Why switch to NASCAR?

Question

There are so many F1/IRL drivers switching to NASCAR. Even Ricky Carmichael. What do you think is the reason?

Answer 1

NASCAR is the hot series right now. Everyone wants in. The Sponsors are putting up big money. However, the F1 crossover does puzzle me a bit. There is alot more money and Global attention on F1 then on NASCAR. The paychecks are bigger too. Seeing Juan Pablo come over shocked me. I guess years of playing second Bridesmaid to Schumie and then being bumped out of that spot when Alonso came on the scene was just too much for him.

IRL and Champ however are fighting to survive. Both series are in the ICU and the only means of life support right now for IRL seems to be the sideshow of Danica Patrick. However; aside from Tony Stewart; IRL and Champ crossovers have usually ended in disaster.....case in point; Robby Gordon.

Answer 2

First of all don't lump F-1 and IRL in the same category, open wheel is where the similarity ends.
Money? F-1 has had top 10 paid athletes for 2 decades now; Michael was #1 for 3 years in a row. F-1 may not have the popularity of NASCAR in the US, but it is actually the most popular form of racing in the world and there are more US fans than you think.
Montoya didn't jump to NASCAR he was fired, and saying he wanted more competition implies he was successful in F-1, he wasn't. If anything his move was the opposite.
I wonder if everyone dogging F-1 has ever even watched a race, sure there is not as much passing, the tracks are half as wide the corners for left and right and on some tracks speed can vary by close to 150 MPH. That makes passing a little more of a challenge than “turn left, draft for a while, swing out on a straight away and pass, get passed back, repeat for 2-3 hours”

Answer 3

The only reason I can think of would be the money, of course I dont know how much F1 drivers ans such make. Then there is the fact that the sport has grown tremendously in popularity. Most people think nascar is a redneck sport, so there must be some fantastic reason why thses drivers are converting to our country ways.

Answer 4

@mike1985: get a clue. montoya was not fired, as you well know. he wasn't pulled out of his F1 ride until AFTER he announced his move to NASCAR. and even then his car owner acted like a 4 year old and refused to let him come to the US, where he wanted to be, and race stock cars until his contract was up. that doesn't sound like someone who was fired to me. he won 7 F1races, you don't call that being sucessful? i'll bet that's more wins than 75% of the 2007 F1 drivers, right? so again, how is that not sucessful? he would have had no problem getting another F1 ride, you and i both know it, so quit spreading your bullsh*t in here. you're just bitter toward him because he decided to leave F1 to come race in a surperior series.

to the loser below me: yeah, it takes a lot of driver skill to follow the leader all day with no passing or lead changes. and with those cheat boxes they call traction control, you could put a trained monkey behind the wheel of an F1 car.

Answer 5

Right now, Nascar is a rock solid race series with tons of exposure, seat time for the drivers, and money for everyone involved. Is there any other series where you can race three times a week, not including practice and qualifying? I'm willing to bet Jeff Gordon made more last year just off souvenier sales than Sebastian Bourdais made for winning the Champcar championship.

Answer 6

Follow the money.... NASCAR is the most popular form of racing on the planet. Why else would sponsors continue to support weak drivers like K. Petty and S. Marlin? People switch to NASCAR to make money.

Plus, some, like Montoya simply are tired of the same old, same old with F1 and want the challenge of competing with great drivers like Gordon, JJ, Smoke and Jr.

NASCAR is currently the most competitive series around. Hopefully they won't screw it up like CART did.

Answer 7

NASCAR is growing, and F1/IRL is a dying.

Remember the days when the Indy 500 was actually an event people cared about????

Answer 8

it is not the money....................
Michael is the highest paid racing driver in the world and second highest earning sportsman in the world, earning a reputed $80 million US in 2004 ($40m of which was his salary from Ferrari). ...................jimmie johnson earned a mere $8milllion last year.

JPM came to nascar,in my opinion,because of chip gannassi.gannassi is tired of all the mediocre seasons with his no good drivers so he brought in JPM to see what he can do.afterall he is a irl champion and winner of 7 F1 races.

i also believe that irl is on the way down.i personnally like irl and love going to the races,but its on its way out.

Answer 9

It is the biggest sport right under football. The fans are great The drivers are good people on the whole AND they are TRULY atheletes more than driving in circles is going on out there on the track. Plenty of competition going on

Answer 10

The question is ,why not? You will earn more money by crashing in Nascar than you would most any sport,don't believe me,check statistics,it is true and very unbelieveable!