What are your thoughts on foreign drivers in NASCAR?

Question

Are drivers like Juan Pablo Montoya and Dario Franchitti good for the sport?

Its said that drivers like this bring in more fans of a different culture and expands NASCAR from more then just The USA.

Thoughts on this?

Answer 1

it doesnt matter they will never be better than american kids who grow up racing and working on cars. people like watching them get beat i guess.And it shows were open minded and the best drivers are driving if they want to.

Answer 2

ummm...i believe it's called the diversity program.  NASCAR is primarily a caucasian american sport.  they need to diversify the program a little.  so as the beatles said....let it be.

Answer 3

the more the merrier

Answer 4

they are good for the sport. I think it makes NASCAR a little more interesting. It does bring more fans cause the foreign drivers are from different parts of the world.

Answer 5

Compitition is always good, but they need to remeber thier roots and get off the over emphasizing of all of these drivers.  Let them make their name on their own like the rest.  The best man or woman win.

Answer 6

Nascar used to be only an American sport, now we have people like Juan Montoya and Daria Franchitti and even Jacques Villenueve. They haven't proved much, only Montoya has won and Franchitti was injured by a cheap shot. Its been rough to get them running with the leaders, heck some can't even make the race. I say open wheelers and foreign drivers want nascar for two reasons. 1) they get paid more, 2) Its a great experience and more competitive than F1 or Open Wheel. I would love to see more foreign drivers in Nascar, its very exciting to watch and it would be a great experience

Answer 7

They should make Japanese men drive the Toyota's

Answer 8

I think Nascar is trying to pull anything they can to get off this horrible ratings avalanche they have been on the past couple of years.  They did it to themselves. Nascar forced out the core fan base that created them into the powerhouse they are.  They decided to turn into corporate whores and make it d**n near impossible(if not impossible) for the working family to attend and support Nascar. The working class Joe is what made it grand and now that they are leaving, they(nascar) are trying all they can to try and lure in fresh blood. I am not a nascar hater at all, but you have to understand that a TRUE BLUE race fan follows REAL racing. Not this soap opera on wheels thing Nascar has turned into. Like I said not a hater, just calling it like it is.

Answer 9

What are my thought on this...Well i love it,I am an Aussie and Marcus Ambrose is a nascar driver....

He was our V8 supercar champ for 3 years before he swithched to nascar Utes.I love sitting there at 4:00 am in morning watching the Busch series and i also love the nextel cup dudes too....I always watched Nascars even before Ambrose started,yeah  SENIOR was my fav back then...lol

Yeah well the more nationalities you have in Nascar the further spread the TV coverage will be.it was only ever on Pay TV(Foxtel) over here,but now Ambrose is in it we have it on Free to Air Tv...

So i think as a "foreginer" it is good for American Car Racing

Answer 10

Since I was a child, as far back as I can remember, foreign born drivers have been competing in NASCAR at least on a part-time basis.

The 1960's was a decade in which foreign drivers competed regularly as the Holman-Moody team made a lot of contacts with drivers through their involvement with the development of the Ford Le Mans winning car.

As an example, soon after Jim Clark won the F1 crown, he was hired by Holman-Moody to wheel a Ford in a race at "The Rock".

No less than a half dozen F1 drivers have tried it once or twice.

The difference today is the number who are willing and have the desire to take on the challenge full-time.

I take it as the compliment it truly is as these drivers, attracted by fierce competition, have acknowledged that NASCAR is where the racing is.

Yesterday a young Hispanic boy was in my place of employment. He spoke English well enough to talk to. I asked to look at his ball cap. It was a Jimmie Johnson cap.

He handed me his cap and I asked if he liked Jimmie Johnson. He smiled and said he did. I told him I liked JPM at which point he tilted his head, dropped his jaw while his face took an expression which was priceless.

From the heart of NASCAR country I send a big salute to NASCAR fans, wherever they may be, Kyle Busch fans, too.

Answer 11

Me personally I don't care for them I think they need to stay in there Indy cars. You don't see our guys jumping in there cars. And I can't ever understand Pablo

Answer 12

I don't really mind as long as they get there because they can drive and are willing to start at a level similar to their own skills.  

IRL and Champ car went wrong because many of their foreigners typically got rides because they had money not talent.

- Montoya can drive.  Once he got past his ego and started to understand stock cars he really improved a lot.

- Villeneuve needs lots of work with the ego and stock car experience.  He is already gone or will be soon.

- Franchitti won't last.  He didn't like running ovals in open wheel cars.  I think he will get tired of oval racing and go back to something more road course based.

- Carpentier is also a good road racer.  I think he will stick it out and improve.

- Ambrose will stick it out too.  He came for the challenge after dominating V8 supercars.  I think he can have some success.

Answer 13

I think it opens the door to a whole new audience.

I am living with my g/f of 19 months (thanks). She never watched Nascar until last summer. She didn't really pay attention until Juan Pablo's name came up. She being from Peru recognized his name right away.

Even though we are race-ially different (she leaves the room if I turn on the race) she knew the F1 drivers.

So, let them come on over. As far as the detractors, if the goodoleboys want to keep their driving jobs, they better beat the new guys.

Is it so different when an "American" replaces another "American".

Two words... Mario Andretti

Answer 14

anyone who can handle the wheel of one of these beasts around a track and keep up with the others, let'em at it.  nothing makes me less proud to be a nascar fan than hearing some redneck xenophobe (look it up!!!) griping about these "ferriners" coming over and taking an "amurican's" job. and lord help us if ever some "ferriner" ever gets into a popular american driver (?) and takes him out for a win - we'll never hear the end of it.

if nascar fans want stock car racing to truly be considered a sport by all, then let'em all at it and may the best man, or woman, win.  that's the american way.  there are baseball, football, and basketball players recruited from all over the world, so what's the problem with doing the same in nascar?

what i want to know is, when are they going to get around to making stock car racing an olympic sport?  ;-)

--kyle's #1 fan

(proud citizen of rowdy's world)

ps. jrshardt, thank you for proving my point.  check your facts - many, if not most, indycar drivers are american.  in fact, their most "popular" driver - the godaddy girl herself - was born in wisconsin. as for "our" drivers (americans in nascar), i can barely understand steven wallace.  should we boot him?

xenophobes.

Answer 15

Hey it put more diversity into the sport.Sure it seems that everyone wants a "foreign" driver but it was not many years ago that every one wanted an open wheel driver(Stewart,Gordon,Almindinger,.....)...

So it could be in passing.