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davidm (Offline)
  #11 1/20/15 4:54 PM
Originally Posted by Charles Nungester:
INDYCAR missed the boat again
Indycar does not even know there is a boat to be missed!
11 Likes: 7xCoop, FishBurger, jdull99, jim goerge, mc/rider, mtek56, racephoto1, RACrappieman, speed bump, team3521, Will Shunk
Stevensville Mike (Offline)
  #12 1/20/15 5:09 PM
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.
3 Likes: 7xCoop, Charles Nungester, team3521
chop (Offline)
  #13 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 (Offline)
  #14 1/20/15 5:47 PM
With Rico in napcar I might stay awake a extra 10 15 laps
2 Likes: racephoto1, Task Force
jjones752 (Offline)
  #15 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.

Jim Jones
Midwest Thunder Speed2 Midget #97
Sprintcarfanatic (Offline)
  #16 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 (Offline)
  #17 1/20/15 6:37 PM
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.

Charles Nungester
ISF (Offline)
  #18 1/20/15 8:04 PM
I believe Rico will do just fine in whatever type of racecar he decides to attempt to drive.

Silver Crown Championship Dirt Cars properly driven on a one mile dirt track are classic poetry in motion. Using that analogy, Jack Hewitt is one of the greatest poets of all time.
2 Likes: Charles Nungester, team3521
Sprintcarfanatic (Offline)
  #19 1/20/15 9:25 PM
No sir I did not.
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i love dirt track racing (Offline)
  #20 1/20/15 9:38 PM
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.
2 Likes: Task Force, team3521
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