Scott Speed to race in Nascar starting in '08

Nooo.... !!!!

Really? Every time I turn on Speed TV, they're showing NASCAR... and NASCAR is also on Fox, who owns speed.

But F1 is only on once Live, and the rerun is now on Wed afternoon.... argghhh!

~shahedc
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I met Speed at last year's Canadian GP and back then he hinted that he would like to do NASCAR one day. He basically said that after a long F1 career he would like to return to the US and maybe try NASCAR. When he was dismissed I was not surprised at all that this is where he landed.

It may not be exciting to watch, but he is a professional race car driver and compensation in NASCAR is too good to overlook. Like many of us, there are times when our career decisions are motivated by financial considerations versus what we consider 'fun to do'.

 

Some of those NASCAR drivers have incomes that dwarf most F1 drivers. I am sure Speed will make a lot more money in NASCAR than he would have at STR.

 

Scott Speed to NASCAR? Brilliant! Finally, some much-needed attention will be brought to this series that, for years, has gone relatively un-noticed in this country.

 

He will most likely do very well in NASCAR. He had a year of drivers school in F1, maybe now he can make it pay off.

 

yea but sometimes money is not an issue. its about the love of the sport. i rather drive in F1 for less than go to nascar for big bucks and not qualify for races cuz of there stupid rules. i thought he loved f1? why leave so fast when u worked so hard ur whole life just to get a race seat in f1.

 

He should have stayed in Europe, gotten maybe another F1 ride, testing even would be fine.....and taken up proper sportscar racing.

NASCAR, give me a break.

 

Agreed, but according to Andreas, the Europeans (European Press) think he is a no talent arrogant bum.

 

Not just the press, but pretty much anybody interviewed in pit lane welcomed his departure. He burnt too many bridges, and quite frankly, when you get sacked by the lowest team where else do you go?

I guess one way to look at it is, that by Scott going from F1 to NASCRAP, the talent pool in both fields increased.

 

That is a good way of looking at it.

 

oh, come on now.. surely Spyker is just as bad or maybe worse?

~shahedc
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Spyker won't be around in 08, so they weren't really an option. Besides: They want paying drivers.

 

1. He may not have other options in F1

2. I suspect that his love for F1 has been sorely diminished by his experience with F1 politics.

3. The salary differential between what he was likely earning in F1 and what he stands to earn in NASCAR is mind-boggling. He will probably earn more next season than he would have in 10 years in F1. Just because Kimi and MS commanded big bucks doesn't mean every F1 driver does.

 

I came across his 06 salary recently. Forgot what it was, either 250k or 500k. Peanuts for these guys.

 

Schumi gets more than that just to be a Ferrari consultant.. !

~shahedc
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Speed will make more than that on t-shirt sales alone his first year in NASCAR.

 

This is for you mate!

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/61534

 

In addition, I think that Seabass is an excellent Development/Test Driver which should help the team. I think he will be fine, once Newey and Willis have everything taken care of at RBR, it will just roll to STR as well.

 

I wish Speed's website cleared up this latest news.

http://www.scottspeed.com/

 

I think the bloom will be off that rose inside of 5 races in 2008. He will be another Zanardi or Da Matta, back in the US before his contract runs out.

 

Don't get me wrong, I think Bourdais is quick but I really question if he is going to be competitive in F1. Why is he thought to be quicker than or even as quick as any of Toro Rosso's current drivers? I don't believe he set better times in testing. He did win the 2002 F3000 championship but that was after three years in the series and, if memory serves, only won it after Thomas Enge was disqualified (and no one talks about Enge as being anything special or deserving an F1 seat). Also, Bourdais was evaluated by more than one F1 team before he came to Champ Car and apparently didn't impress. I will agree that there doesn't appear to be anyone else out there at the GP2 level that is obviously better than Bourdais, so maybe he was just the best of the available options.

 

Perhaps it isn't all about speed? Scott was quicker than Liuzzi, but he was the one sacked prematurely. Obviously Sebastian is very hungry for F1, but I have read in Autosport that he has technical knowledge, and works well with the engineers. The way Scott was so critical about things, and his blunt and playful attitude, probably pissed Berger off.

 

Yes, I've heard Bourdais is very good technically and he is certainly extremely professional, something Speed was not. In his 20s, Berger was a guy who liked to have a good time (I knew him slightly in those days) but he was still very professional about his business.

 

Time for 100% conjecture.
If Mateschitz is being honest and would like to continue sponsoring Scott, he'll replace AJ with SS. AJ then returns to Champ Car and heads straight into SeaBass' old seat , winning the championship in the process.
After years of winning, SeaBass rapidly tires of being trapped in the latter half of the F1 grid and the regularity he is outqualified by team favourite, SeaVette, BUT .....leaves STR and F1 altogether halfway through the season due to ..... ahhh ..errr, Peugeot's requirement that he become more involved in testing for LeMans....
In the 'not to throw gas on the fire' category, I just want to mention that although Scooter managed to outqualify Tonio the last 3 races he was in , by my records, that only brought him up to 10 out of 28....