pierre Jaussaud, France, 1973-1980, 33.17

Newman wins Daytona, moves into all-time Daytona field

Ryan Newman's 13th win was a lucky one -- the Daytona 500.

The five points he receives in my system for winning Daytona plus the one point for winning a race was enough to move him into the top 43 racers in NASCAR history.

The person he knocked out of the all-time race is still active -- Kevin Harvick -- so he may make his way back in. The guy on the cut line is Ernie Irvan. Here is the updated starting grid for the all-time NASCAR race.

Pole pos., Racer, Total
1. Richard Petty, 119.68
2. Dale Earnhardt, 92.16
3. Cale Yarborough, 86.59
4. Darell Waltrip, 84.33
5. Jeff Gordon, 80.00
6. David Pearson, 76.66
7. Bobby Allison, 72.36
8. Lee Petty, 67.11
9. Bill Elliott, 66.64
10. Herb Thomas, 65.13
11. Jimmie Johnson, 61.87
12. Dale Jarrett, 60.94
13. Buck Baker, 58.67
14. Ned Jarrett, 57.72
15. Tim Flock, 57.47
16. Tony Stewart, 52.14
17. Terry Labonte, 50.50
18. Mark Martin, 49.90
19. Benny Parsons, 49.75
20. Joe Weatherly, 42.90
21. Bobby Labonte, 41.53
22. Bobby Isaac, 39.26
23. Rex White, 38.27
24. Fireball Roberts, 38.00
25. Matt Kenseth, 37.37
26. Harry Gant, 36.29
27. Fonty Flock, 36.23
28. Jeff Burton, 35.31
29. James Hylton, 35.22
30. Kurt Busch, 34.91
31. Ricky Rudd, 33.77
32. Curtis Turner, 33.56
33. Junior Johnson, 33.16
34. Sterling Marlin, 31.51
35. Dale Earnhardt Jr., 30.61
36. Davey Allison, 30.29
37. Speedy Thompson, 28.54
38. Dave Marcis, 26.25
39. Jim Paschal, 25.79
40. Ken Schrader, 24.63
41. Buddy Baker, 23.88
42. Ryan Newman, 23.73
43. Ernie Irvan, 23.47

The ultimate NASCAR race

I'm no gearhead -- I haven't watched a race for more than two minutes in 20 years -- but I keep up with the sport through Sports Illustrated and obviously NASCAR is as major a league as there is in the United States.

With the end of the football season tonight, the next big event on the U.S. calendar is the Daytona 500 so tonight I'll present my ultimate NASCAR race. Racers one through 43, just like the starting Daytona grid.

I based the system a bit on golf but customized it a bit to fit with the Chase in that the top 12 drivers received points. Winning the Grand National or Winston or Nextel Cup was worth 20 points. Second place was 11, third eight 10, etc.

A driver received a bonus point for every race won during the season. And the top three drivers in the Daytona 500 received points as well. The winner received five, second received two and third place was worth one.

I totaled all three to give a driver a yearly score and then ranked drivers based on their best three year, six year, 10 year and career totals.

Let's break down a driver to show how it works. How about Bill Elliott.

Elliott's best year -- in my system -- was 1985 when he finished second in the Winston Cup, won the Daytona 500 and 11 races overall. His score was 11 points for the season series, five for winning Daytona and 11 bonus points for wins (So winning Daytona actually amounts to six points). That's 27 points.

His second best year was 1992 when he actually won the Winston Cup. He got 20 points for that, but he was not in the top three at Daytona and won just five races so his yearly score was 25.

In 1987, he was again second in the Cup, won Daytona and six races for a score of 22.

To figure his top three year score, I added 27, 25 and 22 and divided by three for a score of 24.67. I took his top six scores and divided by that number for that total and the same with 10.

For the career score, I took all of the points he scored in 18 seasons -- 181 -- and divided it by 27. Why 27? That's the number of seasons Richard Petty scored at least one point in my system so he's the one to be measured against.

To reach a final score, I added the 3-year, 6-year, 10-year and career rankings together for a total.

Then I made one little adjustment. Richard Petty's 200 wins were off the charts, but when you look back at NASCAR's season, the King's numbers are a bit inflated. Before 1955, the season had on average about 29 races a season. From 1955 through 1971, NASCAR was running numerous mid-week races to generate cash for the drivers. In that time, the average number of races included in the Cup was just under 50.

In 1972, NASCAR scaled back on the schedule to where between 28 and 36 races are run each year. Since drivers in the '60s had so many more opportunities to pick up bonus points, the wins from 1955 through 1971 were worth 0.67 points.

That changed the standings slightly, but as you'll see the same driver finished on top with or without the adjustment.

So with Daytona two weeks away, here would be the all-time field in an ultimate Daytona 500.

Pole pos., Racer, Years, Total
1. Richard Petty, 1959-1987, 119.68
2. Dale Earnhardt, 1979-2000, 92.16
3. Cale Yarborough, 1965-1985, 86.59
4. Darell Waltrip, 1975-1994, 84.33
5. Jeff Gordon, 1994-2007, 80.00
6. David Pearson, 1961-1980, 76.66
7. Bobby Allison, 1966-1988, 72.36
8. Lee Petty, 1949-1961, 67.11
9. Bill Elliott, 1983-2003, 66.64
10. Herb Thomas, 1950-1956, 65.13
11. Jimmie Johnson, 2002-2007, 61.87
12. Dale Jarrett, 1991-2005, 60.94
13. Buck Baker, 1952-1964, 58.67
14. Ned Jarrett, 1959-1965, 57.72
15. Tim Flock, 1949-1956, 57.47
16. Tony Stewart, 1999-2007, 52.00
17. Terry Labonte, 1979-2003, 50.50
18. Mark Martin, 1989-2007, 49.90
19. Benny Parsons, 1970-1987, 49.75
20. Joe Weatherly, 1958-1963, 42.90
21. Bobby Labonte, 1995-2003, 41.53
22. Bobby Isaac, 1964-1973, 39.26
23. Rex White, 1958-1963, 38.27
24. Fireball Roberts, 1950-1964, 38.00
25. Matt Kenseth, 2000-2007, 37.37
26. Harry Gant, 1980-1992, 36.29
27. Fonty Flock, 1949-1956, 36.23
28. Jeff Burton, 1997-2007, 35.31
29. James Hylton, 1966-1977, 35.22
30. Kurt Busch, 2002-2007, 34.47
31. Ricky Rudd, 1979-2002, 33.77
32. Curtis Turner, 1949-1965, 33.56
33. Junior Johnson, 1955-1965, 33.16
34. Sterling Marlin, 1987-2002, 31.51
35. Dale Earnhardt Jr., 2000-2006, 30.61
36. Davey Allison, 1987-1993, 30.29
37. Speedy Thompson, 1953-1960, 28.54
38. Dave Marcis, 1970-1984, 26.25
39. Jim Paschal, 1953-1967, 25.79
40. Ken Schrader, 1987-1998, 24.63
41. Buddy Baker, 1965-1983, 23.88
42. Ernie Irvan, 1990-1997, 23.47
43. Kevin Harvick, 2001-2007, 23.42

A couple of names you don't see on this list are A.J. Foyt and Mario Andretti. Foyt won a Daytona 500 but neither he nor Andretti spent much time in NASCAR. Foyt won four Indy 500s and a 24 Hours at LeMans in open wheel while Andretti is the last U.S. driver to win the Formula 1 title.

Personally, I'm biased because I grew up when Foyt was winning his last Indy races but I don't see how he can't be the best U.S. born driver ever.

But this is a NASCAR ranking. I'm working on a worldwide all-time ranking I hope to have done by the end of the Daytona 500. So if you're a racing fan, check back then.

A new challenger for all-time men's tennis tourney

For the first time since the 2005 Australian Open someone other than Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal won a major tennis tournament.

Novak Djokovic's win ended a remarkable run to the top of the all-time tennis tournament by Federer. For Nadal, it was his first semifinal in a hard-court major so it was a step forward for him.

Still, Djokovic, even with last year's U.S. Open final and Wimbledon semifinal, is not in our top 32 so the standings did not change.

I did incorporate semifinalist points and standardized the system with my other systems, eliminating the 1-year category. That mixed things up a bit toward the bottom of the rankings. Here's the updated list:

Rank, Player, Country, Years, Total
1. Roger Federer, Switzerland, 2003-2008, 101.17
2. Pete Sampras, United States, 1990-2002, 92.63
3. Bjorn Borg, Sweden, 1974-1981, 90.42
4. Ivan Lendl, Czechoslovakia, 1981-1991, 86.07
5. Jimmy Connors, United States, 1973-1991, 85.57
6. John McEnroe, United States, 1979-1985, 81.72
7. Mats Wilander, Sweden, 1982-1988, 68.92
8. Andre Agassi, United States, 1988-2005, 65.32
9. Boris Becker, Germany, 1985-1996, 62.07
10. Stefan Edberg, Sweden, 1985-1993, 59.37
11. Jim Courier, United States, 1991-1995, 52.67
12. Rod Laver, Australia, 1968-1971, 50.00
13. John Newcombe, Australia, 1968-1976, 48.60
14. Rafael Nadal, Spain, 2005-2008, 40.33
15. Ken Rosewall, Australia, 1968-1974, 39.33
16. Guillermo Vilas, Argentina, 1975-1982, 36.12
17. Jan Kodes, Czechoslovakia, 1970-1973, 35.00
18. Arthur Ashe, United States, 1968-1977, 32.58
19. Lleyton Hewitt, Australia, 2000-2005, 30.17
20. Illie Nastase, Romania, 1971-1976, 28.83
21. Marat Safin, Russia, 2000-2005, 28.67
22. Gustavo Kuerten, Brazil, 1997-2001, 25.33
23. Pat Rafter, Australia, 1997-2001, 24.50
24. Stan Smith, United States, 1968-1980, 23.50
25. Yevgeny Kafelinikov, Russia, 1996-2000, 23.00
26. Pat Cash, Australia, 1984-1988, 22.00
27. Michael Chang, United States, 1989-1996, 21.67
28. Andy Roddick, United States, 2003-2007, 20.67
29. Sergei Bruguera, Spain, 1993-1997, 20.33
30. Goran Ivanisevic, Croatia, 1990-2001, 19.83
31. Michael Stich, Germany, 1991-1996, 18.83
32. Johan Kriek, South Africa, 1981-1982, 18.00