And I don’t mean that any of those drivers suck as drivers–the fact is, if you make it to any major form of motorsport, you’ve proven yourself and paid your dues. I mean that their performances on oval tracks in stockcars sucks. Despite being road racers, which according to some you have to be, in order to be any good at motosports.

Another road racer I´ve completely forgotten that managed to make the switch is Marcos Ambrose. He’s been running some very solid races this season and was even plagued with some bad luck.

Funny, if you go in the opposite direction–very few road racers have ever had any success in stockcar racing.

The only race Montoya won was a road course (although I think he’s improving every day and will break out with an oval win soon)..

Casey Mears sucks…

Dario Franchitti sucked…

Jacques Villeneuve sucked…

Christian Fittipaldi sucked beyond compare…

Boris Said has shown a lot of promise but has yet to win anything…

Max Papis sucks…

Ron Fellows kicks ass but he only shows up for road course races, so we’ll never know…

It’s also fun to point out that, in the entire history of the International Race of Champions, using 100% equally prepared cars where ONLY the driver matters–Formula 1 drivers have won a grand total of two races. In the entire series history. And one was Mario Andretti, and he wins everything, so it doesn’t really count. Every single time a bunch of European sports car and F1 drivers suit up in equal cars with stockcar drivers and Indy car drivers, they get their asses handed to them. On ovals AND road courses.

As I’ve said time and time again, comparing one motorsport to the other in terms of skill is for idiots who don’t understand the complexities of motorsport. And it’s personally insulting to me and anyone else who participates in the sport.

Stockcar racing is challenging–it’s just a different KIND of challenge to F1. Michael Schumacher cannot pilot a Top Fuel Dragster… Kyle Busch would be lost in a Swamp Buggy…. Max Papis would be a little lost in a Hydroplane… Different skills. Not more. Not less.

Anyone who thinks we in stockcar racing “just turn left” has no understanding of the sport, or of physics. Every corner on every track is different, there’s just four of them instead of twelve (although some ovals have 5). We undergo g-forces that approach that of a Formula 1 car, often for more sustained period of time, and 150 degree cockpit temperatures, trying to muscle a 3600 lb car around a track with tires that are way way too small for the job. Oh and we do it while 42 other guys try to beat us.

Grow up please.

In terms of win ratios, it is the worst possible ratio, lol. He has never won a Sprint Cup event. He has always been beaten by one of the regulars, despite the poor reputation the regulars have.

I wonder how his # of Sprint Cup races entered compares with the # of races entered to # of wins ratio for other Sprint Cup drivers.

ermax18:
Don’t you have that backwards? Boris Said was a sportscar driver which was initially hired to run the few RCs in NASCAR only. But later he ended up running the ovals too. Boris Said is a bad example. As are several of the other failed F1 drivers that got greedy and moved to NASCAR.

Boris Said is a perfect example. It doesn’t matter what order he did it in, the fact is he is/was a NASCAR driver. In fact he owned his own team with Brian Simo and ran Roush equipment too. So good stuff.

Boris won the Nurburgring 24 for BMW. One of the most special endurance races, at perhaps the most special circuit in the world. He has also won the Daytona 24, and a whole bunch of other impressive events and series. Yet despite this, and despite running his own NASCAR team in top notch equipment, he has never ever won a NASCAR Sprint Cup event. In fact, NO road course ringer in history has ever won a NASCAR Sprint Cup event, even at the Road Courses.

The fact of the matter is, whilst NASCAR Drivers have a bad reputation for road course racing, that isn’t supported by the history or the results. The reputation solely originates from the series being oval based with only a couple of RCs. But when they get to the RCs the facts show they not only hold there own against the road course experts, they have so far never lost to them.

So. Waambulance to the burns ward?

Montoya, I must disagree with most of the drivers you listed. Villeneuve was doing fine, but failed to secure the sponsorship required to get the seat (at Bill Davis Racing). Unfortunatly with many good drivers about and not many seats, coupled with the fact we have so many good cars that some good teams are DNQing, meant JV had no real chance.

Franchitti was finally getting to grips with the COT (he did well in the Nationwide chassis) when sponsorship was getting bad for Ganassi and Chip offered him a seat in the Indy Car team. Had Ganassi secured sponsorship and the team been kept alive, I’m sure Dario would have been fine.

Scott Speed has had a rough time but hasn’t failed yet. Some of his runs have been quite good.

Jeff Gordon
Tony Stewart
AJ Allmendinger
Jimmie Johnson
Robby Gordon
Juan Pablo Montoya
Casey Mears

..just to name a few. Heck, even Carl Edwards managed to beat Michael Schumacher in a Fiat 500 at the ROC last year…so who dares to say that these guys can’t drive?

The other way around is much more interesting. Those “greedy failed F1 drivers” showed how difficult NASCAR racing is, the list of notable drivers that failed to make it is pretty long.

Jacques Villeneuve
Dario Franchitti
Christian Fittipaldi
Scott Speed

Four excellent road racers, three of them former F1 drivers and one former world champion, who failed (or are in the process of failing) to make it in NASCAR. How can that be if driving on ovals is that simple?

In fact, JPM is the only world class road racer who ever managed to truly make it…and it took him more than two years just to become consistent.

Looks like there is more to it than just turning left…

the.cosmic.pope:
Boris Said. NASCAR Driver, Sportscar Driver, Nurburgring 24 hour winner.

Someone call the BURNS UNIT and the waaaaaaaaaaaaaaahmbulance.

UncleChuckle:
Any NASCAR driver would probably die on their first lap of the Nordschleife… “What’s this coming up… It doesn’t turn left… IT DOESN’T TURN LEFT!!! ARGHHHH!” *fireball*

Boris Said. NASCAR Driver, Sportscar Driver, Nurburgring 24 hour winner.

stabiz: Too tough to tame? The guy who said that should do a few laps on the Nordschleife.

the Nordschleife does not require you to run 3″ away from a concrete wall at 180 mph for 4 hours straight, on a track surface that absolutely destroys tires in a manner of a few laps.

Both tracks are among the most challenging in the world, for different reasons.