USA Today has a lengthy article today about the exodus of open wheel drivers to the greener pastures of NASCAR. Although there's always been migration between stock cars and Indy-type open wheel cars (Jeff Gordon got started in midgets, Tony Stewart won an IRL title before heading to NASCAR), the damn really broke open last year when Juan Pablo Montoya left a top-flight ride in F1 with McLaren and rising talent AJ Almendinger bailed on ChampCar (after torching the field for five wins) for the Nextel Cup.
As the article notes, the trend continues with IRL and Indy 500 champ Dario Franchitti, US F1 hopeful Scott Speed, and (probably) multiple IRL champ Sam Hornish settling in for next year. The biggest name, however, is Canadian Jacques Villeneuve, who won the World Championship in 1997. Why are the moving? NASCAR regular Dale Jarrett has one answer:
They used to look at this form of racing as backwoods. But I think they see opportunities now to extend their careers.Unspoken in Jarrett's comment is the observation that NASCAR's world is a lot less cutthroat than, say, F1, where a driver isn't able to hang on to a job for years on end without sniffing the winner's circle.
The more relevant concern, in my opinion, was voiced by Allmendinger:
'In the long term, if I make NASCAR work, am I going to make more money? Hell yeah,' Allmendinger says. 'But it also was that I was in a series that I didn't know was going to be around the next year.'In other words, if you want to make a long-term living as a race driver in the United States, about the only option you have is to shoot for NASCAR.* That's what 11 years of Tony George's ego-fueled split in open wheel racing has gotten us.
* Or you can be on the of the sports car guys who runs two or three series, sometimes on the same weekend. While those guys are insanely talented and, quite frankly, I'd give my left nut to be one, it's more like being a well respected session musician versus a big name headliner.
4 comments:
The best drivers in the world will follow the money trail. Nascar is definetley big business.
I'm a Jeff Gordon fan and he has been doing great this year. It will take a few before the new drivers are able to win.
I certainly don't blame the open-wheel guys for looking to NASCAR for long term security. The money pool is definitely deeper there for the depth of the field. The money involved at the top end of the field in F1 is much greater, however.
That is one concern that I have about NASCAR. From what I've seen on my very limited vantage, I think NASCAR is trying to put the Indy cars out of business with scheduling a big race the weekend of the Indy 500. And since they're so big and have such a fan base, they probably can do it. if I'm into a sport, I like watching all kinds of it, not just the one type. I shudder to think about if there were only pro basketball and no college (for a pretty flawed analogy).
FWIW, Laurel: The Indy 500 and World (nee Coca Cola) 600 have been on the same day for years, even back when US open wheel was unified and potentially a commercial threat to NASCAR. It's hardly a new development. I don't think Indy, the IRL, or Champ Car is in any way a threat that NASCAR would see a need to drive out of business.
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