I would say that the best drivers are the guys who ran the wildstang bot.

I usually don't get involved in threads where everyone is tooting their own (or team's) horn, and I don't like to do it myself, but I'll make an exception for our driver Allen.

Allen is flat out awesome. He makes our crab drive system look easy to drive, but don't be fooled. There is a huge learning curve to be able to drive our robot and it takes a tremendous amount of skill to master it, which Allen has done.

I'm certain that anyone who tried to drive our robot around the field would crash into the walls multiple times - I still crash it and I've been playing with it all season.

Watch some of the videos of the eliminations in Houston as he fights other robots for the top of the hill. And while you're watching the finals realize that he drove both matches with a severly beaten & battered robot - it wouldn't do a zero point turn (drive stick all the way left or right) unless the wheels were crabbed 90 degrees. It takes a skilled driver to realize this in the heat of a match, troubleshoot it, and compensate for it.

Sorry I forgot about Chris from Holland high school. He was a great driver. And a swell guy all the same. Personally, I like Lance from Bomb Squad too. I realized no one mentioned is name, however, he controled the 16 robot with great handling at such high speeds. It was cool to watch how they got to the top at the last second and suction down right away so they didn't over shoot, and roll down...with no time to go back up.

Tyler, of course, was great.
Steve from 25 ...was great
The Las Gurallas (469) button pusher and driver were AWSOME.
I bet there are countless more...which i will mention later.

I would like to thank our driver Brent for such a great season. Our robot would not have placed as well as it did in many instances if not for his great driving. If you watched our matches on Archimedes field you would understand what I'm talking about. Our robot control was simple but Brent knew how to drive it well, Out of our 19 matches we only failed to make the ramp twice because of tipping, once because we were counted off (I thought we were on, watch match 6 in Archimedes), and two other times in epic battles for the top with 118 winged beast, congrats to them, we knocked them off too both times. My favorite match he drove in was match 105 on Archimedes were we, not Wildstang our partners led to our victory against other champion team 469. Great driving Brent!

I have to agree with AllenH, lance from 16 was flat out awesome. We paired up with them in chicago and made it to the finals. I also agree that allen is the best driver in FIRST because of the crab drive. Also keep in mind though, that some drivers had limited capabilities and couldnt show their skill. Some of it relies on the robots abilities.

yes, i also agree, chris from 16 is an awesome driver, he pulled off some pretty awesome moves whenever i saw him drive...ya know, now that i think about it, starting this poll was not the best idea, there are just sooo many good drivers in first, that i look up to...they are "my role models" ;) I have seen so much talent out there in my two years on the team, even this year alone. there are just too many awesome drivers to name, or even remember...292,16,111,25,5,469,128,...and the list goes on and on...FIRST is such an awesome organization because it gives all of those awesome drivers a chance to show off their 'mad skillz' when they might or might not be good at any "ball" sport. In the words of one great team, BoilerInvasion, "Let's all go nuts. Robots! Robots!"

Hehehe...I have a somewhat biased opinion. But I think there were some excellent drivers (ryvers) out there. Of course Allen is #1 on my list :D and Dan is a fabo operator, and Lance and Chris from Baxter also were outstading drivers, as well as the guys from 340, and Whelan and Josh of course roxored this year, and Tyler did a super job...I hope I'm not leaving anyone out. Honestly though there are so many it's hard to mention everyone!! Oh, and 25's driver had to be good b/c that thing is lightning fast and takes a lot of control to be able to maneuver it on the fly like they did.

Yeah Austin!! Isn't that cheer awesome?? :)

i would have to say Joel. Last year the bot had a turning problem. Most of you probly didn't even notice it. It was significant enough that just about all other members of the team had extreme difficulty turning the robot (including myself). Somehow Joel managed to work around it and play it off like nothing.

I'd just like to add to the list of "good" drivers that stuck out for me: Baxter's (team 16) driver!

I like GRT drivers.

It is so hard to say who the most skilled drivers are. I talked to a lot of teams and got to "test drive" many other teams bots, in the pit areas. I realized that the more complecated the controls the harder to drive. I think that for those teams that used stackers and had unique drive systems that were complicated had a hard time being "skilled" at there driving. As many of us that keep close look at many of the events, you realize that simpler is often better driven, and often performs better.

Practice is another big important factor of being a driver. I know of teams that had there bot done in the first few weeks, and had several weeks left for driving practice. Our driver this year was a juinor that had not ever driven a match before. We worked all the way up to the last minute of the ship date, with very little driving practice. I would say that going into our first regional our driver had an hour of practice if that. We were planning on giving him real experence during the practice matched at our first regional, but due to "rebuild" of the robot that day, he never got the practice. He struggled through the first regional, but we still placed well. By the time of the Michigan Regional he knew what he was doing. We seeded #1 and did well during the elim's.

We seen that practice is necessary to win nationals, and that you need to be agressive out there (especally in this years game).

I think that to say who is the best or most skilled is almost impossible out of the hundered's of teams and different type's of robots. The way I see it, everyone who drives is the "most skilled", because they have beat out the rest of there team to get that position.

I wish everyone the best of luck at any of the invitational match's they are planning on attending. I hope to see all you guy's again next year.

Steve from 25 gets my vote
 

Wildstang has excellent drivers and an incredible bot, so do all of the others mentioned.

However, when you talk only driving skills, autonomous programs and engineering features are not to be considered.

Steve from 25 has the reflexes, hand-eye coordination, understanding of strategy, and most importantly the calmest/coolest/most focused demeanor out there this year.

The exciting thing is that teams like 25, 111 and many others have prepared drive crews so well that the skill level across all teams is growing at a tremendous rate. Congrats to all!

I cant believe that noone has mentioned Jay Lundy from team 254. he is an incredible driver. Anyone who has seen him drive can definitely attest to that. He drives their robot like a precision guided cruise missile. Its almost like the robot is an extension of him. Go check out some of 254's matchs

Cory

Can i be all dorky and throw my name in? I've been told i'm a good arm operator!

Though i've got nothing on folks like Allen and Matt and the boys from 45 or 16.

The kids who drove 71 were pretty good too. I drove the bot the other day and i must say that arm is REALLY REALLY tricky, its fast as crap and takes alot of precision.


The 469 drivers were also great! As were the guys on 68.