NASCAR goes Colombian. :D

Hey hey. 

 

I was a little surprised earlier this year when one of my favorite F1 racers decided to leave Formula 1 and race in the NASCAR Nextel Cup series.  Juan Pablo Montoya has been a guy who's career I've enjoyed watching for years.  It blew me away that he would ditch the most prestigious race series in the world for a series that, though loved in America, is pretty much laughed at anywhere else. 

 

RACER magazine had a really good article about the move this week.  You can read it HERE.

 

The article talks a lot about Chip Ganassi, Montoya's new boss.  To me, the real interest is in Montoya's decision to switch.  His reasoning was pretty good in my book. 

 

1) The racing is awesome. Formula 1 races are great, but you may only see a small handfull of passes for position while on the track.  Many times you'll see races where the only pass for the lead is done in the pits. 

 

There are some NASCAR races where you'll have more changes for the lead in one lap than you will in an entire F1 race. 

 

Wheel to wheel racing is scary and hair raising in an open-wheel car.  In NASCAR it is not unusual to go wheel to wheel, fender to fender at 190mph for lap after lap.  It takes skill, technique, wisdom and balls to be successful at that week after week.

 

2) He wants to be a great all-round racer.  He's one of two racers to have won the Indianapolis 500 and the Monaco Grand Prix.  How amazing would it be to add the Daytona 500 to that list?  How about a NEXTEL cup title to go with his Champ Car title? 

 

3) It is a good springboard for dabbling in something else.  Sports car endurance racing has been growing in popularity in the US of late.  There are plenty of NASCAR guys who race in the endurance races when their schedule allows.  Not many F1 guys get to do that until they've retired.  Adding a LeMans or Daytona 24-hour win would add to #2 above pretty nicely.

 

4) Rednecks are nice people.  Montoya talks about another thing that NASCAR has that other racing series may never have:

 

“Every driver I’ve met so far has been mega-nice,” he says. “‘Anything you need, we’ll help you.’ I’ve never seen that before. I’ve been shocked. In six seasons (of F1) I’ve been to the Williams motor home and to the McLaren motor home. I’ve never been to any other motor home. In 10 minutes (at Chicago) I’ve been in Jimmie Johnson’s motor home, Roger Penske…I was at every bus and every motor home.

“And everybody is nice. They are just happy to be there. It’s great to see people loving and enjoying the sport.”

 

I've got a new favorite racer in the pack.  He makes his debut in Chicago this fall.  It is going to take him a year or so to really learn the ins and outs of NASCAR racing.  I'm psyched to see how that goes.  He'll give Boris Said someone to hang out with. :D

 

Pete