Who Needs American Drivers in Indy Car?

[Lancelot]

When you can have:
JK Vernay
Alex Lloyd
Ana Beatriz
Bertrand Baguette
Takuma Sato
EJ Viso
Mario Moraes
Sebastian Saavedra
Hideki Mutoh
Francesco Dracone
Mario Romancini

Meanwhile...

Johnson thrills kids during visit to his hometown.

Jimmie Johnson likes to give back to his hometown, then come back to see how the money is spent... a new computer system, was built with $100,000 from the Jimmie Johnson Foundation/Lowe's Toolbox for Education Champions Grants. It was the largest of nearly $500,000 worth of grants distributed in the San Diego area from the proceeds from Johnson's 2009 golf tournament and dinner-auction.

[stnkypete]

:fishingth

[doitagain]

it's not a troll, it's a reasonable question.

[Lancelot]

Thank you.

[That Guy]

I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that there might already be a thread for this topic.

[Joonyah]

I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that there might already be a thread for this topic.

This.

[Z28]

It is. One way to grow the series in popularity is for drivers to raise their profiles. They can get publicity by doing positive things in their community. During the excruciatingly long off season drivers have ample opportunity to do things, even on a smaller scale than JJ, where they reside. If any of the drivers on that long list did things during the off season it would be in their hometown in other countries, far from the eyes of any American media that you hope to get the attention of during the next 6 months. Yes some list Miami or Indianapolis as where they reside but honestly that's during the season and when there are no races they head to their real home.

[cheeseczar]

I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that there might already be a thread for this topic.

This +2

[stnkypete]

it's not a troll, it's a reasonable question.

Nonsense. It's a topic that has been debated repeatedly and is pretty much agreed on that more high profile American born drivers would be a boon to the ICS. The point of bringing it up again is trolling.

[FTHurley]

it's not a troll, it's a reasonable question.

It was a reasonable question five years ago. And four years ago. And three. And two. Now, it like showing up at the hospital where a family is standing vigil and saying things like, "Wow, that cancer is a real pain, huh?"

I mean, we know all of this. We've debated all of this. All of this has happened before. All of this will happen again.

[hdolan]

It would seem to me that the gate keepers of the series don't agree...

[SnakePitLounge]

It is. One way to grow the series in popularity is for drivers to raise their profiles. They can get publicity by doing positive things in their community. During the excruciatingly long off season drivers have ample opportunity to do things, even on a smaller scale than JJ, where they reside. If any of the drivers on that long list did things during the off season it would be in their hometown in other countries, far from the eyes of any American media that you hope to get the attention of during the next 6 months. Yes some list Miami or Indianapolis as where they reside but honestly that's during the season and when there are no races they head to their real home.

This. Good post. Maybe this is why American drivers don't bring sponsorship. They're trying to give back to the community in the off season instead of giving presentations inside board rooms!

[Ken]

Id take a new track record at Indy first...

and just a thought, since its the last year of the current chassis how about they make the 2011 events 'Claiming races'....lets see what Justin or Mutoh or Graham can do in a target car

[IRL Ricky]

Could this have been the birth of a new race fan?

Jimmie Johnson likes to give back to his hometown, then come back to see how the money is spent....A few minutes later, Johnson and his wife, Chandra, were in the automation and robotics lab watching 13-year-old J.T. Duboise demonstrate a computer-controlled model car..... Duboise, who wants to be a mechanical engineer, said he didn’t know a lot about Johnson or NASCAR until he built his car in the lab. “I thought it was really great that he came back and helped his people,†Duboise said. “Jimmie Johnson, in my opinion, is a very generous, giving and wonderful man. He’s really changed my life.â€

Ricky

[SnakePitLounge]

Id take a new track record at Indy first...

and just a thought, since its the last year of the current chassis how about they make the 2011 events 'Claiming races'....lets see what Justin or Mutoh or Graham can do in a target car

Unless they start racing on the road course....you're not going to get new lap records at Indy.