Three past winners of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing—Sam Hornish Jr., Juan Pablo Montoya and Jacques Villeneuve—were in the field on Sunday. None of them did anything memorable. The highest finisher was Montoya, who came in 17th, while Hornish finished 30th and Villeneuve crashed and wound up 41st.
Late last week I was chatting with Darrell Waltrip when our discussion turned to the invasion of open-wheelers coming to the Cup series. “It’s great because it shows there’s a lot of interest in our sport,” said Waltrip. “But if they don’t do nothing, it will mean nothing. Period.” CNN.com
Three former Indianapolis 500 winners will start in the Checker Auto Parts 500 today.
Two of them (Jacques Villeneuve and Juan Pablo Montoya) are foreign born while one is from Ohio (Sam Hornish Jr.). Add Patrick Carpentier into that mix for the race today and once again the influx of international and open-wheel drivers is big news in the NASCAR world.
And don’t forget that the crew chiefs such as Donnie Wingo, Richard “Slugger” Labbe and Roy McCauley –the crew chiefs for these Indy guys – are about as NASCAR as you can get.
So stop the moaning about the open-wheel and foreign influx. Their presence will make the sport different. But it will make the sport better. Bob Pockrass , SceneDaily.com
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