Even though McLaren-Mercedes was planning on giving Juan Pablo Montoya his walking papers at the end of this F1 season, I'm guessing that somebody else in the F1 hierarchy passed along the message that having one of their most prominent drivers mentioned in connection with a competing product (NASCAR) was probably a bad idea.
Hence the announcement today of Montoya's early exit from the team -- something that I'm sure came along with a pretty nice golden parachute.
You have to hand it to Montoya and his new (old) boss, Chip Ganassi. A few weeks ago the story was that Montoya was desperate for a ride in F1, now he's returning to North America in triumph and adding a new dash of credibility and international appeal to the NASCAR circuit. What a way to outflank F1.
And speaking of NASCAR, my friends at 850/620 The Buzz had some thoughts about the prospect of Danica Patrick's arrival in NASCAR:
How would Patrick hold up running 36 races instead of 14? What happens when Patrick gets shoved out of the way like Jeff Gordon did to Matt Kenseth at Chicagoland? Maybe it would be great for NASCAR and great for Patrick if she could finally find the checkered flag, or it could be an unmitigated disaster. Either way, it at least gives me a reason to post a totally cheesecake photo on the blog. We
Villeneuve is a great driver, but AFAIK he doesn’t have the oval experience Montoya does, and it would be a somewhat-curious move if Jacques did in fact jump ship to NASCAR… because I see it being a much bigger change for him at this point in his life and career. Beck when he was tearing up CART before bolting for F1, I could maybe see it… but not now.
The more I think about Danica going to NASCAR, the more the words “potential unmitigated disaster” ring in my ears. She can struggle a bit in IRL and it’ll be allowed, becauyse she’s somewhat protected. That won’t be the case in NASCAR and its odd, antagonistic fan culture. She’ll be eaten alive like many drivers before her
BTW… does anyone else smell Nextel Cup problems in the distance? At some point Tony George is going to decide that he needs a piece of that Stock Car Pie, and can a rival stock car circuit be far behind? A stock car circuit with a smattering of good drivers and that’s willing to embrace road courses a bit more could do MAJOR damage to the Busch and Nextel Cup circuits (especially if they could lure more open wheel fans on the road courses). Start the rumor now…
Yeah, what has Jacques Villeneuve done other than win Indy and the whole IndyCar series (before the IRL/CART split BTW)? It’s not like he’s demonstrated he can win on an oval or anything.
And after moving into stock car racing, Tony George is going to establish an alternative to NHRA, followed by a 2 1/2 mile horse race at the brickyard on the first weekend of May.
About as likely, anyway.