F1 rejects/personalities in NASCAR

Cynon · Post by **Cynon** » 11 Feb 2010, 20:52

Well, presently, there are only two; Mad Max Papis and Scott Speed. Both of them will start the marquee NASCAR event, the Daytona 500, after Papis raced his way into the 500 about a half hour ago, after being ... well, almost sideways coming off the last corner to pass Todd Bodine (driving the NASCAR equivelant of a Pacific, and who I have to admit I'd have been over the moon to see qualify because I love everything that is Kirk Shelmerdine) to qualify.

On a sidenote; Pedro Rodriguez, not Roberto Guerrero, pioneered going from F1 to NASCAR -- until he was killed he ran both at the same time. Mario Andretti pioneered the reverse -- NASCAR to F1.

Nelson Piquet, Jr. is bound to make his Camping World Truck series debut for Red Horse Racing in the #1 Toyota on Friday, and judging by his performance in the ARCA race and practice speeds, he seems competitive.

Jordan · Post by **Jordan** » 11 Feb 2010, 23:50

Cynon wrote:Well, presently, there are only two; Mad Max Papis and Scott Speed. Both of them will start the marquee NASCAR event, the Daytona 500, after Papis raced his way into the 500 about a half hour ago, after being ... well, almost sideways coming off the last corner to pass Todd Bodine (driving the NASCAR equivelant of a Pacific, and who I have to admit I'd have been over the moon to see qualify because I love everything that is Kirk Shelmerdine) to qualify.

On a sidenote; Pedro Rodriguez, not Roberto Guerrero, pioneered going from F1 to NASCAR -- until he was killed he ran both at the same time. Mario Andretti pioneered the reverse -- NASCAR to F1.

Nelson Piquet, Jr. is bound to make his Camping World Truck series debut for Red Horse Racing in the #1 Toyota on Friday, and judging by his performance in the ARCA race and practice speeds, he seems competitive.

Was Todd Bodine running the Jesus car for Kirk...wait that's not Kirk Shelmerdine that's Morgan Sheppard nevermind. Uh....Trucks run unrestricted right? And they punch a hole in the air similar to that of a sherman tank, so he should be able to run well assuming he's got the draft down pat. I say boot Papis and give the car to Jacques Villeneuve. Boot them all and give all their cars to Jacques Villeneuve!

Cynon · Post by **Cynon** » 12 Feb 2010, 01:56

Giving 43 cars to Jacques Villeneuve? Oh dear. He'll go through 43 cars in two weeks.

Kirk Shelmerdine's car is that black #27 car that shows up to Daytona and was the upset of all upsets (even more than Andrea Moda at Monaco 1992) when he qualified for the 2006 Daytona 500 on qualifying speed and ran competitively.

The Jesus car is Morgan Shepherd's car.

Trucks run restricted as well, and they're slightly more aerodynamic than a tank, but not by much.

There's a lot of F1 drivers who have been in NASCAR's Cup series, but most of those were in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. I can think of off the top of my head, Pedro Rodriguez, Juan Montoya, Mario Andretti, Vic Elford, Bobby Rahal (only one start I think), David Hobbs (not too many starts either), Dan Gurney...

Olivier Beretta made one start in the truck series, but I don't know for what team.

Jordan · Post by **Jordan** » 12 Feb 2010, 02:34

How about NASCAR drivers who have tested F1 cars? Well, tested may not be the best term, but driven.

I know Jeff Gordon did fairly well when he swapped with Montoya at Indy. Anyone else? Kurt Busch drove a Cart or IRL car a few years back

Cynon · Post by **Cynon** » 12 Feb 2010, 03:00

Jeff Gordon did very well when he tested the BMW Williams on the Indy Road Course, and described the F1 car as a giant go-kart. With that kind of confidence, not to mention he could pass people in USAC cars with only two wheels on the ground. One only wonders how many World Championships Jeff Gordon could have won if he went to F1... could he have turned F1 into Europe v. The Americas?

baddriving50 · Post by **baddriving50** » 12 Feb 2010, 06:40

Cynon wrote:Giving 43 cars to Jacques Villeneuve? Oh dear. He'll go through 43 cars in two weeks.

Kirk Shelmerdine's car is that black #27 car that shows up to Daytona and was the upset of all upsets (even more than Andrea Moda at Monaco 1992) when he qualified for the 2006 Daytona 500 on qualifying speed and ran competitively.

The Jesus car is Morgan Shepherd's car.

Trucks run restricted as well, and they're slightly more aerodynamic than a tank, but not by much.

There's a lot of F1 drivers who have been in NASCAR's Cup series, but most of those were in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. I can think of off the top of my head, Pedro Rodriguez, Juan Montoya, Mario Andretti, Vic Elford, Bobby Rahal (only one start I think), David Hobbs (not too many starts either), Dan Gurney...

Olivier Beretta made one start in the truck series, but I don't know for what team.

Add Jim Clark to the list, he had his only start start at Rockingham in '67. And here's some info about Beretta:

http://racing-reference.info/drivdet?id ... 9&series=C

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 12 Feb 2010, 09:14

I'd say #57 would be the equivalent of Deletraz's Pacific - Norm Benning is absolutely hopeless! He'd already been lapped by 1/3 distance but somehow got his lap back (must have missed a caution period during Duel Two...)

Cynon · Post by **Cynon** » 14 Feb 2010, 01:24

Lap 41 of 100 in the NASCAR truck race, there's been two big wrecks and Nelson Piquet Jr. has made epic moves to avoid them. Piquet restarted SECOND, and as I type this he is running 6th. Max Papis is leading!

Mike Skinner is still running. The race is a lot like Monaco 1996, 16 of the 36 trucks that started have been in wrecks, and some of them have been in two wrecks. It's NASCAR reject heaven, Sean Murphy spun on the warmup lap!

P_Friesacher · Post by **P_Friesacher** » 14 Feb 2010, 01:47

Cynon wrote:Mike Skinner is still running.

No more

Cynon · Post by **Cynon** » 14 Feb 2010, 01:49

Yeah, Skinner just got put in the wall, Piquet escapes the trash can. For now. Actually, Piquet is looking as if he could pick up a mega result.

bduddy · Post by **bduddy** » 14 Feb 2010, 02:00

Piquet is really doing quite well-up to 2nd more than once, although I don't think he's led. He needs a good result, too-Red Horse Racing is a good team, but if you can't attract a sponsor, they're not interested.

bduddy · Post by **bduddy** » 14 Feb 2010, 02:18

Oh dear-now Nelson dumps Papis into the wall and out of the race...

Cynon · Post by **Cynon** » 14 Feb 2010, 02:19

Piquet just bumpdrafted Papis and took Papis out. Idiotic NASCAR Truck commentator and Honorable NASCAR reject Michael Waltrip displayed his lack of knowledge of F1, by hinting Piquet and Papis raced against each other in F1!!!

bduddy · Post by **bduddy** » 14 Feb 2010, 02:35

Piquet ends up 6th... it seemed, towards the end, like he simply didn't have the power to run with the leaders without lots of help. Meanwhile his teammate Timothy Peters wins after moving Todd Bodine out of the way on the back straight of the last lap...

Cynon · Post by **Cynon** » 14 Feb 2010, 02:37

Brilliant effort from Piquet in his NASCAR debut. It looked like he made the wrong decision to try the outside lane with Crafton earlier and couldn't work his way through the field. A well-deserved sixth place for Piquet, Jr. Oh yeah, and the trucks in second and third (Todd Bodine and Dennis Setzer) wrecked after they passed the line.

Phoenix · Post by **Phoenix** » 14 Feb 2010, 11:48

Cynon wrote:Brilliant effort from Piquet in his NASCAR debut. It looked like he made the wrong decision to try the outside lane with Crafton earlier and couldn't work his way through the field. A well-deserved sixth place for Piquet, Jr.

Maybe he should reconsider his will to return to F1 then.

Cynon · Post by **Cynon** » 14 Feb 2010, 18:30

Daytona 500 is underway, Max Papis was involved in the first wreck early in the race (lap 8), but it looks like he can still keep going... but I doubt he will be competitive. Scott Speed avoided the wreck and is running in the back. But this is a long race...

Lap 27: Scott Speed 33rd, Papis 39th

Jordan · Post by **Jordan** » 14 Feb 2010, 18:56

Sounds like Piquet did an amazing job of accident avoidance in the truck race (irony alert!). But for the commentators to be complimenting him already, that is impressive. Especially in a sport that traditionally absolutely hates outsiders

Cynon · Post by **Cynon** » 14 Feb 2010, 20:30

NASCAR commentators tend to not bag drivers out no matter what they do. Even when Kevin Lepage does this... an incident so infamous that "Lepage" became an action verb. To "Lepage" the field...

So while you may be surprised that Piquet's F1 antics and his being not American might result in him being bagged out... I'm not surprised at all. The fans may hate outsiders, but the sport loves them.

Red flag with 78 laps to go in Daytona. The track pulled a 1984 Dallas GP and part of the track came up. Daytona hasn't been repaved since ... 1979 or something like that...

Kyle Busch is taking a power nap in his car during the red flag. :lol:

thehemogoblin · Post by **thehemogoblin** » 14 Feb 2010, 20:50

Cynon wrote:NASCAR commentators tend to not bag drivers out no matter what they do. Even when Kevin Lepage does this... an incident so infamous that "Lepage" became an action verb. To "Lepage" the field...

So while you may be surprised that Piquet's F1 antics and his being not American might result in him being bagged out... I'm not surprised at all. The fans may hate outsiders, but the sport loves them.

Red flag with 78 laps to go in Daytona. The track pulled a 1984 Dallas GP and part of the track came up. Daytona hasn't been repaved since ... 1979 or something like that...

Kyle Busch is taking a power nap in his car during the red flag.

Can we just get this damn race restarted?

Cynon · Post by **Cynon** » 14 Feb 2010, 22:50

Race got restarted... and then red flagged again after a few laps due to the patch breaking up...

Anyone who saw the Dallas GP could have told them that...

Salamander · Post by **Salamander** » 14 Feb 2010, 23:08

Cynon wrote:Red flag with 78 laps to go in Daytona. The track pulled a 1984 Dallas GP and part of the track came up. Daytona hasn't been repaved since ... 1979 or something like that...

Is NASCAR especially intensive on track surfaces or something, because this is like the 4th time something like this has happened that I can recall. There was the wreckfest at Charlotte after they repaved the track, the incident at Martinsville where a piece of the track came up and hit Jeff Gordon, the fiasco at Indy where the tyres were falling apart after like 10-15 laps or something, and now this. I know having 40 heavy stock cars race around for 4 hours isn't going to be good for the surfaces, but surely there has to be a solution.

thehemogoblin · Post by **thehemogoblin** » 14 Feb 2010, 23:37

BlindCaveSalamander wrote:
Cynon wrote:Red flag with 78 laps to go in Daytona. The track pulled a 1984 Dallas GP and part of the track came up. Daytona hasn't been repaved since ... 1979 or something like that...

Is NASCAR especially intensive on track surfaces or something, because this is like the 4th time something like this has happened that I can recall. There was the wreckfest at Charlotte after they repaved the track, the incident at Martinsville where a piece of the track came up and hit Jeff Gordon, the fiasco at Indy where the tyres were falling apart after like 10-15 laps or something, and now this. I know having 40 heavy stock cars race around for 4 hours isn't going to be good for the surfaces, but surely there has to be a solution.

This is just because it's 30-plus-year-old asphalt.

Cynon · Post by **Cynon** » 14 Feb 2010, 23:46

Scott Speed is epic rolling the dice and not pitting... he's counting on tons of wrecks, because he is restarting in the lead of the race. F1 Reject leading the Daytona 500!

Cynon · Post by **Cynon** » 14 Feb 2010, 23:57

20 laps to go, Scott Speed is in the lead.

Cynon · Post by **Cynon** » 15 Feb 2010, 00:40

Jamie McMurray wins the Daytona 500 -- only F1 interest here is that he is Juan Pablo Montoya's teammate. Montoya wound up 10th. Scott Speed 19th after getting slight damage in a last lap crash. Max Papis, who is only the second ever Italian-born driver to start the Daytona 500 (the other being Mario Andretti), finished 40th of 43 starters.

Phoenix · Post by **Phoenix** » 15 Feb 2010, 15:23

thehemogoblin wrote:
BlindCaveSalamander wrote:
Cynon wrote:Red flag with 78 laps to go in Daytona. The track pulled a 1984 Dallas GP and part of the track came up. Daytona hasn't been repaved since ... 1979 or something like that...

Is NASCAR especially intensive on track surfaces or something, because this is like the 4th time something like this has happened that I can recall. There was the wreckfest at Charlotte after they repaved the track, the incident at Martinsville where a piece of the track came up and hit Jeff Gordon, the fiasco at Indy where the tyres were falling apart after like 10-15 laps or something, and now this. I know having 40 heavy stock cars race around for 4 hours isn't going to be good for the surfaces, but surely there has to be a solution.

This is just because it's 30-plus-year-old asphalt.

Why such an important circuit like Daytona wasn't re-asphalted for 31 years?

thehemogoblin · Post by **thehemogoblin** » 15 Feb 2010, 18:16

Because it's 2.5 miles long and banked "as steep as they could lay asphalt." In other words, it's a godforsaken nightmare to do.

Phoenix · Post by **Phoenix** » 15 Feb 2010, 19:45

thehemogoblin wrote:Because it's 2.5 miles long and banked "as steep as they could lay asphalt." In other words, it's a godforsaken nightmare to do.

I don't want to think about when the asphalt breaks down definately then.

Waris · Post by **Waris** » 26 Feb 2010, 02:45

This coming from someone who doesn't know anything about NASCAR, why do these people drive trucks as well as normal cars?

Cynon · Post by **Cynon** » 26 Feb 2010, 09:17

Waris wrote:This coming from someone who doesn't know anything about NASCAR, why do these people drive trucks as well as normal cars?

Because someone thought it'd be a good idea, and about a thousand other people said yeah sure. It's the way motorsport goes in America. Get a ridiculous idea, and if it catches on, it catches on. They raced semi truck cabs at the Atlanta Motor Speedway once. Racing vehicles weighing 8 tons.

1980 Great American Truck Race (Part 1)
1980 Great American Truck Race (Part 2)
1980 Great American Truck Race (Part 3)
1980 Great American Truck Race (Part 4)

Jordan · Post by **Jordan** » 26 Feb 2010, 12:24

Cynon wrote:
Waris wrote:This coming from someone who doesn't know anything about NASCAR, why do these people drive trucks as well as normal cars?

Because someone thought it'd be a good idea, and about a thousand other people said yeah sure. It's the way motorsport goes in America. Get a ridiculous idea, and if it catches on, it catches on. They raced semi truck cabs at the Atlanta Motor Speedway once. Racing vehicles weighing 8 tons.

1980 Great American Truck Race (Part 1)
1980 Great American Truck Race (Part 2)
1980 Great American Truck Race (Part 3)
1980 Great American Truck Race (Part 4)

Wow, I never knew about that hah. Well, at 8 tons, that makes them only slightly heavier than current cup cars and arguable prettier to look at. Not that that's saying much

watka · Post by **watka** » 27 Feb 2010, 14:11

Cynon wrote:
Waris wrote:This coming from someone who doesn't know anything about NASCAR, why do these people drive trucks as well as normal cars?

Because someone thought it'd be a good idea, and about a thousand other people said yeah sure. It's the way motorsport goes in America. Get a ridiculous idea, and if it catches on, it catches on. They raced semi truck cabs at the Atlanta Motor Speedway once. Racing vehicles weighing 8 tons.

1980 Great American Truck Race (Part 1)
1980 Great American Truck Race (Part 2)
1980 Great American Truck Race (Part 3)
1980 Great American Truck Race (Part 4)

Favourite quote: "Seeing all that iron come down there at over 100mph, wooooo, anything can happen."

Cynon · Post by **Cynon** » 09 Mar 2010, 03:37

After Carl Edwards wrecked Brad Keselowski at Atlanta (oh yeah, Kurt Busch won the race), Scott Speed, F1 Reject extraordinaire, sits a fantastic 12th in points.

Scott Speed, this time last year, was lucky to qualify for races. Great job so far for Scott Speed.

By the way, two years ago, Mike Skinner was driving the car Scott Speed was in order to help the team along for A.J. Allmendinger.

Pieman · Post by **Pieman** » 09 Mar 2010, 11:00

What's even more amazing is that NASCAR's very own reject, Paul Menard, is ninth! :shock:

Waris · Post by **Waris** » 09 Mar 2010, 17:13

Pieman wrote:What's even more amazing is that NASCAR's very own reject, Paul Menard, is ninth!

His name sounds like Minardi. Is he the same guy who designed the one-time IndyCar engines?
Speaking of those engines, I totally think they should make F1 engines and sell them to Toro Rosso, so they can have Minardi-Menards.

thehemogoblin · Post by **thehemogoblin** » 10 Mar 2010, 06:51

Waris wrote:
Pieman wrote:What's even more amazing is that NASCAR's very own reject, Paul Menard, is ninth!

His name sounds like Minardi. Is he the same guy who designed the one-time IndyCar engines?
Speaking of those engines, I totally think they should make F1 engines and sell them to Toro Rosso, so they can have Minardi-Menards.

Son of the guy who rebadged the IndyCar engines.

They own a rather large home-improvement store chain.

Cynon · Post by **Cynon** » 10 Mar 2010, 17:30

thehemogoblin wrote:
Waris wrote:
Pieman wrote:What's even more amazing is that NASCAR's very own reject, Paul Menard, is ninth!

His name sounds like Minardi. Is he the same guy who designed the one-time IndyCar engines?
Speaking of those engines, I totally think they should make F1 engines and sell them to Toro Rosso, so they can have Minardi-Menards.

Son of the guy who rebadged the IndyCar engines.

They own a rather large home-improvement store chain.

Menards is omnipresent in Chicago. But I would love to see John Menard's V6 engines come to F1! Minardi-Menard has a great ring.

Paul Menard is a pay driver who has a little pace to back his money up but not too much. Atlanta is one of those circuits at which Menard permanently excels.

Cynon · Post by **Cynon** » 22 Mar 2010, 04:59

Bristol Update:

- JPM was running in the top 10 for most of the race before being involved in a huge pileup late in the race. Marcos Ambrose was also in the incident, caused by Mark Martin having an odd moment of brain failure when he tried to pass Greg Biffle, and Biffle, like any real racing driver, threw the block on Martin, who proceeded not to back off, putting himself and Biffle into the wall... and then pulled his car off the track... until turn three when he came back up the track into everyone else, setting off a 13 car melee. JPM finished 26th.

- Scott Speed was running in the lower midfield before smacking the wall all by himself and dropping through the field like a stone thereafter. Speed finished 31st.

Scott Speed: 18th in points
JPM: 22nd(!) in points

Pay driver Paul Menard is still 9th in points. Former Champ Car driver A.J. Allmendinger is 21st in points, and former V8 Supercar champion Marcos Ambrose is... 31st...

Narain Karthikeyan will be making his NASCAR truck debut with Starbeast Motorsports at Martinsville! Should be fun to watch the pioneer of Indian motorsport in action! 8)

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 22 Mar 2010, 09:35

Cynon wrote:Bristol Update:

- JPM was running in the top 10 for most of the race before being involved in a huge pileup late in the race. Marcos Ambrose was also in the incident, caused by Mark Martin having an odd moment of brain failure when he tried to pass Greg Biffle, and Biffle, like any real racing driver, threw the block on Martin, who proceeded not to back off, putting himself and Biffle into the wall... and then pulled his car off the track... until turn three when he came back up the track into everyone else, setting off a 13 car melee. JPM finished 26th.

- Scott Speed was running in the lower midfield before smacking the wall all by himself and dropping through the field like a stone thereafter. Speed finished 31st.

Scott Speed: 18th in points
JPM: 22nd(!) in points

Pay driver Paul Menard is still 9th in points. Former Champ Car driver A.J. Allmendinger is 21st in points, and former V8 Supercar champion Marcos Ambrose is... 31st...

Narain Karthikeyan will be making his NASCAR truck debut with Starbeast Motorsports at Martinsville! Should be fun to watch the pioneer of Indian motorsport in action! 8)

Thanks for these updates. Although I try to follow NASCAR in passing via Autosport, they never give the championship positions, neither online nor in the magazine (apart from the top-10, which doesn't include Montoya, Speed, Ambrose or Almendinger).