Bud Shootout

[brownmonster]

Sounds like the Champ/IRL will only race on ovals. I will miss seeing the Champ Cars at Road America. My Fantasy Nascar team. I took Hamlin with the 9th pick, Edwards with the 12th and took a flyer on Franchitti with the 29th. 10 team, 3 round league, no reserves. BM

 

[Cementups]

Not too bad, though I'm not sold on Hamlin making the Chase his year. Something is just telling me he is going to come up short. Franchitti will struggle in teh beginning but I am sure he will start to turn it on once they hit Daytona in July.

 

[FAVREFAN]

Montoya, Franchitti and Villeneuve are some of the better racecar drivers in the world. Unfortuneatly that is a big negative on your resume when coming to Nascar. lol. I still think Montoya will be able to break through. There is only so much they will be able to do to hold this guy down.

 

[govols019]

What, exactly, are they doing to "hold him down"?

I wouldn't put Villeneuve in the class of some of the best race car drivers in the world. Ten years ago I would have but not now.

 

[FAVREFAN]

What, exactly, are they doing to "hold him down"?

I wouldn't put Villeneuve in the class of some of the best race car drivers in the world. Ten years ago I would have but not now.

Blocking, not allowing drafting, putting him into the wall, not sharing info. Come on, all the friends I have into Nascar at UPS say the same thing. He is on the outside looking in, going to have to win with out any help. He scares Nascar too. What if he were to win the Championship in the next few years? Nascar with a foreign champion? It will kill this series. Do we need to go over the demographics of it's fan base?

 

[govols019]

If you need help winning a race from other people on the track then you have no business racing. This isn't welfare.

Blocking, choosing drafting partners, and the occasional wreck are part of racing. They happen to everyone regardless of nationality. The sharing of information is done within the teams. You really think Ganassi is holding information back from his star driver?

He scares NASCAR? That's great. NASCAR loves him. He helps bring in a whole new audience.

Mario Andretti won the Daytona 500 and NASCAR didn't come crashing down.

He is on the outside looking in

That can be said for Robby Gordon, that cannot be said about JPM.

 

[Cementups]

Mario Andretti won the Daytona 500 and NASCAR didn't come crashing down.

Andretti is an Italan born American, therefore not comparable.

Mario Andretti was born in the town of Montona d'Istria in the then Italian province of Istria. He was born with a twin brother, Aldo Andretti, to a farm administrator.[6] Istria was conquered and annexed by Yugoslavia after World War II. His family, like many other Italian Istrians, fled in 1948. They lived in a refugee camp in Lucca from 1948 to 1955. The five members of the Andretti family resettled in Nazareth in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley in June 1955 with $125.[3] Andretti became a naturalized United States citizen in 1964.

I think most NASCARians were pretty welcome to Montoya. But the fact that he is aggressive, much liek his American counterpart Robby Gordon, does not help his fan base. To me though that is what makes him a great driver. If he wants a position he is going to get it whether his competitor wants to give it to him or not.

 

[FAVREFAN]

If you need help winning a race from other people on the track then you have no business racing. This isn't welfare.

Blocking, choosing drafting partners, and the occasional wreck are part of racing. They happen to everyone regardless of nationality. The sharing of information is done within the teams. You really think Ganassi is holding information back from his star driver?

He scares NASCAR? That's great. NASCAR loves him. He helps bring in a whole new audience.

Mario Andretti won the Daytona 500 and NASCAR didn't come crashing down.



Who's the new audience? He's Columbian. Know many Columbian's? I'm not sure if I've ever met one and I live outside a monster size city. (Besides the fact that Nascar is ridiculed in every country outside the USA.) Maybe that would be true if you brought in some Mexican or Canadian drivers. They might join in the party. Montoya winning will push away many long time fans and bring in few new one's in the USA. I will not question your racing knowledge or length of that knowledge but I have watched open wheel go from being the 10,000 lb gorilla to being a footnote in current racing and a big part of that was the total domination of foreign drivers and equipment. It disenfranchised it's fan base. I'm just giving you a heads up.....it's coming your way. I'm all for the best drivers in the best equipment but the fact of the matter is that the best automotive equipment isn't made by the "big" three anymore. It's made by Honda,Toyota,Hyundai, etc........My point is this.....Nascar is the last American frontier. It stands for six packs, backyard barbeques, the race on the radio in the garage while your working on your 350 chevy, sex in the back seat, southern pride, etc.....Once foreign drivers/equipment win,(which is on the doorstep) all of that goes away. Statistics show it peaked in 2005-2006. It's best days are allready in the books. I hope fans enjoyed last season because it was the end of the last American frontier. The new era almost began Sunday. You know what I mean.

 

[govols019]

Andretti is an Italan born American, therefore not comparable.



I think most NASCARians were pretty welcome to Montoya. But the fact that he is aggressive, much liek his American counterpart Robby Gordon, does not help his fan base. To me though that is what makes him a great driver. If he wants a position he is going to get it whether his competitor wants to give it to him or not.

He was born in Italy. That makes him Italian. That's how I roll.

I love that he is aggressive. That's what I like to see. Hell, I once wrecked my car owner to gain a position at our local dirt track. It was for the last transfer spot into the A-feature. Man, he was pissed. LOL

 

[Cementups]

They actually did see a raise in attendance and fan base of all Central and South Americans because of Montoyas involvement in NASCAR. Franchitti (Scottish) is doing the same thing with Europeans but on a much smaller number base. It's amusing though that Villeneuve could gain a sponsor to race i our American racing league. I would have thought for sure some Canadian company would want to get their name more widely spread in America. I would have thought that the Canada Dept. of Tourism may have jumped at the opportunity. I guess they just don't want us there. :shrug:

 

[Cementups]

He was born in Italy. That makes him Italian. That's how I roll.

I understand but the major difference is that Mario is a citizen of the US and Juan is not.

 

[govols019]

the fact of the matter is that the best automotive equipment isn't made by the "big" three anymore. It's made by Honda,Toyota,Hyundai, etc.

Yeah? How good have Honda and Toyota done in Formula One?

Honda can't be beat in IRL though.

Be honest, you're an open wheel fan that is just hoping that NASCAR goes down the same sorry path IRL/CHAMPCAR went down.

 

[FAVREFAN]

They actually did see a raise in attendance and fan base of all Central and South Americans because of Montoyas involvement in NASCAR. Franchitti (Scottish) is doing the same thing with Europeans but on a much smaller number base. It's amusing though that Villeneuve could gain a sponsor to race i our American racing league. I would have thought for sure some Canadian company would want to get their name more widely spread in America. I would have thought that the Canada Dept. of Tourism may have jumped at the opportunity. I guess they just don't want us there. :shrug:

Canada has always been a huge, huge sponser of open wheel racing. Molson in particular. They have big turnouts at the races in Canada.

 

[FAVREFAN]

Yeah? How good have Honda and Toyota done in Formula One?

Honda can't be beat in IRL though.

Be honest, you're an open wheel fan that is just hoping that NASCAR goes down the same sorry path IRL/CHAMPCAR went down.

You got me. lol. Thing is, you can't control it. It happens on it's own. Now it's your turn. lol. Montoya was leaving CART right when it's peak was over. He was/is unbelieveable. Give him just a little more time, I wish him well.

 

[govols019]

I wish him well too. I just wonder how long until he pisses everyone in NASCAR off like he did F1. Difference is that if he does it to the wrong person here he will end up on his butt. He can ask Kurt Busch. LOL

 

[FAVREFAN]

Honda has done quite well in F1 over the years. Recent snags in recent years. but they have had plenty of years at the top.

 

[govols019]

As an engine supplier with THE greatest driver of all-time driving they did.

As a team owner and builder, not so much.