Quote:
Originally Posted by Flyin Ryan
For people that know how everything works I think they do. I give James Jakes just as much respect as I did Milka Duno (who started out in sportscars by the way).
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And what of Rubens Barrichello, Alex Tagliani (Barracuda Networks isn't his, but Bowers & Wilkins and his presenting sponsors from '10 and '11, and in Canada Hotwheels help him buy rides in the sport), Helio Castroneves, (until this year when he got the GoDaddy seat) James Hinchcliffe, (partially - since losing 7/11 at Andretti) Tony Kanaan, Oriol Servia and Graham Rahal? And that is just off of the top of my head.
There are drivers who I consider second tier like Mike Conway, Takuma Sato, and Charlie Kimball who are likely only in the sport because of the right connections and checkbooks. Taku has a couple poles, Conway is a GPLB winner and Kimball could be one of the next great American drivers if he figures out the new car.
On your point of blue collar vs. white collar, IndyCar/CART never fully divorced itself from the blue collar. Up until recently Marlboro and Miller were big partners, Budweiser and Molsons were key team, series, and race partners. I think IndyCar priced themselves out of a lot of homes with over expensive grandstand, paddock and even general admission prices. However NASCAR is making a lot of the same mistakes. Fortunately NASCAR has a fabulous marketing department, one direction (NASCAR-first), three major network deals that provide easy to access to the average fan's TV screen on Sunday afternoons (at consistent times) and NASCAR has never experienced a "break the thing down and start again" moment the way IndyCar and sports cars have a dozen times.
Chris