Montoya To NASCAR In '07

[ginsu]

As an American, it makes me a bit sick to think about the racism that may be against Montoya joining NASCAR. I read that entire article, and it's very clear that there are alot of Americans who 'don't want foreigners' in their racing. They just want the 'good 'ole boys' from their Alabama redneck hometowns. It's disgusting that the Southern US thinks that the rest of the civilized United States is just a bunch a rednecks like them. I say, there is still just as much a North and South as there ever was, and NASCAR proves it.

Also, it was good to read the intelligent opinions about Montoya and made me feel a little better, he will certainly help internationalize NASCAR.

[West]

In either case some F1 people are just elitists snobs who don't know a thing about racing; NASCAR can be called by some as a hicksport.

There wouldn't be so many foreigners in Indy and Champ Car if we had better American drivers, but those rednecks wouldn't know a thing about it.

[DaveKillens]

It's true, there are many, many stupid, racist rednecks who are devoted NASCAR fans. I've seen them in person, louts who have great mental difficulty in figuring out which end of the beer can to open. But if you believe that's the typical NASCAR fan, then you are as ignorant and racist as the dumb minority.

[flynfrog]

It's true, there are many, many stupid, racist rednecks who are devoted NASCAR fans. I've seen them in person, louts who have great mental difficulty in figuring out which end of the beer can to open. But if you believe that's the typical NASCAR fan, then you are as ignorant and racist as the dumb minority.

i agree i dont concider my self a dumb hick but i do enjoy watching oval racing once in a while not so much nascar latley to many rules to much media whoreing you cant watch the race with out 5 differnt logos going across the top bottom and side of the screen

but the mentality in this country is changin fast and not for the better I cant belive the number of gullible people that are born every day

i dont want this to turn political so ill stop btw any body have a good country to move to im thinking austraila no snow nationl past time is drinking
and they have kangaroos and the UTE

[manchild]

That's not just US but global syndrome. It all went to hell when Viacom bought MTV in late '80s and started brainwashing kids with idiotic music keeping their brains in neutral. Now those kids have grown and you have expansion of adult morons – globally.

[Ciro Pabón]

Now those kids have grown and you have expansion of adult morons – globally.

I wish we could blame Viacom... we used to be a few of us, morons. I wouldn't put the entire fault on MTV: you rock or you don't. Stick it to the man!

I just came back of the most wonderful Caribbean vacation to find out that Montoya definitely rocks! I have wandered away a little from NASCAR, but not anymore, I guess. This are the most thrilling news I've heard in a long time, I love NASCAR. Let me explain, if you wish.

I went to my first race when I was seven, with my "crazy" uncle Raimundo. We went to the Jarama circuit in 1965 to meet Jim Clark himself. He won. I had no idea who he was, but there I had a winner on the MOST amazing car my eyes have seen, shaking hands with my beloved uncle, long before "security" and "pit passes". And the cars! They were surreal. The speed was unbelievable and they produced a deafening noise that reverberated in your guts. Then "Jimmy", as I called him, won the championship that year, or the next, I do not remember well (I was seven years old, like most of you...) and he went again to Jarama in '66 to win a real race (the first race I went was sort of a promotional event) and this time I was waving an scottish flag on the incredibly hard concrete stands most of the race...

I've been totally hooked to F1 since. I still play with cars, you know, even if they are big ones. My wife says that "the difference between men and children is the price of the toys", everytime I play with my son on his Scalectrix toy track...

I wandered from my sadness, when my first hero died, to root for James "The Shunt" Hunt. Of course, I was totally happy when he won the championship against all odds, and then appeared Emerson Fittipaldi, Senna, Andretti and then Montoya, all in the short list of my heroes, people that had made me a very happy man. I never learned to love guys like Lauda or Schumacher or even Prost, even if I respect them a lot. It is hard for them to make you happy. They have an inner anguish.... but I am being carried away.

Anyway, back in the 80's I went to live to Colombia. Zero F1 on TV. But then appeared bulky satellite antennas, huge dishes maybe 10 meters across and you could get american TV. And then there was this little thing called NASCAR and it was funny in its way.

I found Richard Petty and his style and I recognized him: he was my kind of pilot. He was already a legend, but, you know, I knew real racecars. Real racecars belonged to Italy, France and England, I thought (maybe I still think this way). American cars were funny, a cross between Russian machinery and an old european car, but with an upholstery made in Latin America. I went from a Renault 8 directly to a Cadillac 1965...

And then I saw Petty on 1981, winning Daytona 500. May have you seen the movie "Cars"? I know, "Cars" is a little stupid, it is like comparing "Cinderella" with Madonna, but Google a little about this race. Man.... pure rock'n roll. This was long before Dale Earnhardt and the "intimidation" style of Schumi and the rest. There was no intimidation then or they did not call it like that. Just take a look at the guy, my european friends that may not be acquainted with him... and try to accomodate him in one of your "categories of people". You will have a hard time trying to fit him in one of them... just the hat is overwhelming to me.



Then I learned to drive a Fairlane 500... and then I went to a drag racetrack and suddenly I understood NASCAR. I was enlightened... A race is not about a car or a pilot, or both. A race is a drama. You need the classic elements: the hero, the unlikely situation that takes you away from your ordinary life (the "talking toad", as I use to say), the underworld you have to conquer and the return as the master: I am a big Joseph Campbell fan, as some of you will guess.

And what a "talking toad" we have here! Montoya to NASCAR... this is the stuff legends are made of. And NASCAR! If you want to understand NASCAR, you need to: 1. Drive a convertible muscle car and 2. Read this.

I couldn't be happier. I am happier for Montoya, now that I learnt that Jeff Gordon earned 19 million in 2003 according to Forbes...

My wife, on the other hand, is devastated. You know, NASCAR has like 99 races per year, and each one goes for 670 laps or so... I still remember those lazy sundays, when we were young, and she passed by me and, with a painful tone in her voice, she asked: "How many?", and I would answer, feeling guilty: "Just 165 laps to go, darling". We only had one TV, you know...

[flynfrog]

i wont be as wordy as ciro but i grew up in the nascar gruop petty was my first true hero by the time i was old enough to understand he was retiring i never saw him with a race

the movie cars was not that far off in his last race he crashed unable to finish

after petty retired i had to find a new driver then i saw ricky rudd old man by nascar standards but ill be damned if he didnt win at least one race every year has the recored still i belive

then came along the chevy lumina then all of the suden nascar wasnt racing cars you can buy on the street they were racing cars with stickers with headlights like the cars you can buy on the street (it may have been the ford taurus i dont remeber) any way after that moment they became boxes with engines i still followed hoping for some of the magic i once saw i started to follow terry labonte another old timer and it jsut so happened he won that season but after that i started to lose intrest i saw my first live cup race in 2000 the daytona 500 the biggest race of the year and its the frist one i spent a week in daytona at speed weeks watched every practice every race ect. but it still wasnt there

in 2001 i belive is when i started racing my self i didnt have time to follow another series i was way to busy with my own. I should also mention that for the last 3 years i have also been crewing for a car covering a good portion of the united states. at 16 i was one of the yongest spoters/crew cheifs in the series i had a knack for understanding how race cars worked mostly i understood suspenison.

any way moving on as i got into my own raceing i moved through the classes pretty quickly eventualy landing me in the top class i was way over my head and didnt know how to fix it i had the machinry but some of these guys had been in this class for as long as i had been racing if i could just not get lapped by them i was doing good

then came the night i cant even tell you what month it was but i can rember the lap perfectly i came around a corner nailed the throttle came onto the pipe backed off for a fraction of a seconed got back on teh gas jsut as i rember this jump requires full throttle form teh corner and tapping the rev limiter at the top of the jump i was not there

Its amazing how long you are in the air when you know its all about to go horribly worng. The things that come in your head seem odd at the time and even after i can rember thinking about my new trailer i had on order. Trying to rember what setting i had the shocks was it 3 or 4 as you begin to appraoch the ground you start to lessen the blow you move back on the seat hoping not to nose over you push the fars down as far as you can

Then comes the impact at first it dosent seem so bad the shocks took alot of it then the frame hit. Now you are going over the handel bars no big deal its happened before just hope no one else hits you. As i begin to roll i remeber when i came off the corner i saw my freind james clearing the whoops section right before the corner to the jump

i land on teh ground chest first, feel no pain start to lift my self back up as im pushing off with my arms ther is a sudden jolt i see my own bumper i rember rolling then i try to stand my body is stuck in a 90 degree bend

i begin to get back up to try to race agin then i realize something is wrong. then i walk to the ambulance i think broke a rib i say. they give me a ride back to the truck after i refuse medical attention get every thing loaded bakc up and head to the hospital i change my clothes before i get there i dont want them cutting off my racing suit

next is a blur of xrays mris cat scans and drugs

the doctor comes in tells me my ribs are fine but my back is broken in 2 places but they are not critical i can go home but i need to see a specalist next week

next week rolls arond no more racing this season start physical therapy

6 months later im on my way to my last physical therapy and a driver crosses the center line right into the front of my car

fast forward a year or so ive given up on bieng the quad racing star i hoped and found F1 it had the high technolgy i liked the drivers had a certain untouchable aura about them i liked it i also like ferrairs turns out they have an f1 team ill root for them

this was last year they were terrible but i had hope this year i am seeing a fight and its great i havent seen a nascar race in 3 years i dont miss it one bit i found my new home




ok thats enough pints for me ok maybe one more an im off to bed

[Ciro Pabón]

Well, flyn, my jaw has dropped like 5 inches... man, I am speechless... one of the most beautiful posts I've read in my life. Good warning for JPM.

[Ciro Pabón]

Ooops. Repost. Sorry. I am still a little confused after reading flynfrog post, I guess.

[flynfrog]

Ooops. Repost. Sorry. I am still a little confused after reading flynfrog post, I guess.

i have terrible spelling one of the cureses of being dyslexic i supose

[Ciro Pabón]

Sorry, no, I meant I was surprised by your history, not for your (yes, terrible) spelling.

I have no problem at all reading your posts. I tried to edit my post and then re-posted by mistake... It was the content of your story, not the form, what astounded me. But I like the form, too, if you ask...

[flynfrog]

Sorry, no, I meant I was surprised by your history, not for your (yes, terrible) spelling.

I have no problem at all reading your posts. I tried to edit my post and then re-posted by mistake... It was the content of your story, not the form, what astounded me. But I like the form, too, if you ask...

thats only a small part dont get me started on alteritive energies

the spelling thing has cursed my my entire life but in the end it realy dosne bother me

[bhall]

The AP is reporting that Montoya is still under contract to McLaren, and that he could be used for more races this season.

http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/news/stor ... id=2519400

"He still is contracted to us, unless there is some other commercial arrangement between ourselves and the NASCAR team or Juan himself," Dennis said.

Looks like Ron Dennis is trying to get some money out of this.

[Lightspeed]

Seven-times Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher has said he would never consider a move to Nascar.
McLaren's Juan Pablo Montoya looks set for a move to the US-based racing series, but Schumacher says he is not tempted to follow suit.

"What do you see in Nascar? What is exciting about it? I can't see it running around in ovals," said the 37-year-old German.

"I just don't see the challenge in it for me. Personally, I wouldn't do it."

However, Schumacher's view was not shared by former F1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve.

"Nascar has always looked very exciting, racing-wise," said the 35-year-old Canadian, whose contract with BMW Sauber expires at the end of the season.

"It's something definitely to look at if there's no Formula One."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsp ... 178286.stm

Now i am waiting for this manchild person to lecture about how wonderfully exciting NAscar really is ...

[blue]

i think its better that montoya is going to nascar.