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The Voice of the NASCAR Nation
Vol. III,No.VIXII- -FINAL EDITION |
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The Voice of the NASCAR Nation
Vol. III,No.VIXII- -FINAL EDITION |
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7 DAY ARCHIVE
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HEAD TO HEAD
In April, Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon staged an epic battle to the
finish at Martinsville Speedway. Johnson came away with the win, leaving
his teammate and mentor Gordon frustrated after Johnson held back a
relentless charge over the final stages of the race.
Gordon, winner of the past two races — Talladega and Lowe’s — leads the
Nextel Cup standings by 68 points over Johnson, winner of the past two
Nextel Cup races run at Martinsville. The two drivers have combined to
win seven of the previous nine races at Martinsville, making the
Hendrick Motorsports duo the favorites in Sunday’s Subway 500.
After seeing Johnson come back from a 146-point deficit with five races
to go in 2006, Gordon knows every point is critical. If he can’t beat
Johnson, Gordon knows he needs to be close to him at the finish line.
“Everybody’s going to step up their game during the Chase, so we’ve got
to step up our game, too,” said Gordon, who actually is listed as the
owner of Johnson’s No. 48 Chevrolet. “If (Johnson’s team) stepped it up
more than us during one particular weekend, we have to keep them in our
sights. If they finish first or second, we need to finish third or
fourth.”
Open Wheel Drivers Come to NASCAR
When reigning Indianapolis 500 and IndyCar Series Champion Dario Franchitti attempts to qualify for Saturday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event at Martinsville Speedway (Saturday, 3 p.m. ET LIVE on SPEED™; pre-race show NCTS Setup 2:30 ET), he joins a pack of open-wheel standouts already paving the path to stock cars.
“From where I’m sitting, it is probably because of the money (in NASCAR),” said Mario Andretti, a multi-series champion who crossed over to NASCAR and won the Daytona 500 and is considered by many to be the greatest driver of all time. “Every individual would give you a different reason. I think the strongest one might be financial. It’s not the only motivating factor but it is a strong one. And right now, the best chance to earn some money is NASCAR.”
Others appear a bit stumped as to why these drivers, all of whom have won championships in their respective series, would venture into the vastly different world of NASCAR.
“This makes no sense,” said SPEED reporter Robin Miller. “Neither Franchitti nor Jacques Villeneuve need the money. Jacques was making $20 million a year driving Formula One. These guys have already made it financially and have won major championships, so maybe they look at this as their 401K years.”
Despite the varying opinions as to the motivation behind the open wheelers’ departure to NASCAR, most agree that if open wheel racing currently was a healthier series, this trend would not be in effect.
“Looking at certain drivers who have pretty much been open wheel the majority of their career, if open wheel was what it should be, I don’t think they’d even be thinking of leaving,” Andretti said.
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