NASCAR drivers VS F1

[coolblock]

I have often wondered how NASCAR drivers would fare in F1 racing and how F1 drivers would fare in the Nextel series.I feel pretty certain that if Jeff Gordon,Stewart,Jimmie Johnson,or maybe a few others,had concentrated their career in this series they would have been sucessful.I also think that F1's top drivers would be sucessful on the Nextel series.How fun would it be to watch Schumacher trading paint with Dale Jr at Bristol? Or imagine Tony Stewart losing his cool with some European reporter after a tough race at Spa.Anyone else got any thoughts on this?

[2112]

I suspect that crossing different disciplines is what would be fascinating. Rally to Nascar, Nascar to F1 etc. There are Americans in OW cars in Europe, but little attention is payed to them, only racers in Nascar are in sports broadcasts. So a Gordon vs. Montoya can only be a staged show. Sponsors don`t allow crossover anymore, so we don`t have any Mario Andretti`s anymore, and that`s a shame.

[kingfloopy]

Jeff Gordon could drive anything and be succesful. He has a ton of natural talent and the ability to take care of his equipment no matter what series he runs. Jimmie Johnson is very similar to Gordon. I don't think Stewart would make it in F1, he still has the dirt track sprint car spirit and is usually checkers or wreckers. I don't think he would adapt too well to F1. Schumacher wouldn't succeed in NASCAR, he's been spoiled by winning every race in the sad Ferrari parade F1 is now days. If he didn't win in the first few attempts or wrecked he'd probally quit. Plus he wouldn't be paid anywhere near what he thinks he deserves. NASCAR is popular in the U.S. because there is competition, its not the same driver or team winning every race and championship. Look at the reaction Gordon got because of how succesful he was, the F1 playing field would have to be evened up before most American fans would care.

All that being said it would be great to see some drivers crossing over between series like NASCAR and the IRL to see what they can do in other types of cars. Foyt and Andretti did it from the Indy car side. Both Allison brothers and Cale Yarborough did it from NASCAR. But its been a long time since its happened and things have changed a lot. I would kind of like to see the NASCAR guys in WRC car though.

J.D.

[gomick]

half the f1 drivers dont deserve to be in f1 - always had a thought similar to this post in regards to mark webber coming home to australia and racing in the v8 supercar series....

[Hans.ca]

In the 25 years that I was covering motor sport I always was of the oppinion that a good racer would be a good racer in any dicipline. In an interview that I did with Graham Hill he expressed the same oppinion.
Hans.ca

[Hazza]

Every corner has an apex.

[RaceFanStan]

I think there are very few drivers that can successfully jump
from a stockcar into an openwheel car,
or sportscars into a dirttrack car, & vice versa of course.

NASCAR drivers that HAVE raced the Coca-Cola 600 & Indianapolis 500 impress me.
(I know the IRL isn't F-1.)

I respect John Andretti, Tony Stewart, & Robby Gordon,
just because the have the "guts" to do the "double".

[gomick]

but the irl race wheel to wheel - f1 dont ..... is it safe to bag f1 in the nascar forum....

[RaceFanStan]

I doubt that it is "safe to bag" ANY other series in the NASCAR forum.

[Jack Man]

I don't think its a question driver talent. i think it more the technology involved on the F1 side. They can't just jump in a Mclaren crank it up, slap it in gear, and go. I've watched the Nascar boys race at the Glen for years and most of them do a pretty good job. Given some time to learn the technologies involved and 5000 miles of testing i'm sure most of them could do a reasonable job.

[cavvy]

Originally Posted by kingfloopy

Schumacher wouldn't succeed in NASCAR, he's been spoiled by winning every race in the sad Ferrari parade F1 is now days. If he didn't win in the first few attempts or wrecked he'd probally quit. Plus he wouldn't be paid anywhere near what he thinks he deserves.
J.D.

What an insight into Michael Schumacher - I give it a fat zero for content.

Schuey has been up the front in every thing he has ever driven, so k..flop you must know something no one else does.

Our sport loses as drivers don't move from category to category - in the 50s here in Australia Jack Brabham raced midgets at the speedway before tooling off to Eurpoe to collect F1 world championships in 1959 & 60 then bringing rear engine cars to Indy in 61 (& lots more).
Mario Andretti remains my #1 because he won driving everything.

Schuey would win in NASCAR.

[R59]

Schuey *might* win, IF he did some NASCAR, but not EVERY race!

What you would find is the NASCAR driver suffering in terms of stamina compared to the F1 drivers. Where drivers have gone over to F1 from IRL and Champcar, they have all had fitness issues to contend with.

In F1 we have a mix of drivers who started their days in Karts, and some who didn't start racecar driving until they were 16/17. We used to have a driver who started out in the British short oval (Brisca) racing, and that was Derek Warwick. He never made much of F1 through not being with the right team at the right time, but he made it in Worlds Sports Car racing. It'd be nice to see the F1 guys do what their forebears did - and race in just about anything that had wheels on it (especially NASCAR!)

Rob.

[botsquad]

the new school nascar pilots would all do well in f1.

the nextell cup series has become a huge talent pool......

[kingfloopy]

I didn't say that Schumacher wouldn't win, I said he would get discouraged after going a few races without a win. Schumacher is a good driver, but winning every single race in a series has a way of spoiling ANY (not just Schumacher) driver. Plus, he may have ran towards the front in every other series, but I don't recall him ever sitting in a NASCAR stocker, if he does and has success then I will believe that he is capable and bow down and kiss his feet or something. If Plus there is no way he would be paid any where near the amount he is paid currently, so he probally wouldn't do it in the first place. I'm still sticking by my opinion that F1 is sad any more. Ten years ago or so I may have been interested, but I really don't care if Ferrari wins another race or if a Minardi finishes dead last again. Now that Red Bull has a team and are trying to move some American drivers in I may pay more attention. But until I see a multitude of teams winning F1 is pointless for me to even watch, and I enjoy all kinds of motorsports beyond just stock cars.

J.D.

[jslone]

Intertesting views on this,but consider this as well,a lot of Nascar drivers do compete in the Grand Am series and a good portion are doing the Rolex 24 hours of Daytona.Also a lot of the F1 races are timed events,(or lapped at the most I think of 80 laps)I would like to see some of the F1 drivers handle the Coke 600 and other 500 mile races,this is just a different type of endurance.