[Bob Tanner]

FORMULA-ONE - F1: Montoya Welcomes Trulli To NASCAR - SPEEDtv.com

In NA__AR's dreams!

[loco4pablo]

I just don't get it!! I am not an F1 fan... Hell, not a road course fan period!!

If NASCAR is in a vortex going down the toilet like so many want us too believe.....I mean with empty seats, declining TV ratings, boring races, bad TV coverage, fixed outcomes & favoritism .... Why are there so many of these F1, open wheel and Indy drivers, sprint drivers, WOO drivers "CURIOUS" about NASCAR??!!?!

I ain't buying this BS... What?? are NASCAR drivers not "CURIOUS" about other forms of racing?? Is this Trulli dude so "curious" about NASCAR that he flew from Italy to Arizona to "check it out" and is testing a MWR toyota Monday in florida just to satisfy his curiosity ?!?! PLEASE!

Haters can say what they want but the game is in nascar right now. I don't care how weak others think it is, it still provides more opportunity then any other form of racing today.

[kkfan91]

duh loco you get paid more

[Bob Tanner]

Originally Posted by kkfan91

duh loco you get paid more

Are you saying NA__AR drivers make more than F1 drivers???!!! If so, you're not even close.

Last year Kimi Raikkonen had a salary of $46 million, not including endorsements or any side deals he had going. Defending champ Lewis Hamilton's salary alone was a little over $19 million. The lowest salary for a full time driver was Nakajima at approx $1.4 million. Average salary for an F1 pilot is around $13 million (Raikkonon's $46 millions skews the figure quite a bit).

When he left the sport Michael Schumacher was earning a cool $80 million a year!

On the NA__AR side, Junior was top earner last year, making around $20 million total, with Jeffie right behind him with $19 million. Bear in mind, this includes race earning and T&T sales plus personal appearances, autograph signing, etc., etc.

Driver earnings are kept pretty close to the vest but my guess is that the average earnings for the top 20 ( comparable to the 20 drivers in F1) is around the $4.5-$6 million dollar mark. I43 drivers I doubt if the average is much over $1.5 million.

No, when it comes to earnings alone, any F1 driver "interested" in NA__AR might be considered "slumming."

This isn't even taking into consideration the world prestige of being an F1 driver. Believe me, Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen are names known on six of the seven continents (I doubt if there are more than a handful of penguins on Antarctica who follow F1). Jimmy Johnson, Dale Jr. and Jeff Gordon are known on one and a small part of a second (Europe).

[loco4pablo]

There are several few drivers that make the big bank in F1...No doubt.
I think Bobs numbers for NASCAR drivers is a little low...Both JR and Jeff Gordon made over $30 million last year. The top 10 drivers in NASCAR had an average yearly earning of $18 million each.

I think F1 has a lot more problems these days then NASCAR...But I'm not a F1 fan so I don't know for sure. All I do know is there are a lot more of "them" wanting to come here then "us" wanting to go there...just my 2 cents.

NASCAR drivers income

In Pictures: NASCAR's Highest-Earning Drivers - Forbes.com

[Bob Tanner]

Originally Posted by loco4pablo

There are several few drivers that make the big bank in F1...No doubt.
I think Bobs numbers for NASCAR drivers is a little low...Both JR and Jeff Gordon made over $30 million last year. The top 10 drivers in NASCAR had an average yearly earning of $18 million each.

I think F1 has a lot more problems these days then NASCAR...But I'm not a F1 fan so I don't know for sure. All I do know is there are a lot more of "them" wanting to come here then "us" wanting to go there...just my 2 cents.

NASCAR drivers income

In Pictures: NASCAR's Highest-Earning Drivers - Forbes.com

I don't doubt my figures were low. I had the 2008 figures in front of me and I went with those. Thanks for the correction. Sloppy on my part.


"Wanting to come here" vs. "Wanting to go there" Good topic for a discussion.

I'm not inside of any driver's head but my personal feeling is that it's a complicated subject.

Montoya came here because there was no room for him in the current F1 system. Ditto Jacques Villeneuve. Scott Speed came here because he didn't cut it quick enough in F1. He kept his F1 ties, which got him on the Red Bull team.

As far as "Going there," I think it's a combination of things. It's such a completely different form of racing that many are discouraged from the git-go. I also think a certain percentage are just intimidated at the thought of the level of F1.

But then you have two Americans, Colin Edwards and Ben Spies (two Texans), running in Moto GP, the highest international level of motorcycles and doing well, so maybe that theory is all wet?

I think for Trulli, trying a ride in a stock car is just a novelty, as when Jeffie tried an F1 on for size about ten years ago, in Indianapolis.

Interesting topic...

[kkfan91]

Originally Posted by Bob Tanner

I don't doubt my figures were low. I had the 2008 figures in front of me and I went with those. Thanks for the correction. Sloppy on my part.


"Wanting to come here" vs. "Wanting to go there" Good topic for a discussion.

I'm not inside of any driver's head but my personal feeling is that it's a complicated subject.

Montoya came here because there was no room for him in the current F1 system. Ditto Jacques Villeneuve. Scott Speed came here because he didn't cut it quick enough in F1. He kept his F1 ties, which got him on the Red Bull team.

As far as "Going there," I think it's a combination of things. It's such a completely different form of racing that many are discouraged from the git-go. I also think a certain percentage are just intimidated at the thought of the level of F1.

But then you have two Americans, Colin Edwards and Ben Spies (two Texans), running in Moto GP, the highest international level of motorcycles and doing well, so maybe that theory is all wet?

I think for Trulli, trying a ride in a stock car is just a novelty, as when Jeffie tried an F1 on for size about ten years ago, in Indianapolis.

Interesting topic...

You also had Nicky Hayden win the Moto GP title just a few years ago then went downhill fast but then again to me Motorcycle racing is a lot like F1 you can probably pick from 4 guys who you know will win each week

[Bob Tanner]

Originally Posted by kkfan91

You also had Nicky Hayden win the Moto GP title just a few years ago then went downhill fast but then again to me Motorcycle racing is a lot like F1 you can probably pick from 4 guys who you know will win each week

Yep. That's the downside of direct factory participation in motor sports. It gives certain groups an edge. Look at NA__AR.

[DOF_power]

Originally Posted by kkfan91

You also had Nicky Hayden win the Moto GP title just a few years ago then went downhill fast but then again to me Motorcycle racing is a lot like F1 you can probably pick from 4 guys who you know will win each week

Originally Posted by Bob Tanner

Yep. That's the downside of direct factory participation in motor sports. It gives certain groups an edge. Look at NA__AR.

1a] In Moto GP the reason there are 4 winners is also due to the drivers.
Hayden had a winning motorcycle this year, but at the beginning of season he was 2.5 seconds down Stoner and at the end 0.9 seconds down.
And that was good performance, since all his predecessors did poorly/worse, and this years I've seem some of them do better in slower machinery.

1b] Go back to the 60s and 70s and it wasn't 4 winners, only 1, Giacomo AGOSTINI (in an MV Augusta, then Yamaha).



2] There were only a few winning in GP racing whether it was a manufacturer period or a garagiste period.
The pattern was 1 dominant team/car or 2 (rarely 3) dominant team/cars battling it out.
When the pattern didn't apply something was very fishy, meaning blatant cheating and/or terrible reliability for the top teams due to industrial strikes/unrest.


Back on topic. Toyota is out and the new smaller/small teams aren't exactly gonna spend Toyota money on wages.
Were is Trulli gonna go ?!

Bernie and Max, as top FIA men, have destroyed or castrated every other form of motorsport that was a competitor to F1 in popularity.

[loco4pablo]

Originally Posted by Bob Tanner

I don't doubt my figures were low. I had the 2008 figures in front of me and I went with those. Thanks for the correction. Sloppy on my part.


"Wanting to come here" vs. "Wanting to go there" Good topic for a discussion.

I'm not inside of any driver's head but my personal feeling is that it's a complicated subject.

Montoya came here because there was no room for him in the current F1 system. Ditto Jacques Villeneuve. Scott Speed came here because he didn't cut it quick enough in F1. He kept his F1 ties, which got him on the Red Bull team.

As far as "Going there," I think it's a combination of things. It's such a completely different form of racing that many are discouraged from the git-go. I also think a certain percentage are just intimidated at the thought of the level of F1.

But then you have two Americans, Colin Edwards and Ben Spies (two Texans), running in Moto GP, the highest international level of motorcycles and doing well, so maybe that theory is all wet?

I think for Trulli, trying a ride in a stock car is just a novelty, as when Jeffie tried an F1 on for size about ten years ago, in Indianapolis.

Interesting topic...

Great points Bob...I think F1 has the same problem as NASCAR (and all forms of racing) there are 4 times as many qualified drivers as there are quality rides. And they (the drivers) are all scrambling to get themselves something in any series. I just think it's funny with the F1 crowd/drivers and their long term snobbery towards nascar and ovals in general are now looking at nascar. The excuse these drivers are using is "a challenge" Even in desperate times some of these unemployed F1 drivers just can't say they were fired or out of a ride.
If this Trulli dude or Villeneuve cat were really looking for a challenge then why are they not looking at WOO, sprint cars or modifieds ?? It's a bunch of BS if you ask me.
I also think some of these F1 drivers see what JPM has done and think it's a slam dunk for them to do the same. But JPM got 3 years to get it down and was in a whole different situation then the others. 1) He had a past loving relationship with Chip Ganassi 2) he had a past loving relationship with Target 3) Because of the large latin population in the USA, nascar wanted him here.
Because of these 3 mentioned reasons, JPM was given the time to learn this form of racing...The same won't and hasn't been the same for others, just ask Dario...He was given about 6 months to "get it"

[WestCoast]

I agree, Trulli is a fish out of water in Nascar. The only way he could possibly get a ride is if he brought a King’s ransom with him to a team, even then he’s an unknown commodity.
He was never as good as Montoya in F1 and certainly has no following on this side of the pond.
His best bet is to secure an Indy or American Lemans ride.

[Bob Tanner]

Originally Posted by loco4pablo

If this Trulli dude or Villeneuve cat were really looking for a challenge then why are they not looking at WOO, sprint cars or modifieds ?? It's a bunch of BS if you ask me.

I just know, loco, that DOF wants to answer this one. I'll try.

Dirt track racing is almost completely unknown to drivers from other countries. for them to transition would be like a world class target shooter suddenly being given a 120mm howiser and being told to "Hit the bulls eye."

Personally I think the drivers from other countries which might be able to make the switch to dirt racing easiest might be the rally drivers. These guys habitually ruin all types of roads (pavement, dirt, gravel, sand, etc) in all types of weather (sun, rain snow, etc.).

I'd like to see a major rally driver come over here and try and make it. I don't remember anyone ever having attempted it, within the past forty years, anyway. It seems that there was one in the 50's but the name escapes me.

[Bob Tanner]

From jayski.com (ESPN): Trulli looking at truck series? Formula One driver Jarno Trulli, who was a guest of Michael Waltrip Racing last weekend at Phoenix, has applied for a NASCAR truck license, according to a sanctioning body source.(FoxSports.com)(11-17-2009)


I'll believe it when I see it.

[disco stu]

As a matter of interest, do we have any info regarding how he performed in the test session?