Papis - Nascar Drivers as Good as They Get

[muggle not]

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Papis: Cup drivers as good as they get

Take it from someone who knows. says Sprint Cup drivers are as good as any racers in the world.

That was his conclusion after finishing eighth Monday on the road course in Watkins Glen, N.Y.
"These guys are definitely the best of the best I've ever raced against in my life, point blank," Papis told reporters in the media center. "Better than F1, sports cars, Indy car, everything put together. Nationwide Series guys are pretty good, too, but that's the minors compared to these guys.

"When people say NASCAR drivers are not that good as road racers, I would definitely tell them to shut up, because these guys are pretty damn good."

Papis isn't just guessing. The Italian driver has competed in Formula One, Champ Car, the IRL and sports cars during his career before moving to NASCAR.

He turns 40 in October, but he's a rookie this season in Cup, racing a limited schedule. Papis earned his first top-10 Monday in the No. 13 Toyota.

"Today I feel we proved to everyone we deserve some respect as a team and as a driver," Papis said. "We'll take it from here.

"Eighth was the best I could do, and I never cruised for one lap. I went hard, hard, hard every lap. When your arms are burning with 10 laps to go, you dig deep because this is your chance."
Papis is one of those guys who's impossible not to like because of his obvious sincerity. Every time he opens his mouth, his words come from the heart.

"NASCAR is going to be the last thing I do in my career," he said. "You will not see me racing anything else, not seriously. I've put my family thought a lot to help me achieve my dreams."
He's driving for Germain Racing with Geico as the sponsor, but Papis hopes to race well enough to have full-time sponsorship next season and see what he can do against the Cup stars every week.

If it happens, great. If it doesn't, he has no regrets.

"Geico gave me and the team [the] opportunity of our lives," Papis said. "I'm proud that I paid them back today, because you need to capitalize in these moments. Today is a little special present that tells everybody sometimes David can get Goliath."

[PA Rick]

I wonder why NASCAR drivers never move to F1. If they are better than the F1 drivers and F1 drivers get paid more, you would think a few would switch to F1 if only for contract talks.
I think NASCAR drivers are the best drivers in the world in front engined rear drive 3550 pound 850hp cars. I think F1 drivers are the best driving 1325 lb 900hp cars.

[Sparky1329]

Thanks for posting that interview, muggles. NASCAR appears to be the premier racing series in the opinion of several very talented open wheel racers. :)

[harvick#1]

I still in all honesty believe Sportscar/endurance racing is the hardest racing for any driver.

watching a driver a Lemans drive faster a night than the day in a pitch black setting with only his headlights guiding them around the track, its quite a site to see (or at least on TV, I'll see it upclose in september)

and to know that most teams will quadruple-stint drivers, they are running 3 Indy 500 races in 24 hours, ouch.

and for the Kolles team with year, 2 drivers had to add extra time because the 3rd driver got injured, 12 hours of hard racing in 24 hours, thats some driving, and to still finish in teh top 10 overall is a bigger accomplishment

[Mark in Oshawa]

Can you say @ss kissing? Max wants a full time ride in NASCAR. You think he was going to slag the Cup boys?

I am not going to say the Cup drivers are not the best in the world at what they do, and the Sprint Cup series is one of the most competitive forms of racing on the planet. That said, you put 10 NASCAR guys in f1 cars for 5 races, and 10 f1 guys in Cup cars for 5 races, and neither is going to shower themselves in glory.

I think about 4 NASCAR guys could go to F1 (besides JPM) and not embarass themselves after a couple of races, but they are different worlds with different skill sets. It isn't an accident that most Cup drivers are now guys coming from sprint and midget racing as well as short track ovals. THAT is the training ground that isn't driving a legend or a late model.

Max is very prone to flattery, and he isnt' 100% wrong, but he is guilding the lily a little to because he wants a ride. If I am Max, I am doing the same......but it isn't the unvarnished truth.

[Lee Roy]

And if Max had said that NASCAR drivers were second rate it would be quoted as gospel for years to come.

[The Phantom]

I don't watch many NASCAR races, but I watched the Watkins Glen Cup race and I have to say I was surprised at the way the drivers were getting around that track at full noise. It only becomes obvious when you get a road course racer like Ambrose in the mix and he's taking lines that the guys used to ovals don't consider, but most of the time the field is doing a pretty admirable job on the road courses.

But maybe not the best in the world. They'd have to be comfortable racing in rain to start approaching that level, for a start.

[Mark in Oshawa]

And if Max had said that NASCAR drivers were second rate it would be quoted as gospel for years to come.


Lee Roy, you aren't wrong, but my point is that anyone who has heard Max on the subject or any other knows he is Mr. Positive and he is dying to be a full time NASCAR driver. He wasnt going to hedge on this one. The man had an agenda to serve.

I think NASCAR drivers are among the best anywhere. I am not naive enough to think Jeff Gordon, JJ, Shrubbie or Tony Stewart couldn't master an f1 car or an ALMS car. Just that what NASCAR does is unique, and they are the best THERE. No one would deny that JPM is among the top guys in NASCAR but he didn't even see a Cup car until he did that PR stunt with Jeff at Indy. If he had raced stock cars from the start, he may be a champion already and looking at f1.

Just know that Max may be gilding the lily a bit to impress his peers. i am sure he didn't think that when he was in f1 trying to keep a job.

[Jon 'Massa' Beagles]

"These guys are definitely the best of the best I've ever raced against in my life, point blank," Papis told reporters in the media center. "Better than F1, sports cars, Indy car, everything put together

"Today I feel we proved to everyone we deserve some respect as a team and as a driver," Papis said. "We'll take it from here.

"Eighth was the best I could do, and I never cruised for one lap. I went hard, hard, hard every lap. When your arms are burning with 10 laps to go, you dig deep because this is your chance."
."

NASCAR drivers are definitely talented, and I do not think they in any way have it easy or are in an inferior series...

BUT:

This is from a bloke who couldn't score points in F1, or get higher than a 19th place finish in A1! He was comprehensively outscored and outperformed by Gianni Morbidelli!!! Yet he can hop into NASCAR and finish 8th after only a few races, and has 3 top 20 finishes to his credit this season so far! :S

There are around 40 drivers there, and yet he can manage to finish ahead of the majority of them when he only actually finished 2 F1 races in total...and the field in '95 with the exception of Schumi was hardly top quality!

I agree completely with Mark, this is just crawling at it's worst...slagging off other series to maintain a place in the series he wants to be in.

[wedge]

NASCAR drivers are definitely talented, and I do not think they in any way have it easy or are in an inferior series...

BUT:

This is from a bloke who couldn't score points in F1, or get higher than a 19th place finish in A1! He was comprehensively outscored and outperformed by Gianni Morbidelli!!! Yet he can hop into NASCAR and finish 8th after only a few races, and has 3 top 20 finishes to his credit this season so far! :S

There are around 40 drivers there, and yet he can manage to finish ahead of the majority of them when he only actually finished 2 F1 races in total...and the field in '95 with the exception of Schumi was hardly top quality!

I agree completely with Mark, this is just crawling at it's worst...slagging off other series to maintain a place in the series he wants to be in.

Finishing top 10 with inferior is still a heck of an achievement.

Motorsport is littered with drivers who have excelled in a category and in another category can look average. Plenty of average F1 racers were great endurance racers.

[Jon 'Massa' Beagles]

Finishing top 10 with inferior is still a heck of an achievement.

Motorsport is littered with drivers who have excelled in a category and in another category can look average. Plenty of average F1 racers were great endurance racers.

Exactly, so to blanket say that 1 Formula of racing drivers are better than another is preposterous!

I presume you mean inferior machinery in F1...as I say he was outclassed by Morbidelli in the same car (albeit not at the same race). Nobody who gets outclassed by Gianni Morbidelli can be that good, yeah maybe F1 wasn't his bag (baby...), but that doesn't mean that all F1 drivers are inferior racers ot NASCAR drivers!

[call_me_andrew]

I wonder why NASCAR drivers never move to F1. If they are better than the F1 drivers and F1 drivers get paid more, you would think a few would switch to F1 if only for contract talks.

By the time a driver has made it to Sprint Cup, he's probably too old to try moving to F1.

[Mark in Oshawa]

I would wager if Max was given the right car in f1 at the time he was there, he would have held his own. I have seen the man in a sportscar and he was fast and furious. He made a pass on James Weaver going into turn 10 at Mosport that was unreal to win there a few years back when he was driving for Gianpiero Moretti in the Ferrari.

Max's learning curve in NASCAR has been steep and he has taken to it because he is a smooth driver and a smart one. That said, you have to put the finish at the Glen aside. He wants to run NASCAR full time and it is on the ovals we'll see how he is adapting. JPM took to it easily but I am not seeing that from Max. He is qualifying for races but not handling the changing conditions and helping to identify what is needed to change the car to deal with it. He ends up a lap or so down, just like Patrick Carpentier was doing on ovals. NASCAR is a different skill set, and the skills of driving 3400lbs of overpowered, undertired nasty race car around a slick and dirty oval for 500 miles are unique. Those who come up through Sprint cars or stock cars pick up on it, those coming from OW have to toss out everything they know and everything their muscle memory is telling them. Max is finding this a huge challenge and hence he feels they are the best in the world. He isn't going to say he hasn't figured it out yet....

THey are the best in the world at what they do, but like f1, their very best likely could adapt to anything, while most are good here....