Dario Franchitti has learned the hard way that if you don't race for one of the top four NASCAR teams don't bother. I know Dario was essentially taking a cash-grabbing victory lap in NASCAR and isn't a pure traitor like Sam Hornish. Franchitti is 35, married to Ashley Judd and understandably wasn't interested in cheating death for another Indycar season. Still, I'm not sorry to see him fail miserably. I'm just that kind of fan.
It's not that I think open-wheel drivers can't compete in NASCAR. I know they can. I shouldn't need to remind anyone that the best driver on the planet, Tony Stewart, is a former IRL champion. I root against guys like Hornish and Franchitti because they are happily taking a paycheck to finish 38th. Take a look at last week's results. Notice anything? The bottom fifteen is littered with former open-wheelers: Carpentier, Montoya, Franchitti, Hornish, Allmendinger. What would make these former 500 winners and F1 stars be so willing to finish last week after week?
1.) Money
2.) EJ Viso
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
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2 comments:
I saw EJ Viso at Richmond last weekend, he seems pretty happy to still be risking death in Open Wheel racing, he just calls it racing though. Anyone that can walk away from accident like that and still have the balls to get behind the wheel and contend for wins has my respect. Some people like Dario just lose there nerve though, and when that happens it's time to stop racing.
It's naive to think that Nascar is safer than any other form of racing, and that it is better because of that.
To be clear, I dislike NASCAR.
I'm not ripping Franchitti and Hornish as drivers. They are among the best in the world, but they don't belong in NASCAR driving the taxicabs. So now I am rooting against them. Some morons may view their failure as a referendum on the skills of open-wheelers, but I don't.
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