See ya, Juan

I've been following Juan Pablo Montoya's racing career ever since he was driving for Target/Chip Ganassi racing alongside teammate Jimmy Vasser in the CART series, and he won the series in 1999. Then he won the Indy 500 in 2000. I was incredibly happy when he made the jump to Formula 1 with the Williams/BMW team as I love F1 racing. Now he's left Mclaren Mercedes in the middle of the F1 schedule to rejoin Chip Ganassi...and drive in the crap series that is known as NASCAR! :x

I still can't believe it...the pain...it won't stop.

Of all the racing series around the world, JPM had to move to NASCAR. booo. well anyways, good luck Juan.

 

Dont blame him... dont blame NASCAR.. Dont even blame F1, which everytime I start looking at it and following it in the news is full of crap insider dealings and management... blame those in charge of US Indy-type open wheel racing which various egos have kept it split and in the minor league of motor sport.

Maybe Montoya thinks his skills suit the format.... He certainly should do well in road course if he can master the heavier car.

And there's no doubt about it, the human factor figures in more in NASCAR than in F1.

 

Yes, I have been an F1 fan for four years and a Juan Pablo Montoya fan just as long. I'm very disappointed that he's going to the satanic world of Nascar. I have been feeling this season like I've been watching JPM's career come to its end. He has made gaff after gaff and rumors were abound that he was offering to drive for Mclaren for free next season! It seemed my man Juan was going to be stuck with a Toyota or a lowly Redbull gig. Instead he'll be stuck turning left.

The clueless American sports media has been acting like NASCAR have stolen JPM from F1. Like they've taken a top man from the series. While he has been the past few years. But its clear to anyone who follows the sport that JPM has been on his way down and out. From a personal stand point it’s a terrific move for Juan. His shelf life in Nascar will be much longer and he'll probably make some decent cash.

And p-fog I totally disagree with you. If the human doesn’t factor as much into F1 why is there always large disparities between teammates. Schumacher is often a couple seconds faster a lap than Massa. Same applies to Alonso always kicking Fisicella's arse. Riakonen over Montoya, Villnueve over Heifeld, and so on. They drive the same car, yet one almost always out performs the other. Where as disparity between teammates in Nascar are not nearly as dramatic.

Oh well. Come on Scott Speed!

 

I hate NASCAR, formerly known as "stock car" racing... where all the parts on the car, well, are allegedly stock. Its used to be a sport of driving skill, and fleet mechanics, now its a big lie...

I have no idea why everyone loves this stuff... I think openwheel is much more interesting, I mean, sometimes they make rights, which completely throws me off.

Basically what we are seeing is people wanting to make more money, and be a higher profile celebrity. NASCAR is crap, but popular none the less... Danica will be there soon too.

 

Yeah... well, I've gotten over the same objections to NASCAR as you guys state so clearly.

My main objection has always been to the 'template' and to the league allowing MFRs to not build and sell the 'stock' replica of the cars.

And if you're so hyped on F1, and object to the parts not being 'stock' in NASCAR, they are a helluva lot closer to what you can buy for your car than any freakin F1 machine...and explain me this, WTF is Renault doing in there?

 

an eccentruc character to say the least, but i feel that over the past couple of years he has been a bit of a flash in the pan over his better performances and i dont think he consistant enough for F1, especially for a top team like McLaren. I dunno how he will fare in the Nascar series and i have no clue what it is like.

Did anyone watch the qualifying today? bloody awesome! I really do hope that this format stays for many years to come.
(comeon Button!)

 

Errr yeah a cup car looks a lot closer to a street car. As far as acutal technology its the other way around. There is zero technology devolped in NASCAR that is translated into street cars. In F1 there is at least some. See paddel shift technology. Either way that aspect is not why I like the sport. As for Renault, why shouldn't they be in the sport? I think there trying to improve their image through it.

 

First off I'll say the move to NASCAR, as far as JPM personal off-track life goes, is a great move as their 2nd child is due sometime Sept. so staying in the USA (he lives in Miami) will be better for his family life rather than travelling around the world with F1. But yeah I'm still disappointed he's joining NASCAR.

I don't really blame anyone for the move. JPM wasn't progressing in F1 as hoped and his ride with McLaren was in doubt for next season with no other teams to go to: Toyota seems set at the moment, Honda is set at the moment, I could never see JPM and Coulthard putting up with each other at Red Bull...possibly Renault? (although there are rumors Renault may be pulling out of F1 soon. Maybe not next season, but soon...which could be the reason Alonso already committed to McLaren next season even though Renault is currently much better--remember Flavio is Alonso's manager/agent, so he wouldn't let him leave without a good reason).

I think JPM wanted to link up with Ganassi again, but the Ganassi IRL lineup of Sharp and Wheldon is top notch right now. Mears is leaving Ganassi's NASCAR drive for some other team, making a seat to fill.

The IRL and Champ Car WS split really screws up the North American open wheel racing scene and it's even shows with the team owners now. Look at Rahal for example: he's more concerned with his son Graham in Champ Car Atlantic series. Is that because he knows the current Rahal/Letterman package in IRL can't compete with the Penske or Ganassi teams? I think Danica knows it too...prompting the speculation of her moving to NASCAR as well.

I think the human factor figures more into F1 drivers than NASCAR. F1 drivers are always watching their fitness levels. Jeff Gordon even mentioned during the USGP on Speed Channel that he's not even currently fit enough for one full day F1 test session. In NASCAR it seems more about staying in the draft and when you break to make a pass you hope the guy behind follows. In F1 you have to find your spots, especially on the starts, and go and can't depend on a draft to push you past the other car.

Yes one of the things that bothers the hell out of me about NASCAR is calling them 'stock' cars. Worse yet, naming them after actual street cars...Fusion, Charger, whatever Chevy calls their car. Sure they are stock as in all the race cars are similiar to each other, but the race cars have nothing at all in common with the road versions. Honda's F1 car isn't called the Civic. I know it's just an advertising thing, but drop the names.

The other thing I hate is the overall crappy NASCAR design. One example: Everyone complains about bump-drafting being dangerous, but yet every team builds the front bumper up to be strong so drivers can bump-draft without denting the front and messing up aeros. If they are concerned about bump-drafting then remove some of the added built up strength in the front...the drivers will learn quickly when they lose aero advantage due to bump-drafting. Another example: two cars touch, pushing one car's fender down to rub against the tire. Couple laps later the tire goes flat. The driver tries to get to pit lane but the tire shreds apart before he gets there and tears the body of the car along with it. This leaves pieces of car all over the track for the rest of the race and soon drivers all over have tires going down. I guess that's why I prefer open-wheel racing...if two cars touch tires the drivers know they're screwed immediately.

Finally, I think that neither NASCAR nor F1 cars have many parts that are close to normal street cars. But, I think F1 does make use of the technologies are/will be appearing on street cars (albeit usually the insanely expensive models) more, and plans to continue this "track to the streets" pieces of technology in F1 has been shown by the released future Sporting Regulations. Right now Champ Car with their "power to pass" fuel saving device is currently leading the technology racing can bring to the streets. Next year IRL will be running 100% ethanol...we'll see how that goes I guess.

Sorry for the novel. In any case, good luck in the future JPM. Go Scott Speed! ickle monk...sorry about Button's retirement from the race in France.

 

I agree about the human driving element being more influencial in the F1 cars. I would have to mention, to be fair, that the impressive part about NASCAR which is only a few minutes of the affair, is the pit crews and how athletic and brilliant they can be in a few seconds, they make and break races.

 

You know what's REAL racing?!!!!

GT class racing! I'd rather watch it.. on the whole.

 

Yes I must agree. The pitstops in NASCAR are very fun to watch. The pitcrew members are very quick and quite precise.



As far as GT class racing, I must admit I know almost nothing about it. I've watched very little of it. I should look into it more...