Ping: NASCAR fans

[Buddy Grant]

How come there aren't many European drivers in NASCAR?

[Crapshoot]

there are NASCAR fans ?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Buddy Grant

How come there aren't many European drivers in NASCAR?

In addition to the difficulty in adjusting to the different driving styles, I believe it's even more a function of maintaining it as an "American sport". The drivers, like the cars (ostensibly at least) are "ours" ... and the fans rather like it that way. (Check some NASCAR fan sites to see just how much heat the inevitable entry of Toyota into the top division creates & you'll get an idea of what I'm talking about).

The occasional Japanese, Canadian, Australian, etc driver isn't really considered problematic, if anything it's treated as being sort of fun.
For example, Hideki Fukiyama has run a few races & almost everybody I've talked to pretty much wishes the guy well, he seems like a pretty good guy and he knows how much he has to learn.

It's really sort of hard for me to picture an established owner/team taking the risk of hiring a European driver, say an F1 guy, for a high profile role. There's always a question of how well they would make the transition and there's also questions about how the fans (and by extension, the sponsor) would accept them.


Meanwhile, looking for some material on the subject, I ran across a fairly hysterical commentary on where NASCAR seems to be heading
http://www.racingone.com/column.asp?artnum=18712

[BigJohn&TheLions]

I believe it is due to the lack of european rednecks...

[RendeR]

probably has something to do with the fact that most racers outside the US drive open wheel, and have a serious difficulty adjusting to the tighter quarters and the constant beating and banging on NASCAR circuits.


aw hell, I'll be honest, its because they suk.

[TLK]

Wait till Yoda' makes it into Cup.... You'll see at least one full-time Japansese driver. As far as European drivers, I don't think many of them look at NASCAR as a realistic option. I know Busch will be racing Mexico next year, and NASCAR had hid the fact that they'd like to race in Canada, so a little more diversity is on the way.

[SunDancer]

They make more driving F1, and have worldwide fame.

[clintl]

Why would a European want to drive a Taurus?

[Jesse_Ewiak]

Yeah..Shumacher made 10 million in salary alone. Why would he basically start at the bottom in the Nextel Cup where he isn't known for a sport nobody in Europe follows. Basically same reason why Gordon or Dale Jr. won't be driving an F1 car anytime soon.

[Crapshoot]

Originally Posted by Jesse_Ewiak

Yeah..Shumacher made 10 million in salary alone. Why would he basically start at the bottom in the Nextel Cup where he isn't known for a sport nobody in Europe follows. Basically same reason why Gordon or Dale Jr. won't be driving an F1 car anytime soon.

10 ? No- he's closer to 50-60 depending on estimates. F1 is a far more widepsread and popular sport, and the prestige associated with it far dwarfs anything associated with Nascar. the top worldwide talent is always going to go to F1 over something like nascar...

[SunDancer]

Originally Posted by Aadik

10 ? No- he's closer to 50-60 depending on estimates. F1 is a far more widepsread and popular sport, and the prestige associated with it far dwarfs anything associated with Nascar. the top worldwide talent is always going to go to F1 over something like nascar...

He makes about $10 million in salary alone. His other millions and millions of dollars come from bonuses, licensing/merchedising, endorsements, ect..

[Ryan S]

Many F1 drivers would earn more if they were successful NASCAR drivers. A lot of those guys are paying for their drives.

Schumacher's basic salary is currently around $35 million.