RicoNascar Land

davidm · 1/20/15, 4:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charles Nungester

INDYCAR missed the boat again

Indycar does not even know there is a boat to be missed!

Stevensville Mike · 1/20/15, 5:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charles Nungester

...Like Minor league professional hockey, I'm a little sad when they leave our hometown or series.

Very good analogy, Charles. Spot on.

I think the deal with Rico moving to NASCAR boils down to two things:

One, NASCAR is where the big money is, as stated earlier in this thread.

The second is there is no direct way for any open wheel shoe to get to IndyCars. No one is going to take a chance on the sprint car guys when they can pull in a true road racer like a Pagenaud. Then you have guys bringing big money to buy rides. Sure, they are good drivers, but they have the inside track.

Other than BC of late, no one is on the radar for an IndyCar team. So the dirt guys have to go to NASCAR. IndyCar has no feeder series to speak of. Sure there is Indy Lights, and the Mazda Road to Indy, but get real. Low car counts and no TV coverage. Roll back 20 years when you had the Toyota Atlantics. Now THAT was a feeder series.

European open wheel has Formula Ford, GP2, GP3, World Series by Renault, etc. We have a mere shadow of that. Heck, a dirt guy would get more seat time running an SCCA formula (back to no coverage).

Rico is going to the K&N East Series. Remember when that was the Busch North Series? A nice regional series with a few guys that made it to the top. But between NASCAR greasing the skids for a feeder series, whether it be K&N, Trucks, or even supporting ARCA for that matter (i.e. RCR building cars for the grandkids) NASCAR is the only place to go.

Roush has an ARCA affiliate with the Roulo Brothers. ARCA has become a breeding ground for young shoes. Gone are the old veterans who make up the better half of the field.

Was it last year where Dave Darland was trying to get an ARCA ride for Daytona? Here is the top winner in USAC, and he is scraping for a one off in ARCA. That shows you how slight his Indy options are.

Gibbs, Ganassi, Childress (above), Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Penske..... all have feeder teams in the lower NASCAR tiers. Until guys like Penske, Ganassi, Andretti, Dale Coyne, etc., start forming feeder teams in Indy Lights, it's either head for NASCAR or stay on dirt for guys like Rico.

The lack of a good feeder series is what is killing the process.

chop · 1/20/15, 5:46 PM

When I say this, I am not looking to start anything. Just making a statement. But is he not the same weight and as tall as wonder woman Dania? If she can do a 500 mile race, why can he not do 500 miles? If we get a few more open wheel guys racing in nascar I think you can say that dirt open wheel cars are the farm league for them. K and N is just the last stop before you get there.

jim goerge · 1/20/15, 5:47 PM

With Rico in napcar I might stay awake a extra 10 15 laps

jjones752 · 1/20/15, 6:05 PM

That was kind of my point (without the Danica analogy; no offense to Ms Patrick, but does anyone think she could wheel a Midget half as well as Rico?). And USAC has already been somewhat of a feeder for NASCAR, with Jeff, Tony, Kasey, Carl Edwards, Ricky Stenhouse, Ryan Newman among others, and now Young Money and Rico. Even before that it was really Ken Schrader that started the trend.

Sprintcarfanatic · 1/20/15, 6:28 PM

Will Nascar have to rewrite rules for pedals as in gas, brake & clutch ?

Good luck & go get'em Rico.

Charles Nungester · 1/20/15, 6:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sprintcarfanatic

Will Nascar have to rewrite rules for pedals as in gas, brake & clutch ?

Good luck & go get'em Rico.

Did you read the article?
It addresses that.

ISF · 1/20/15, 8:04 PM

I believe Rico will do just fine in whatever type of racecar he decides to attempt to drive.

Sprintcarfanatic · 1/20/15, 9:25 PM

No sir I did not.

i love dirt track racing · 1/20/15, 9:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charles Nungester

INDYCAR missed the boat again

Chip has a couple of indy cars. Rico will be a development driver for now with chip. It would great to see rico and Larson both run in the indy 500. You never no what chip has under his sleeve. I will say one thing is that he has two good young guns under his sleeve. Go rico and Larson.

1/20/15, 6:05 PM	#15 Re: RicoNascar Land
jjones752 Senior Member Race Count This Year: 19 Race Count Last Year: 22 Join Date: Jul 2011 Posts: 2,259	That was kind of my point (without the Danica analogy; no offense to Ms Patrick, but does anyone think she could wheel a Midget half as well as Rico?). And USAC has already been somewhat of a feeder for NASCAR, with Jeff, Tony, Kasey, Carl Edwards, Ricky Stenhouse, Ryan Newman among others, and now Young Money and Rico. Even before that it was really Ken Schrader that started the trend. __________________ Jim Jones Midwest Thunder Speed2 Midget #97

1/20/15, 5:46 PM	#13 Re: RicoNascar Land
chop Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 318	When I say this, I am not looking to start anything. Just making a statement. But is he not the same weight and as tall as wonder woman Dania? If she can do a 500 mile race, why can he not do 500 miles? If we get a few more open wheel guys racing in nascar I think you can say that dirt open wheel cars are the farm league for them. K and N is just the last stop before you get there.

1/20/15, 6:28 PM	#16 Re: RicoNascar Land
Sprintcarfanatic Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 755	Will Nascar have to rewrite rules for pedals as in gas, brake & clutch ? Good luck & go get'em Rico.