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HOUSTONLM04

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Hey Huuuuuuu---dakkkkkkkk..

Yes, I saw it...it wasn't exactly the most exciting "made for TV racing event.." but yes, I too was impressed by Mr. Gordon's efforts in the F1 car..

 

Maybe a secret society can convince the Dupont Dude to drop out of Winston Cup and take up F1 racing???? :P;)

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I didnt look at it as any kind of competition. Yes, Gordon was pretty impressive in the F-1 car, and I thought Montoya did a great job in the cup car. I believe with more seat time in it, he would be a force to be reckoned with if he raced with the cup guys on the road courses. Both guys are outstanding race car drivers!

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Champ,

You're right, this really wasn't a "competition," per se. It was a major PR event to display the skills of some very good race drivers; it's akin to The Skins Game competition in golf--a made-for-TV event to draw publicity.

I agree with you--both guys are very good drivers. However, I thought Mr. Gordon adapted to the F1 car better than Mr. Montoya adapted to the WC car.

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I didnt see it that way. I believe That JPM would be a threat for the pole at Sonoma with maybe one day of testing. Think JG would be a threat for a pole at the USGP? Not taking anything away from Gordon, But those next few seconds would be extremely hard to obtain, while I think Montoya would be in the ballpark right from the get go. But hey, we all have a right to our opinion, makes the world go round. :)

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Chuck-Good words about JG from you. Glad you can look at it objectively, and I think you did.

I also think Gordon was more motivated than was Montoya. JG once had some desire to drive in F1, while I doubt Montoya would consider racing much of anything in the U. S. until he retires.

Montoya would be more likely to be a threat for a pole than Gordon simply because the cars in NASCAR are a lot more equal than they are in F1, and they are probably a lot easier to drive. You noticed Gordon's comment about "getting lightheaded" under braking. Those things stop at something like five Gs and Gordon talked about braking over 200 meters out in the stock car versus some 50 meters out in the F1 car.

It struck me that these were two guys on their day off, playing with each other's ride, and having an absolute ball doing it. I think Gordon did get the better of the deal, but Montoya was having fun, too.

Finally, would someone explain to me the strong dislike of Gordon of some stock car fans? I can understand not being a fan of one driver or another, but some of the "Gordon haters" are just that: haters. What has the guy ever done that was so wrong?

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I may be able to explain as I fit in this category. Back when he was winning every other race all you would hear about is Jeff Gordon. It was like he was the only driver on the track. This is similar hearing so much about Dale Jr. After a while people start getting sick of all the constant bombardment of that driver and the fans begin to dislike them. What is bad about the current Dale Jr. situation is that he pretty much only wins on superspeedways (hasn't won in 52 races at non superspeedways) but every week the media is shoving him in our faces. Gets annoying quick.

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No, it isn't. Most drivers, teams and even tracks, don't bother to tell the press what they are up to, though they complain if they aren't getting press. If you're just going to run your local track as a hobby for the rest of your life, you can get by without attracting attention.

But if you plan on going anywhere, even to a regional traveling series, you'd better either work to get attention, or have a very fat wallet.

The drivers who get lucky on press are few and far between, though Jeff Gordon is certainly one of them, as he freely admits. Though he's always had publicists working for him (all, I repeat, all, successful racers do), he got lucky in 1) winning a couple of races on ESPN's Saturday Night Thunder, and 2) came along when the press was ready for someone who looked like he didn't walk on his knuckles to make into a hero.

JG can, as someone has pointed out, drive the heck out of a car. But getting "lucky" on press coverage, working to attract attention, then winning, and then having an image the press jumped on, is what got him there. Since that's (supposedly) what most drivers are trying to do, why hate Gordon?

Think about it this way: if drivers worked as hard to attract attention as the successful ones do, and if every track and series worked as hard to get attention and press as Texas Motor Speedway does (what did you think of Shawna's all-girl pit crew?) and as NASCAR does, we'd have to fight off sponsors and advertisers with a stick.

Instead, you get mad at Gordon for doing it right? Why not just get mad at the Leges and Davidsons and Smiths and Bendeles for going too fast?

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