Mike Conway. Has there ever been.....

[Racing Steward]

The sad truth is that there are more possibilities on the NASCAR side. There are more shots at a decent ride out of 43 than 24-25 plus more races and, I think, larger purses. Hard to argue against that.

Maybe he's just better suited for Nascar at this stage. He looks a lot more comfortable in their cars than he has in an IndyCar, except Indy, which again was considered easy race conditions by alot of the drivers, but those Road & streets, he got pounded pretty badly and he has R-S experience and wins in AOW cars. He dominated NNS at Road America, but Danica also ran up front on NNS twisties so I think that says all that needs to be said on that front.

And honestly if you ask me, AJA looks happier in Nascar. When he was racing the R&S in IndyCar this year, he just didnt look like he was having much fun at all probably because it wasnt coming back to him as he expected, plus the incredible strength of the field and the car was very difficult to handle on the twisties. Alot to take in. I think he expected things to come back to him more naturally and it just didnt happen. I think Detroit completely shattered his confidence.

Somebody should have paid Townsend Bell to say "I think his Indycar road-street experience made him a better Nascar driver" as a little giveback to Darrell Waltrips idiotic comment about Dario's Nascar experience a few years back.

I agree with you that Nascar is a better option for him. Way better odds for a decent seat and a better pay day. Atleast he tried.

[ICS001]

He dominated NNS at Road America, but Danica also ran up front on NNS twisties so I think that says all that needs to be said on that front.

You act as though no good road racers were entered in any of those events. Anyway, as Ricky Stenhouse Jr has demonstrated, being good in Nationwide =! being good in Sprint Cup. Look RS, Indycar is not the final arbiter of US racing talent. If it were then Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon and several others from Nascar would be in it.

[Coyote]

Hector Rebaque was pretty much a RC only driver and won a race.

-- Hector Rebaque was pretty much a Road Block only driver and won a race. -- FYP

[flatlander_48]

And honestly if you ask me, AJA looks happier in Nascar. When he was racing the R&S in IndyCar this year, he just didnt look like he was having much fun at all probably because it wasnt coming back to him as he expected, plus the incredible strength of the field and the car was very difficult to handle on the twisties. Alot to take in. I think he expected things to come back to him more naturally and it just didnt happen. I think Detroit completely shattered his confidence.

Yes, it was likely a difficult transition. Due to the way stock cars handle and their relative weight, I think it could work to dull ones senses. People who come from Indy car or F-1 or sports cars always talk about how sluggish the cars are. If you don't have to be on the knife edge, you won't. It just seems to blunt that edge. So, if you reverse that transition, you have to work back into the fine edge; re-hone those senses.

[HunterG]

Conway seems to be his own man. He doesn't seem like the guy who only listens to the marketing gurus.

[Racing Steward]

You act as though no good road racers were entered in any of those events. Anyway, as Ricky Stenhouse Jr has demonstrated, being good in Nationwide =! being good in Sprint Cup. Look RS, Indycar is not the final arbiter of US racing talent. If it were then Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon and several others from Nascar would be in it.

I didnt say that, but it is my honest opinion that the talent level (road-street racing-wise) in IndyCar is significantly higher top to bottom in IndyCar than it is in Nascar. Its not even close IMHO. Thats not saying Nascar doesnt have anybody that can road race, because thats ridiculous. They have guys that can road race, but IMO IndyCar has more guys that can and do it even better. IMO put some of Nascars best road racers in a F1, IndyCar or even V8 race and I say they handily get beat down against that kind of competition and road racing talent. JJ & Kyle Busch who Id say are two of Nascars better road racers couldnt even cut it in Grand Am competition in their limited opportunities. Johnson ran it to get better and it helped him big time on the Cup side but he wasnt very strong in the events and Kyle Busch didnt even make it one lap before he flew off course. And Edwards got embarrassed at ROC a couple years back, going 0 for 16, he's always been in Nascar upper group of road racers. The good ones dont, but so many Nascar drivers rely on their bumpers to gain positions and sliding guys to side instead of working corners setting up momentum making clean passes with talent. Look how much better at it Vickers got after racing at Le Mans, a race loaded with road-street talent.

And with Nascar its worse at Sonoma than at the Glen but every year you get drivers fuming on the radio at a slower car holding people up and not letting them through. Sports cars have different cars racing around each other, with drivers of various ages/experience level and massive differences in talent level and they dont have a problem with it, how come they can do it but you cant?

And I never said IndyCar was the "final arbiter" of US racing talent, thats Nascar land where you hear nonsense like that every single week. I just grow tired of hearing morons like the announcers and some fans spill all of this best in the world nonsense when its so far from the truth. The top Nascar guys sure, but 43? Blasphemous. But to your point I certainly do not believe the good IndyCar drivers get near the credit they deserve for how good they really are and its all because of the popularity. Just because Nascar is far more popular, has absolutely zero to do with the talent within it. There's no correlation.

Also Tony Stewart & Jeff Gordon could have been IndyCar champions in their primes. They were that good. (Smoke won one). Now? No way. Smoke could win a top ride on the ovals but with his physique, I think he would be largely ineffective on the twisties. Gordon? He's not even that good of a Nascar driver anymore, so lets not even bring up IndyCar.

[editor]

I meant drivers who have led Indy during their careers, not each year, which apparently there have been some who havent. 4 or 5 out of how many? Very small percentage.

Nearly 25 percent of the drivers who have raced in the 500 for Penske have failed to lead a lap during their careers with the team. Twenty-one drivers have run the event for Penske.

[Maelochs]

Leading a lap could mean nothing more than one driver used a tiny bit less fuel, or maybe even missed a call to pit from his crew.

[Zeroninety]

On the off chance that is not meant to be a rhetorical question, the answer is yes.

Drivers who failed to lead a lap at Indy during their Penske careers include Paul Tracy, David Hobbs, Kevin Cogan, Bobby Allison and Mike Hiss. Danny Ongais is not included since he never competed in the race for Penske.

And Bill Alsup (1981).

[atrackforumfan]

If you throw out the 500, Gurney had a blistering year in USAC in 1969 just running the RCs. AFAIK, it was the only year in his professional career that he didn't do any F1 races.

OTOH, in the 'historic' era of road racing in the USAC national championship, Swede Savage, Ronnie Bucknum, and George Follmer won on ovals.

[editor]

And Bill Alsup (1981).

Bill Alsup's name was omitted due to the fact that his 1981 Indy ride was not entered by Penske Racing nor by any entity controlled by Penske Racing.

[atrackforumfan]

Bill Alsup

1981 USAC Gold Crown Series Results

Race Site Cars St Fin

1 Indianapolis 33 7 11 7 A.B. Dick / Pacemaker (Roger Penske) Penske / Cosworth 193/200 32,212 running 0

[castronevesfan3]

A.J. Allmendinger finished on the podium 14 times in 40 CCWS starts. Thirteen of those were earned following road and street course races. He won five events (Portland, Cleveland, Toronto, Denver and Elkhart).

I'd only count IRL stats, I don't count Grand Prix (before 1950) and F1 stats with each other either...

[atrackforumfan]

JJ & Kyle Busch who Id say are two of Nascars better road racers couldnt even cut it in Grand Am competition in their limited opportunities. Johnson ran it to get better and it helped him big time on the Cup side but he wasnt very strong in the events and Kyle Busch didnt even make it one lap before he flew off course.

Kyle Busch was awful on RCs when he started in Cup. He's pretty good now, because he's a great race car driver and he wanted to be great at RCs, too.

[editor]

Bill Alsup

1981 USAC Gold Crown Series Results

Race Site Cars St Fin

1 Indianapolis 33 7 11 7 A.B. Dick / Pacemaker (Roger Penske) Penske / Cosworth 193/200 32,212 running 0

Is this fragment meant to rebut post 41? If so, where does it conclusively state that Penske was the entrant? Please check your source.