MONTOYA TO NASCAR

No, but NASCAR's lineup isn't the "old-school" anymore. The top guys are mainly the young guys from all over the country. I don't think they will care. They aren't exactly the old-school, beer-drinking, southern boys anymore. And neither are the fans.

This allows NASCAR to expand its push into the Hispanic/Latin America market. With the Mexico Busch race, this allows them to bring a very well-known driver to the series.

 

Beat me to it.

 

Found this article from 2001. JPM saying almost the exact same thing then and now.

"I'm not coming to Formula One for the cash.

"I race because I love it. It is my passion to race, my passion to win and push cars to their limits.

"I would race for half the money I'm getting. If it was just about money I would not be in Formula One now. I could have earned a lot more by staying in America."

http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns03565.html

 

I agree with the "back to racing" part. These spec series are really good for showing driver talent. At least a lot better than in F1. He's done well in spec series and I expect him to have a win by the end of his first season.

This should work well for NASCAR, too, in getting more viewers. I will now watch Nextel Cup and root him on.

 

Well, judging from the promo swap with Gordon, JPM is going to miss his braking points for the first half season.

Someone who keeps tagging people in the back with 4G F1 brakes under his foot is going to be a rolling terror in NASCAR.

JPM's NASCAR "catch phrase": "Whoa WHOA!! ... oops"
(So will he learn to admit to his mistakes?)

--
At least this might make it seem less of a demotion when Scott Speed gets the same transfer.

 

Wow, I hope he does well.

 

Why would you think that? I don't think JPM's move will affect that in any way, and besides, by F1 standards, Gordon is not exactly a spring chicken at 32, 33?

 

When a driver of the class of JPM (whatever some say), in a top team, driving one of the most competitive car in the field gives up his seat in GP to race in a national saloon car series, that tells you in what poor state F1 is!!
No offense to NASCAR fans, but apart from the hype, the razzamataz, the crowd of followers, in brief the popularity, there is no way that it should compare to F1 in terms of driving skills, technology, status, etc...
Surprising that JPM didn't chose IRL or CHAMPCAR, or even GranAm or ALMS; maybe there is more to earn in NASCAR, I don't know.
He is not the first F1 driver to go back to US, but I can feel desillution in the move.
Valentino Rossi, who tested intensively a F1 Ferrari and was touted by the Scuderia, prefered to carry on with bikes. "MotoGP is about racing" he said, "Formula One is about engineers telling you what to do all the time when you are on the track".

 

Montoya is finish....and the move is dump.

It s like Schumacker going to race in Speedway in England

Are we the 1 April ?

 

That's great news! Now I wonder who will be Alonso's teammate next year.

 

Moving to IRL or ChampCar will kill your career. NASCAR is a larger series and a lot more money to be had for him. I think it's more competitive than F1 because a good driver with a bad car in F1 won't win a race (Kimi this season), but an average driver in a good F1 car can win a race (Fisi). This doesn't happen in NASCAR.

DTM is the place to go once you retire from F1, but still want to race. ALMS is nice, but it was better before about 5 years ago. There aren't many cars on the grid and there are too many classes between them. I mean, the 2 AMs and the 2 Vettes are the only two racing eachother sometimes in their class. What's the point?

 

The last F1 driver back to the US was DeMatta. He chose or was chosen to do Champ Cars. He has not done well and is running a non-competitive 10th at Toronto right now.

 

A demotion to earning more money and actually having fun is the reality. I'm a fan of automobile racing in almost all its forms. This blind devotion to F1 some of you have is just tired and the series as a whole has painted itself into a corner it won't soon emerge from. It is parade lap racing after the first straight and maybe the next two corners.

 

Hard to believe he would make more in NASCAR than his current F1 salary. If so, it's still a demotion as far as I'm concerned, although not financially.

 

How is that a demotion? just doing something different. He didn't want to deal with the bullsh** in F1. I don't blame him. He's a racer and wants to actually be able to pass people on the track not in the pits.

 

Ummm... he was fired...

CRASHCar may be a good fit for him.

 

This will be fun. He can parallel Tony Stewart...<grin>

 

I think this is a good move for him. He will be the talk of the town.

 

At least if he gets into another tennis accident, he'll be able to drive. Tony did.

 

Well he was let go............

No one else seemed eager to take him in F1 either. I rather struggle in F1 than do anything in NEKCAR.

 

Probably so. He will be a marked man.

 

Prestigewise, he went from the penthouse to the outhouse!

Won't it be appropriate to see him with a target on the side of his car!

 

This is a big loss to F1. I'm a big Mclaren fan and I'm not impressed by JPM's time there, but he added "drama" to an already "stiff" F1 community.

My first thoughts when I learned about this is that at least I will be able to watch a real racer more often as I'm sure we will see him race in Grand Am or ALMS too. I'm not a NASCAR fan, but this will get me to watch a few races.

Imagine if Villenueve moves to NASCAR next year as well. You would have the 2 characters of F1 mixing it up with Tony Stewart and the rest of those guys.

Don't know about you guys, but I'm looking forward to this! Good luck to JPM!

 

You're right, he probably will not make his current F1 salary in NASCAR but as someone else pointed out from an article 5 years ago. He'd willingly accept less money to race which is what he has done here. I just don't think there is any shame in leaving F1. It's just not what it used to be and most people fail to realize they love the idea of F1 or even what it was quite a few years ago as opposed to what it is today.

 

I think this is a sweet move for Montoya. Many people say F1 is the best racing gets which this truly says is not true. I think Juan just wants to experience every type of racing before he dies. As some one said watch for him in ALMS and other races also.