F1 driver Montoya to drive in NASCAR

by user Soonerdad3

It looks like Chip Ganassi has found his driver to replace the departing Casey Mears in the #42 Car at the end of the 2006 Nextel Cup Series season. Casey Mears announced that he won't be returning to Ganassi Racing for the 2007 season and instead he will be filling the vacancy at Hendrick Motorsports in the #25 Checy Monte Carlo with Brian Vickers moving on to Red Bull Racing for next season.

Juan Montoya will not be the first open wheel driver to make the switch over to NASCAR (Tony Stewart, John Andretti and Robby Gordon have all drove in the Indy 500 and the Coca Cola 600 both held on the same Sunday). I hope Montoya is ready to make the switch to a 3500lb. 200 MPH beast. I know he maybe used to going over 200 MPH, but that is in a car that weighs have as much.

Date

Sun 07/09/06, 5:57 pm EST

Davis21wylieMVP

1239 days ago

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I hope he dominates, if not just to dispell the myth that NASCAR is great racing.

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JuTMSY4Legend

1239 days ago

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I know just about nothing as far as racing goes but...is montoya one of the first drivers to make the career switch...i mean, stewart raced at indy but he's not an open-wheel guy as far as I know...I guess my question is, is this the first time a guy has entirely switched over, not just racing at indy and doing his nascar gig...

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Davis21wylieMVP

1239 days ago

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Stewart was IRL champion in 1997. At varying points in his career, Robby Gordon has been a full-time driver on both circuits. I don't think John Andretti was ever a regular in open-wheel, though.

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Alex HolowczakHall of Famer

1238 days ago

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Actually it weighs 600kg (1300lbs) so it's less than half as much! It'll be sad to see Montoya leave F1, but it was on the cards for a while. Alonso is going to McLaren next year. Raikkonen is going to Ferrari, but young Brit Lewis Hamilton might move up from McLaren-backed prodigy to Alonso's Number 2. Apparently his agent has been trying to find him an F1 drive, but couldn't. I think he has oval experience - he won the Indy 500 a few years back if memory serves me. It certainly makes the F1 driver line up for 2007 more interesting with Montoya leaving.

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ThecrookedcapAll-Star

1238 days ago

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He has oval experience -- he spent a couple of years in CART which will earn you your well-rounded card. On that same note, while we talk about guys like Tony Stewart as examples, Montoya will be a bit different. CART guys (as opposed to IRL guys) have not had much success: Christian Fittipaldi, Paul Tracy, Jimmy Vasser, etc. The difference between them and Tony Stewart was that Tony was coming from a background of sprints and midgets (short track racing) that lends itself to NASCAR.

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Alex HolowczakHall of Famer

1238 days ago

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If NASCAR has non-ovals, I think Montoya could benefit from his years as an F1 driver.

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FrankCostanza

1238 days ago

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NASCAR has two non-ovals: Sonoma and Watkins Glen. Plus the Busch Series races in Mexico City and next year there will likely be a race in Montreal (an F1 track).

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ChristofMVP

1238 days ago

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I wonder if this is not an indication of the beginning of a serious decline in the F1 racing series.

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Alex HolowczakHall of Famer

1238 days ago

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I wonder the opposite. If NASCAR is leaving it's hallowed ovals and turning to F1 tracks such as Mexico City, Watkins Glen and Montreal, I think NASCAR is the one in trouble. Besides, Europe loves F1. Ecclestone just likes North America because of the money. I'd rather go to old classics in Europe such as Zandvoort or the A1 Ring or even Brands Hatch than go to Indianpolis (the infield is not that great a track). I do like Montreal when driving it on F1 games. The track is named after an F1 driver (Gilles Villeneuve)!

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Soonerdad3Soccer Kid

887 days ago

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NASCAR has been running two road courses for many years and have been very successful. Only the Busch Series has added Mexico City and will be trying out Montreal.

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