Tweet
The ride-buying topic has been pretty hot again lately, so I will pose this question:
When was the last time a out-and-out ride buyer won a IRL race??? (I am talking a guy who is chosen to drive, primarily, for his checkbook; and without the $, the car would not run-- examples would be Salazar with Foyt or Herb with Tri-Star or Giaffone with Treadway). Looking at last year, here is what I came up with:
2001 IRL race winners:
Hornish (Panther)- Pennzoil pays the bills; family money helped him get PDM seat; talent won him Panther seat.
B. Lazier (Hemelgarn)- Tae-Bo, Coors, Delta
paid the bills; hired on talent.
Sharp (Kelley)- Delphi pays the bills; hired at Kelley for driving ability.
Castroneves (Penske)- Marlboro pays the bills. Roger hired him for racing talent.
Unser Jr. (Galles)- Starz, Bud, etc... paid the bills (TG may have helped a bit). Galles hired him for driving ability.
J. Lazier (Menard)- Johns Manville and Menard pays the bills. May have brought money in other situations; but earned Menard ride with ability on track.
Ray (Menard)- See above.
Cheever (Cheever)- Eddie and Nissan pay the bills. Owns his own team, so really is not applicable.
IMO, I don't see any true "ride-buyers" in that list. Unser Jr is the closest thing to one (and he would be considered one this year).
When was the last time it happened? Do we make too much of this 'problem' if they aren't winning races anyway?
When was the last time a out-and-out ride buyer won a IRL race??? (I am talking a guy who is chosen to drive, primarily, for his checkbook; and without the $, the car would not run-- examples would be Salazar with Foyt or Herb with Tri-Star or Giaffone with Treadway). Looking at last year, here is what I came up with:
2001 IRL race winners:
Hornish (Panther)- Pennzoil pays the bills; family money helped him get PDM seat; talent won him Panther seat.
B. Lazier (Hemelgarn)- Tae-Bo, Coors, Delta
paid the bills; hired on talent.
Sharp (Kelley)- Delphi pays the bills; hired at Kelley for driving ability.
Castroneves (Penske)- Marlboro pays the bills. Roger hired him for racing talent.
Unser Jr. (Galles)- Starz, Bud, etc... paid the bills (TG may have helped a bit). Galles hired him for driving ability.
J. Lazier (Menard)- Johns Manville and Menard pays the bills. May have brought money in other situations; but earned Menard ride with ability on track.
Ray (Menard)- See above.
Cheever (Cheever)- Eddie and Nissan pay the bills. Owns his own team, so really is not applicable.
IMO, I don't see any true "ride-buyers" in that list. Unser Jr is the closest thing to one (and he would be considered one this year).
When was the last time it happened? Do we make too much of this 'problem' if they aren't winning races anyway?
Comment