dario franchitti nascar
Discussion
This guy doesnt get the respect he deserves , Winning the indy car series and the Indy 500 this year , didnt seem that they made to much fuss over his win at the autosport show.Here we have a British racing driver that most of the country hasnt heard of and he wins the championship and the Indy 500.Any how i hope he has a great season racing a nextel cup car next year , aint gonna be as easy as people think cos in Nascar the competition is as tough as any other motorsport and in the states its bigger than Indy and so are the winnings so a lot to play for.For those of you who think its a redneck sport try 200,000 fans at some of the biggest races and race winnings alone for Jimmie Johnson nearing $20 million , give Franchitti support cos hes gonna need it.
I've watched a bit of Nascar in years gone by, and it was generally damn entertaining. Didn't realise Dario was in it, but he's been an absolultely fantastic driver. In ways a shame he didn't make it to F1, but he probably prefers the simpler joy of just racing in Nascar, rather than the irritating politics of F1.
TBH I thought that Dario's best years were behind him - he hardly figured in IRL over the previous couple of seasons and yet he came back to win the title this year. Open-wheel in the US has never really attracted column inches in the UK - the exception was when Mansell was out there in 1993-1994. So Dari's lack of profile isn't down to him, per se. The split too has seen the pool of quality drivers drain away over the years.
My betting was that this would have been his last year in the IRL in any case and now he's cashing in on his success and also extending his career by moving into NASCAR. But as we saw this year,it's bloody hard to succeed there if everything is not exactly right.
My betting was that this would have been his last year in the IRL in any case and now he's cashing in on his success and also extending his career by moving into NASCAR. But as we saw this year,it's bloody hard to succeed there if everything is not exactly right.
Ganassi is very much a mid pack team in NASCAR. When you consider this it makes JPM's performance in his "rookie" season all that much more impressive. In those few starts Dario made in 2007 he showed he was getting a handle on the car quickly I felt, so expect him to put up some to 10 finishes in 2008.
In 2008 I expect HMS to be fast from the start, looks like they still have the edge on the COT.
Not a prediction but what I'd like to see is the 8 to win at Daytona (if the engine doesn't lunch itself
), 88 for the championship. As if the 88 doesn't win the championship the 24 or 48 will and they have enough between them for the time being.
In 2008 I expect HMS to be fast from the start, looks like they still have the edge on the COT.
Not a prediction but what I'd like to see is the 8 to win at Daytona (if the engine doesn't lunch itself
), 88 for the championship. As if the 88 doesn't win the championship the 24 or 48 will and they have enough between them for the time being.Gassing Station | General Motorsport | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff