I'm currently excited about seeing Villeneuve in the CTS lineup this week. As for Speed, it looks like he answered Red Bull's call to bring him in NASCAR.
I hope they dont sack Allmendinger/Vickers, I like them both in the Red Bull cars. Maybe they'll add a #85 car
Lazier, Allmendinger and Franchitti aren't failed F1 drivers. They aren't even F1 drivers to begin with.
Although both Montoya and Villeneuve's departure was anything but grand, I wouldn't consider them "failed" F1 drivers. Montoya finished 3rd in the championship standing for both 2002 and 2003, while Villeneuve won a F1 championship in 1997.
Sure, you may argue that these drivers has lost their "edge" in F1, but they are anything but failed. Scott Speed would be considered a failed F1 driver
On a side note:
F1, ChampCar or IRL drivers showing interest in NASCAR - I think its awesome
Montoya
Villeneuve
Speed
Franchitti
Sam Hornish Jr
Dan Wheldon
Carpentier
Allmendinger
I've only heard of Franchitti because he's British, I've never heard of the other two.
Montoya might've had a future in F1 but he wasn't smart enough to make it work, Villeneuve was extremely lucky to get that championship win in 1997 - he very nearly lost it to Schumacher who was driving a considerably inferior car the whole season.
Because NASCAR usually features one-trick-pony drivers?
That's not fair actually. Jeff Gordon is clearly a talented driver, but happy to waste away his career in a no-talent racing series.
Bunch of Chumpcar and IRL drivers. It's not like there's world-class competition in either of those series, so why bother racing them? NASCAR probably pays a lot better.
Well, duh, I can probably assume you dont watch North American sports.
True, but a win's a win. In less talented hands he wouldn't have gotten that win in the first place.
Keep in mind Montoya's pissed off a lot of NASCAR drivers too because of his rash driving
How so? many NASCAR drivers came from road course backgrounds
Jeff Gordon wanted a open wheel career in IndyCar. But indy car passed him up so he landed in NASCAR. It's not really his "choice" but rather he was forced to. But I can pretty much guarantee that Gordon isn't regretting that now.
As for the "no-skill" thing. I can pretty much already guess that was coming because of the largely european people here. I'm not going to argue with you as I did before. if you think NASCAR or any other stock car racing series for that matter requires no skill, that's ur opinion (however wrong).
Again, you people cant seem to see the light.
Fact: Ovals are easy to race compared to road courses
Fact: Driving on a oval is easy
FACT: RACING IN A GIANT PACK TRYING TO GET TO THE FRONT, especially if 20 cars are all within 2 seconds of you is very difficult. Not AS difficult as F1 but still requires a great sense of racing. You obviously did not read Villeneuve's quote. Giant Pack Racing (which is non existent in road courses) is not easy at all and takes some form of skill.
Proof? Look how lousy all those road course people did in NASCAR. Christian Fittipaldi was creamed in NASCAR along with Japanese road course star Hideo Fukuyama. Montoya's also having a hard time (multiple DNFs already) and so is Allmendinger.
No it's not, but it's not a breeze series either. Believe it or not IndyCar's well revered around here in the US. People would kill to get a ride in IndyCar
I don't remember seeing Christian Fittipaldi race so I can't comment, but there's been very few successful Japanese racing drivers, and Montoya is a ****ing idiot and causes his own "hard times".
I believe it. But in the end, most of the people setting the pace in champcar or IRL are drivers who for whatever reason didn't find a place in F1. And they're pretty much doomed to race in US domestic racing series for the rest of their careers.
F1 has always been insanely selective, and that's because of the prestige of the sport. Remember Sebastian Bourdais had SUCH a hard time getting a ride in F1. I mean it even came to the point where I though F1 teams were actually biased against ChampCar, Indy guys.
Remember Michael Andretti also competed in F1 with Ayrton Senna. While Andretti was no where near successful, he did land a podium in his last race.
Europeans tend to have this view that everything coming from American is crap. Whether this is warranted or not is a whole nother debate. But there's no denying that fact. stock car/open wheel, oval/road courses. Anything coming from American Europeans feel that they are superior.
While oval racing has a whole layer of complexity that road courses doesn't offer, there are people who dont know about it or just plainly wont admit it. Mainly because ovals were developed in America
Point in case. Your forum actions/comments proved my previous statement. Whether it's intentional or something subconscious doesn't matter. There's many Anti-American/Anti-Oval sentiments that lurk around these forums.
But with this forum being mainly European F1 fans, I should have foreseen this.
While my statements are no where near being politically correct. It is acknowledged by America and Europeans, that it is the reason why American and Europe has so many schisms. Europe always look down upon the Americans. I know many people who uses ovals as an example to this narrow mindedness. They say "oh look the Americans are retarded because they go in circles for fun. We are so much better because we have complex tracks. Ovals = retards" I have no doubt that most of you will agree with this statement
Keep in mind I did not mention who's to blame for this. It is a neutral statement. I did NOT say that this is because Europeans are elitist snoobs, and I did NOT say that American deserve this sentiment because of our arrogance and ignorance to others. Which way the pendulum swings is subjective and I do not care to involve myself in a heated racial/social crisis debate.
You also cant say that my statements are completely unwarranted. I've visited both England and France to watch F1 and I had a horrible time. I was assaulted by a group of British punks targeting American tourists, and in France, I and a couple of friends were denied service of any public eatery. My only enjoyment in those two visits was the race itself. I did not press charges, I did not complain, I just quietly returned to the states. I dont hold grudges and still have many European friends. However, that does not mean I'll forget Europe's attitude
It's not really a racing thing so much as it's a sports thing. Americans like their sports conveniently packaged just like everything else they consume. Ovals are neat because they're encompassed by a stadium, easy to televise, easy to understand for the casual spectator, easy to turn into a giant stats-gathering exercise. It's just like watching a ball game. With cars.
You lot prefer "gladiatorial"-style games, we don't. There's probably a deeper cultural reason for it that hasn't occurred to me yet.
Oh please. NASCAR is no more "gladiatorial" than F1, and probably less so than BTCC or Aussie V8s. Sweeping generalizations are fun and all, but let's not pretend like they represent reality.
In its heyday (late 80s-mid 90s) CART was producing racing as good as or better than F1 in roughly the same format. I'd say the levels of talent were comparable. The IRL/CCWS split really messed things up.
ALMS is a successful and entertaining series, and it's full of great drivers. Grand Am isn't quite as good, but the talent there is also strong.
NASCAR and open wheel leagues aren't really comparable--the skills involved are pretty different and the type of racing is incompatible. They are, however, the best in the world at what they do.
Of course whether u'll believe me or not is entirely up to you (for all you know I could have had that translated). I took (or taking, I'm a senior) 4 years of French in high school and I have a friend who's mother speaks only French.
Provided my french is not entirely fluent or completely coherent like a native speaker (french is a very difficult language), but I think I'm good enough to order something from a restaurant . I also speak mandarin chinese (although I might have a hard time understanding a native speaker considering the wide variety of accents the chinese language has)
I live in Hawaii so I know a small bit of Hawaiian and I've traveled to France, England, Taiwan and Germany. I'm also planning a trip to Vancouver after I finish my high school career. I'm what you considered a well rounded American
What's to prove all of this? Absolutely nothing. For all you know I might be just some obese guy who dropped out of high school and thinks Holland is in the Middle East and Germany is in Asia It's really up to you to define what kind of character I am. There's nothing I can give that'll convince you 100% of who I really am (that's what's good and bad about the internet) but I will tell you this: I am by no means a racist. I have really no grudge with European people (if i did i wouldn't still be in this forum). However, I am known by people around me to be controversial and politically incorrect. This is mainly because I'm not afraid to express my opinion.
Lastly, I also do not appreciate the high amount of narrow-mindedness. I came here expecting people to have a wide range of knowledge about motorsports. Therefore, I expect most of you to be mature about oval racing. Were this any other forum, I would have just ignored any ignorant comment. BUT THIS IS NOT. This is a racing community where people all over the world bring their own experiences and taste for motorsports. Be it open-wheen, oval, drag, rally or drift. I though you were mature enough to avoid those dull repulsive ignorant attacks that a laymen would be expected to say about ovals. I can see I'm terribly wrong.
Negative opinion and personal attack are two different things. Ok, let me give you an example, how the hell am I not suppose to be offended by Mazz's comment?
It's very simple, the lot of you hate America/Oval racing and anyone who takes part in it.
This is kinda true. It is a culture thing
Why does Japanese like drift much more then other forms of motorsports?
Same concept
It's not so much as a "gladiator" thing, it's just that Americans want much more competition then what a road course can provide. Ovals provide much more competition at a faster rate (makes sense when you think about it). That's what Americans want. Thus NASCAR takes it even further with their playoff structure (Chase for the Cup)
Lizardfolk, some people are just anti-American (such as naill09) and therefore are anti-everything that is American. You can really only do one thing about people like him.....nothing. Just stand back, point your finger at him and laugh. Nascar takes no skill? Why not some of you euro's make that trip across the pond and start making millions of dollars off something that takes no skill? To say it takes no skill is nothing short of ignorant. Its not like racing bf1's around the kyoto oval.
. I also speak mandarin chinese (although I might have a hard time understanding a native speaker considering the wide variety of accents the chinese language has)