[disco stu]

Just to let you all know, I did watch The Race Of Champions yesterday (as mentioned in the "NASCAR - the new IROC" thread).

JJ didn't have a great day I'm afraid.

He and Travis Pastrana (Team USA) got knocked out in the first round of The Nations cup by Germany (the eventual winners). To be fair to Jimmie, though, his first race was against Michael Schumacher who was really on his game.

In the first section of the race it looked to me like he was giving MS a real run for his money, but I think in the second section he must have made some sort of mistake as Schumy ended up beating him quite easily in the end.

In the individual competition (ie. The actual "Race of Champions") he got knocked out in the first round by - of all people - Champ Car champion Sebastien Bourdais. Again, JJ was ahead, but ended up behind at the checker!

Travis made it through the first round, beating 2 time World Rally Champion Marcus Gronholm....a great result!

He was knocked out in the next round by German DTM driver (and eventual event winner) Mattias Ekstrom of Sweden.

Schumacher was beaten into 2nd in the Grand Final by Ekstrom.


Two other things I would mention are that, firstly, Jimmie came across as a really good and professional ambassador for NASCAR when he was interviewed, and, secondly, that the British TV presentation team were pretty respectful/admiring of his status as Nextel Cup Champion (...not always the case!!!).

[The Dude]

I can't say I'm surprised. Schumacher is arguably the best racer in the world, and while Jimmie has more than proven himself to be a legitimate racing threat, he's not Schumacher.

Also, Jimmie is a great representitive of the sport. A lot of people seem to think that he conforms to the "Hendrick Image" too much and that he has no personality, but I don't agree. I think that he's the type of racer that NASCAR needs right now as they start to move into a more globally known entity. Jr. is still the posterboy for NASCAR and it's southern roots, but in my experience, he's not the guy that's going to bring in new viewers since he doesn't appeal to the more upscale city folk like Jimmie can.

With him easily establishing himself as a contender in the sport with the 2-time championship watch Jimmie to start becoming more mainstream like his Hendrick team mates Jr. and Gordon.