I myself would not mind seeing Gordon in F1, As long as his fans from NASCAR do not follow along. I myself would not mind going to a few NASCAR races except for the stupid, ignorant fans that attend them
I'm sure F-1 execs want two things: - a famous American (or a solid American driver) to get US viewers... getting NASCAR royalty like Gordon would be a major coup and bring MILLIONS of potential viewers/fans/merchandise buyers. - a young Chinese driver (think Yao Ming) to bring more fans to the series from a relatively untapped billion people who now have a race in their home country. Maybe Jordan should copy Red Bull/Sauber and have a Chinese racing competition for a new driver. FIA should start some feeder leagues there, or sponsor some Chinese teens to go to school and racing programs in Europe. A couple $M invested in a few hundred kids with promise could pay off HUGE if just one hits the bigtime.
Hmmm, I do not follow NASCAR or even the Indy series, but I cannot see how a driver can step from a NASCAR car into an F1 and do anything but harm his career. Michael Andretti could not step from an CART car into an F1, so how could Jeff Gordon do a bigger step. I'm sorry guys but this is like the current Australian v8 Supercar series winner (Ambrose) been asked for a F1 test. Just a waste of time. This is simply the sponsors pushing and the drive will never happen, or if it does expect poor Jeff to look like a **** head . Look at Montoya and De Matta ... hardly making the F1 world think 'Lets go to American racing series for new drivers' are they. In the end if I was a young and upcoming driver (like Dixon) the last thing in the world I would current want any involvement with is an American racing series as that door is closing fast. Dixon's career is probably ruined because of the CART/IRL balls up and De Matta's poor performance, etc. Dixon will probably have to head to Europe or England and do a Formula 3 or 3000 year or 2 before an F1 team takes him seriously. Sorry guys but America has had its turn and its now time for some other country ... these things happen in cycles, as stars emerge ... F1 has tried to find a star based in the US and failed, it will take a long time before they look again. Pete
I'm confused. Why do we want to see a bunch of POS pickup trucks driving down the street with naked women mudguards and stickers of Calvin pissing on a Ferrari logo?
Not a NASCAR fan by any means but would love to see Gorden do well in F1. I don't think Michael Andretti really got a fair shake. I think given a bit more time he would have done well. It had to be hard playing second fiddle to a legend like Senna. Plus I heard he was jumping back and forth across the pond and not living in europe which I think would have helped. Also I do think it takes a lot of skill to drive a car, especially the open wheel cars at 230mph plus around an oval. Rick Mears was one of, if not the best oval track driver IMHO.
We dont want to see that happen. To be honest i honestly doubt that we would get a lot of NECKCAR fans jumping over to F1. First of all there is far too great of a culture clash between them. A good example of this was the first USGP the stands were packed solid with a lot of locals, and lots of NASCAR fans. They just did not get it and they have not been back. Each year after the NASCAR group seemed to be less ans less. The trading paint show did not even pull some of them in to see F1 at Indy. One thing to remember about trading paint it was a PR ploy by Tony george to increase the # of spectators to both the USGP and Brickyard by introducing each different fan set to the other dicilpline of racing. I think the Indy Star summed it up best in an article last year. that the F1 crowd is a group that the locals are not use to. F1 fans are polite, know what a trash can is, come prepaired, do not tailgate party like IRL or NASCAR fans and do not get arrested for DUI or disorderly conduct. A Good example was where i was sitting i was in a sea of BMW fans wearing Ferrari Red. After the race they were all congratulating me and Ferrari for the Victory. If this had been NASCAR and i was a solo fan in a sea of losing fans i would have likey been taking a shower in beer or getting the crap beat out of me. Just MNO Rob
If you think driving on an oval is simple, sign up for the Richard Petty Driving Experience and see how well you do. It's not as easy as it looks ! www.1800bepetty.com
Almost did it this weekend, but run out of time (I never quite understand why you spend several hours to do a few laps, but I guess that's the laid back South). I can second however that running in an oval has its own rules and requires its own skills. I did so with CART and IRL replicars on two different ovals. However road racing IMHO still demands more skills. And if you compare the transfers between the two, history seems to support that (Mansell winning CART as a rookie, M. Andretti as a CART champion being a lost soul in F1).
Excellent point tifosi, although watching Gordon on Tradin Paint (yee-haw) I noticed that he seemed to get acclimated to the car and the circuit relatively quickly. Maybe he would be an exception, but certainly not the rule when it comes to cross-over drivers.
Jacques Villeneuve did it as well. But I think he was an exception just like Gordon might be. Way back when in the trading paint discussion some folks who know Gordon and NASCAR way better than me pointed out, that he might have been the hopeful open wheel racer this country so badly needs and probably wasted his talents in the merry go round.
We seem to forget a guy by the name of Mario Andretti. Didn't he run the ovals, and didn't he make a name for himself in F1, like as in World Champion? Going fast requires two major skills: 1. The physical ability to handle the car, and 2. The wllingness to get hurt in order to win. I think that Gordon has both. If his sponsors can come up with the 5 to 10 million that a ride will cost, he might do well, provided he gets a decent seat. Art
A high % of NASCAR drivers watch the F1 race Sunday morning, they know what the top series and cars are, whether the fans do or not. Michael (Schumacher, not Andretti) wanted to drive a NASCAR and oval, he went over to TMS two years ago when they were doing the driver experience. No one recognized him and told him it would be a 2-3 hour wait.
No **** Rob, for real? That is amazing to me. But I agree with Art (for a change) but why did Michael do so poorly? Besides he was in Senna's shadow.
I think you have the chronology backwards. Mario Andretti was a very good F1 driver, and won the World Championship in 1978. THEN, when he got too old to drive and compete in F1, he came over and dominated CART for a while. Lots of guys do that when they get too old and slow to compete at the F1 level. Emerson Fittipaldi is another good example. He won many CART championships as an old man after his retirement from F1!
Are you guys kidding me? The average F1 fan in Europe is no different in class from the average American NASCAR fan. Come on. Most of you have been to Europe and should know better. Far as drivers go I suspect the Earnhardt Jr. and/or Jeff Gordon would do just fine in F1 if given the chance.
How did Shuey fair on the oval? I was about to say something similar tifosi. He did start picking up the car better and better after the grass incident. If I remember correctly during the trading paint, the announcers noted that he came within I think 2 secs of actually qualifying for an F1 race. Thats extremely impressive if you ask me. I personally would enjoy seeing Gordon in F1. I read somewhere that Gordon was going to race the C5-Rs at Lemans a cpl yrs back, does anyone know what became of this?
The top guys in NASCAR may watch, but let me tell you, most of the NASCAR fans I've come across have no clue. A perfect example of this: I was talking with someone I was dealing with for work the other day. In the course of our conversation it came out that he had gone down to Daytona for the 500. I responded that I thought that was cool and that I was going up to Montreal for the Canadian GP in June. His response was a bit of a blank look and "Oh, are there grandstand seats, or are you just going to watch from the street?" The man had no idea that F1, for the most part, races on tracks! Somehow, I don't think these folks are going to go flocking to F1 just because Gordon is driving. In regard to MS not being recognized at the NASCAR deal, I saw the same story somewhere. That is part of the reason, as I understand it, that he likes to spend time in the states. Nobody here has a clue who he is.
A few comments: - I used to dis Mario because he won his WC in the best car there was. If he hadn't Ronnie would have, no question. But then I read more about the guy and realized, that he would have probably won the WC even in a different year/car. But that doesn't deny my earlier argument: Mario is just one heck of a talent as was Jacques when he just crossed over. But on average I wouldn't trust a F1 seat to a NASCAR guy. - The statement about the hooligans of F1 fans in Europe is true. Unfortunately. They are on average more civilized when they visit the USGP as it takes money to make that journey, but if you look at your regular F1 fan within Europe, yup, not much different from a redneck crowd. - AJ Almendinger. Maybe. He is good, no question. I doubt he is that good. But I'm biased as I "hate" the guy: He drove my very own Skip Barber teacher into the ground, made a mockery of the guy and went on. Oh well. - The MS story is amazing and I can imagine that really happened. Stunning. But I've met celebrities on the street as well while nobody else seemed to recognize them. Last time at the USGP: Jacques Laffite walking in the midst of the visitors. I immediately caught up with him and chatted with him, took his picture. Afterwards some Americans asked me who that guy was...
I do agree with you for the most part. I have had more then a few arguments with friends about NASCAR drivers vs F1. I feel like a guy jumping from F1 to NASCAR would pick it much faster then NASCAR driver to F1. I feel like there are only 1 or 2 from NASCAR..maybe Gorden or Dale jr. Not saying I am right but just my opinion.
Hi folks: Just to chime in, I must say my view of CART diminished greatly when Nigel Mansell, straight up killed everybody in CART after jumping into the series cold, from F-1. I think he did OK/pretty decent in the oval events too. At this time, I recall CART was still in it's "prime" with some great North, Central and South American drivers... Still you gotta admit JPM (from CART) is a "front-line" driver (A list?) in F-1, with a decent amount of top 1-6 finishes, compared to the field (minus MS). If I had a choice between Kimi and JPM to drive for my hypothetical team, I might even take JPM... (not a great point, but I recall T. Sato was the British F-3000 champ one year... The BAR sucks compared to Williams, but I'd bet JPM would have got more results from the car {uhh, like Button?}. I would think most F-1 fans would rate the British F-3000 series as being more competitive than CART) Also, JV winning the WC showed the relative strength of CART series at the time.... -AN
