Openwheel drivers to NASCAR

[Mark in Oshawa]

Christian Fittipaldi was a joke, IMHO. He got the best ride in F3000 in Europe and won that championship. Wasn't particularly impressive in F1 even though he was in lesser teams. Moved to CART, drove for one of the best teams being NHR and was next to useless. Other guys making a name for themselves would've done a better job than Christian had.

JPM and JV have proven themselves as talented drivers which is why they get the respect bestowed onto them coming into NASCAR.

Christian was a joke, but it doesn't change the fact is that he is the first driver in the modern era to show up in NASCAR for a more or less full time gig with F1 experience. JPM wasn't the first, just he is the most accomplished so far. When JV shows up, you will now have an ex F1 champion, and a Indy 500 champ all in the same package. JV and JPM are both immense talents, with JPM more close to his prime than Jacques, but it is amazing that this trend is just starting to happen.

The only quibble I have with your point is that JV is getting respect bestowed to him. He is...and he isn't. Bill Davis has always been on the outside of the establishment, and hasn't always had great success. It isn't like JV is walking into Hendricks. JPM likely wouldn't have gotten a ride if not for his personal friendship with Ganassi. NASCAR team owners are very conservative and there is a lot of a "it wasn't invented here, therefore we dont' want it" attitude that is around in NASCAR.

Canadian drivers have knocked on plenty of doors over the years in NASCAR, and gotten very little in the respect department until they went down and worked in Mooresville as crew and mechanics first. I can imagine the attitude some of the owners would have had 10 years ago if someone from France or Germany came over and tried to get a full time ride, because Canadians are not really "Foreign" in the sense that the Euro's would be, and we have seen very limited participation, which is really sad, considering the amount of oval track racing we have up here....

I for one just think NASCAR is the toughest series in the world to break into if you are not from that background, and it is only in the last 5 years that new talents and new ideas are really becoming acceptable. I think it is a sign of the growth and maturity in the series and it is for their own good that they look at racing in global perspective. I wouldn't think we will see many foreign drivers, and maybe one or two Cup dates outside the US at the most, but a little variety will only be good for NASCAR.

[Robert Ryan]

Canadian drivers have knocked on plenty of doors over the years in NASCAR, and gotten very little in the respect department until they went down and worked in Mooresville as crew and mechanics first. I can imagine the attitude some of the owners would have had 10 years ago if someone from France or Germany came over and tried to get a full time ride,

Mark you just answered your own question in the TV Ratings thread why there was no Foreign drivers coming into NASCAR 15yrs ago.

[Quetch]

I just want to remind everyone that there were quite a few former open-wheel drivers in NASCAR already like Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Jason Leffler or JJ Yeley. They came from the ranks of the USAC because top level open-wheel racing in America was killed and they had nowhere to move up to. Of course, people coming from Formula One is quite different. I think having Montoya and Villeneuve in NASCAR will be a good thing.

[RaceFanStan]

I have to laugh when the IRL/CC/F1 fans try to claim Jeff Gordon as one of theirs.
Most IRL/CC/F1 fans looked down on Silver Crown & didn't accept it as an equal to their faves.
Jeff Gordon DIDN'T race in IRL/CC/F1, people need to quit trying to act like he did.

[JasonD]

I have to laugh when the IRL/CC/F1 fans try to claim Jeff Gordon as one of theirs.
Most IRL/CC/F1 fans looked down on Silver Crown & didn't accept it as an equal to their faves.
Jeff Gordon DIDN'T race in IRL/CC/F1, people need to quit trying to act like he did.

Well we dont have much else going for us these days so...


I havent noticed much talk about AJ Almendinger, oh wait, he would actually have to be there on Sundays to count right, .

[wedge]

Anyone know why JV likes to wear race suits 2 sizes too big?....

[JasonD]

Anyone know why JV likes to wear race suits 2 sizes too big?....

He likes the baggy look, maybe cause hes so small? Maybe he likes the gangsta look, or he suffers from chaffing.

He was thought of as unprofessional in F1 for that, and well for not shaving, dying his hair and speaking out against grooved tires, Schumacker amongst other things.

[harvick#1]

I havent noticed much talk about AJ Almendinger, oh wait, he would actually have to be there on Sundays to count right, .

thats a good one

[Mark in Oshawa]

I have to laugh when the IRL/CC/F1 fans try to claim Jeff Gordon as one of theirs.
Most IRL/CC/F1 fans looked down on Silver Crown & didn't accept it as an equal to their faves.
Jeff Gordon DIDN'T race in IRL/CC/F1, people need to quit trying to act like he did.

I never claimed him Stan, believe me. Jeff went right from Sprints to NASCAR, but I also dispute the other great fiction that he was shunned by the IRL/CART establishment. Read Jeff's autobiography, and he pretty much says they looked at the IRL but never really got serious. He went to the Buck Baker school and knew stock cars were his destiny the minute he took to the track.

There is a lot of fiction about Gordon's aspirations after Sprint Cars, and that account dovetails with what was very apparent. That John Bickford wasn't going to put Jeff anywhere he didn't want to go, and if Jeff had decided he wanted to be in the IRL, they would have made the effort and got him there.

There is also another halftruth up there in Quetch's post in that Open Wheeled racing killed off the places for sprint and midget drivers. Wrong, they were irrelevent the day USAC decided to have Indy Cars with rear engines in the 60's and didn't allow for rear engined sprinters. As many people have found out, driving a sprint car is tough, but the motor skills and setup skills learned there translate much better to a NASCAR stock car than any of the Indy cars or Formula cars. Not better...just different. The fact there are no American drivers really coming up (young Rahal being the exception) in Champ Car and the IRL is more a fault of the failure of SCCA and other road racing venues, and the sponsoring of young Americans in road racing, not because of some awful conspiracy. The fact is, most American drivers, even from road racing backgrounds are going to NASCAR because right now, that is where the money is.....

[Breeze]

Anyone know why JV likes to wear race suits 2 sizes too big?....

He says he likes baggy for the added protection from fire. Don't know if it really offers extra protection and I'd sure hate to find out, but whatever floats his boat, ya know?