Why is it that all the open wheelers want to be in nascar but you don't see any nascar drivers going open whee

Question

All these foreigners want to be nascar drivers and come over to do nothing but drive like idiots and get in crashes and take out unfortunate good drivers.Nascar drivers are at least smart enough to know what they can and can't do

Answer 1

Maybe they just like racing all different kinds of cars. I'm sure the reasons can be numerous..  

Answer 2

jeff gordon, tony stewart, robby gordon, ryan newman, kasey kahne and casey mears are all open-wheel graduates who have come to nascar and done very well. if you remember, stewart won the irl championship in 1997, and drivers like mario andretti, aj foyt, and bobby unser all came over and ran in limited stock car races "back in the day" and did fairly well. as a matter of fact, andretti won the daytona 500 back in 1967.

and "back in the day" many nascar drivers, including cale yarborough and donnie allison would run open-wheel races, particularly the indy 500. donny allison ran fourth in the 1970 indy 500 and won the world 600 on the same day, and he was the indy rookie of the year that year as well. heck, robby gordon and tony stewart used to run the indy 500 and the coca-cola 600 on the same day until the schedule changed and made it near impossible to run both races.

and there are more than just "foreigners [who] drive like idiots and get in crashes" that are still coming over. scott speed, aj allmendinger, dario franchitti, patrick carpentier, sam hornish, jj yeley, and soon paul tracy all came in and have done no worse than most rookies. as for jpm, he is aggressive and always has been. that didn't stop him from winning a race and at one point this year even cracking the top-12 in points.

bottom line, the drivers follow the money. back in the late 60s and through the 70s the money was better in open-wheel racing, so nascar drivers would invade on occasion to pick up some extra bucks. now the money's far better in nascar so more open-wheelers are coming in for that, and for the challenge. i'm also guessing it's a lot easier to go from a series where you can't touch wheels and almost never pass to a series where bumping and banging don't automatically have your car "on a hook" and you in the care center than the other way around.

Answer 3

Follow the money

Answer 4

I'm not sure. I'm sorry!

Answer 5

IMHO it is because NASCAR is MUCH more popular among the general public overF-1, IRL, etc. I mean how many times do you see people in public wearing stuff for Danica Patrick or any of those people?? I see people in NASCAR gear all the time and see cars on the road all the time with numbers of their favorite NASCAR drivers. And then there's the most important reason: who would rather drive those high-pitched, whiney sounding cars over the stock cars that sound like a true V-8 engine. Again, just MHO

Answer 6

I'll say that the open wheel drivers (least the ones that make the jump from open wheel to NASCAR) have accomplished what they see as 'it all' in their respective open wheel series, whether it be the IRL, F1, Champ Car, etc. So they come to NASCAR to get that extra challenge.

Look at the drivers that have made the open wheel to NASCAR jump:

Juan Montoya - CART Champ, Indy 500 Champ, 7 F1 wins

Dario Franchitti - IRL Champ, Indy 500 Champ

Jacques Villenue - F1 Champ

Sam Hornish Jr. - IRL Champ, Indy 500 Champ

Those guys are very accomplished in open wheel. Then again there were some other open wheel guys that made the jump in the past and have I'd say had some success at least:

Tony Stewart

Robby Gordon

Answer 7

Reason being that Nascar is the #1 Motor  Sport and every one wants a piece of the action and dollars and the spotlight shining..more exposure in Nascar

Answer 8

Need lot more driving skill in open wheel.  NASCAR esp with the COT has basilly eleminated driving skill for parity among teams

Answer 9

Look at it this way.

If you graduate college, do you then go back to High School?????

The NASCAR circuit is the best. Why go backwards.

Answer 10

Motorsport drivers love challenges, and there is nothing more challenging than NASCAR. They love the thrill that you just cant get in any other motorsport. Also they love the attention they get and the ton of cash. NASCAR is just fun.