JPM

[Old Eyes]

It will be another 113 races. He left f1 for a series where the car is by far the most important ingredient.

Give him a car that can win and he will. He is still by far the most talented driver out there.

Jimmie Johnson could not win in the dratted Ganassi car either.

This season, in most cases, JPM has ended up hitting another driver or going into the wall. His lack of patience on oval tracks has cost him a lot of points.

That has nothing to do with the car.

[Tazio]

This season, in most cases, JPM has ended up hitting another driver or going into the wall. His lack of patience on oval tracks has cost him a lot of points.

That has nothing to do with the car.

No it does not. (have anything to do with the car)
It is very telling about the series however.
If I could change one thing about this series it would be to remove about half the field. There are too many cars out there to let a racer of JPM's style put their car one inch out of line.

I guess that means he sucks as a racer

Actually that is simply why oval tracks with 45 sedans racing on them doesn't apeal that much to me!

[Jag_Warrior]

He left f1 for a series where the car is by far the most important ingredient.

So he left a series where the car is by far the most important ingredient for (according to you) a series where the car is by far the most important ingredient.

Certain drivers and teams have little to no shot of winning in NASCAR, just like certain drivers and teams have little to no shot of winning in F1... Le Mans, WRC, NHRA, etc. Of course the car matters in NASCAR. But no moreso than in F1, and I would say a good bit less. I mean, the same team hasn't captured nearly all the poles in NASCAR, has it?

Jimmie Johnson could not win in the dratted Ganassi car either.

Juan is my favorite NASCAR driver by far. I've been a fan since he was in F3000. One of my proudest moments was getting to meet him at Nazareth when he was in CART (he won that one... and many more). When he went to F1 and instantly started banging wheels with Schumacher, I couldn't have been prouder or happier. But yeah, I think Jimmie Johnson could win in Juan's car (on an oval). If Jamie McMurray can win in a Ganassi car, I see no reason why Juan can't win in a Ganassi car. The BY400 thing was just a bad call by the crew chief - that was his race to lose. But the subsequent crash was ALL on Juan. Juan has caught a few bad breaks. But that's just how it works. When he's up front, he needs to keep his wits about him and not let the red mist take over when there is a bobble. But I have no doubts that he will win on an oval.

Let's put it this way, I believe Juan will win a Sprint Cup oval race before Danica Patrick even gets a Top 10 in the Nationwide series.

[D-Type]

How can you say that? "OF course the car matters in NASCAR. But no more so than in F1 ..."

It's a spec series. All the cars are basically the same. Let a good preparation team loose on a NASCAR klunker and they could turn it into a winner. No matter how much preparation skill was applied to (say) a HRT, there is no way it could be made to be the equal of (say) a Red Bull.

NASCAR is all about
(a) Driver skill
(b) Team preparation skill

Car design has been taken out of the equation.

[Jag_Warrior]

How can you say that? "OF course the car matters in NASCAR. But no more so than in F1 ..."

It's a spec series. All the cars are basically the same.

No, I'm afraid they aren't. As I'm sure you know, NASCAR teams either build or buy their chassis. It's not like in the IRL or GP2 where they just order from a "catalog" and get a box of parts in the mail. And though the CoT made the design box smaller than it had been, the chassis from Roush are not the same as the ones from Penske, Hendrick, RCR, etc. Even within the same organization, a team will still build chassis for super speedways and short ovals/road courses. So yes, in NASCAR the chassis and your engine (builder) DOES matter... the car matters. But as I said, "no more so than in F1." In other words, the car matters less in NASCAR than in F1. Therefore, if Jamie McMurray can win in a Ganassi car, Juan Montoya can win in a Ganassi car.

[D-Type]

Two countries separated by a common language!

On this side of the pond "no more than" means "equal to" rather than "less than"

[Jag_Warrior]

^Gotcha. Maybe a bad use of words on my part. "No more so..." simply meaning "not greater than" - could be equal to or less than, but not greater than.

In any case, Saint Devote's claim that Montoya is (now) in a series where the car matters more than it did in F1 is WAY wide of the truth.

[stephenw_us]

How can you say that? "OF course the car matters in NASCAR. But no more so than in F1 ..."

It's a spec series. All the cars are basically the same. Let a good preparation team loose on a NASCAR klunker and they could turn it into a winner. No matter how much preparation skill was applied to (say) a HRT, there is no way it could be made to be the equal of (say) a Red Bull.
NASCAR is all about
(a) Driver skill
(b) Team preparation skill

Car design has been taken out of the equation.

Do you really think this? They conform to the same set of measurement templates and other regulations at inspection, they are not the same cars at all, they are hand fabricated not churned out of a single chassis supplier like the IRL...

[Mia 01]

Even if it seems as JPM lost some of that edge he got in F1, I cheer for him in all thoose NASCAR races he is driving.

I would like to have him back to F1 perhaps driving for JV new team.

[ArrowsFA1]

...I have no doubts that he will win on an oval.

It's going to happen soon, maybe this weekend Juan is consistently challenging for wins, and has been for some time. Luck, poor calls, and errors have prevented it happening so far but it's just a matter of time.