the sprint car drivers misconception

[Heath Hamilton]

someone should remind old JJ Yeley of the "Jason Leffler and steve kinser stories."

being a sprint car champ doesnt mean you are gonna be a nascar champ.

the fact is gordon / newman /stewart would be champs in ANY series they raced in. it just happens that they came up through indiana sprint cars.

Sprint Car drivers heading to NASCAR is the same as the goldrushers heading for california. only a few were gonna find gold. most died on the way, or ended up broken individuals.

[hopcam]

I think Jason Leffler is doing pretty well for himself...

[Comic Book Guy]

Re: the sprint car drivers misconception

Originally posted by Heath Hamilton
the fact is gordon / newman /stewart would be champs in ANY series they raced in. it just happens that they came up through indiana sprint cars.

Probably like Yeley will...

But that's okay, I'm sure T & H will provide a new generation of Shinjis to fill the void.

[Martyj]

The more I'm presented with theories and statistics that prove a driver's background ensures a certain level of success in one series or another, the more and more I'm convinced that a driver's background, vis-a-vis short tracker vrs.road racer vrs.off road vrs. American vrs. foreinger has ABSOLUTELY NO bearing on the level of success they achieve in another series.

[carl s]

"being a sprint car champ doesnt mean you are gonna be a nascar champ." Heath

Correctamente Heath.

It (being a short-track champion) may, however mean:
That NASCAR will give you a look-see
A possible good paying job in the support classes
(based upon your performance)
The chance to move-up into the #1 series in the US
(with untold riches, high fan and media interest and instant celebrity)
Being around a culture that respects you

carl s
Indio, CA
All the rivers, they flow into the sea - or the sea dries-up.

[Shadow101]

And remember, that Gordon, Stewart, and Newman did have some extensive development in other series (IRL, Busch, ARCA) before hitting it big. I don't think Leffler, nor Kinser had this benefit. Hopefully Yeley will get some good practice before being rushed in ala his IRL experience.

[Lucky161]

JJ didn't say he would be Cup champ, only that he could see the possibilty.

[$noopy]

Re: the sprint car drivers misconception

Originally posted by Heath Hamilton
someone should remind old JJ Yeley of the "Jason Leffler and steve kinser stories."

#1 Leffler and Kinser needed additional seat time in Busch before going to Cup. Alo, Kinser didn't get a fair shot at Cup anyway. He was told they would use up the older equipment on the first half of the season. This way he would learn the car, tracks , and crew with the older stuff. The second half of the season, they would bring out the new equipment.
As we all know, he was let go before then. When he didn't like the feel of the set-ups, rather than change it to suit the driver, he was told just to change the way he drove it.
His replacement wasn't qualified to carry Kinser's helmet bag.

being a sprint car champ doesnt mean you are gonna be a nascar champ.

#2 No, it just means you know how to win and are a winner.

the fact is gordon / newman /stewart would be champs in ANY series they raced in. it just happens that they came up through indiana sprint cars.

#3 I agree with you on this, but add, I think you find J.J. added to your list.

Sprint Car drivers heading to NASCAR is the same as the goldrushers heading for california. only a few were gonna find gold. most died on the way, or ended up broken individuals.

#4 J.J.'s probably going to get the gold.

[D Byrd]

the way i see it, if you can win in a midget, sprinter or silver crown car at IRP, and do it more than once, you can win in anything.

kinser had way too little pavement experience and too much dependence on those billboards on top of his car. throttle control seems to be almost an afterthought for WOO.

leffler was thrown into the deep end as the next gordon or stewart, without spending time making the transition. now that he is doing well in the trucks he'll make the natural transition to busch for a season and then back to cup and he'll be a force to be reckoned with.

stewart was terrible in busch. not enough horsepower to show off his superior car and throttle control.

gordon did decent in busch, winning a few races, but much like stewart, his superior car and throttle control was wasted in busch. both gordon and stewart saw far more success in cup than busch. busch is good for asa, arca, and truck guys coming up to learn how to race and establish a name running the same place as the cup guys week in and week out. it's only useful for USAC guys, as is trucks, in learning how to deal with the tires, tracks, weight, and drafting.

last night on speed, JJ talked alot about throttle control. for him, trucks and busch will only be useful in learning about the tires, tracks, weight of the car and drafting. he will showcase his true abilities when the higher horsepower comes into play and his tremendous throttle control and feel for the car will need to come back to the forefront.

i think JJ will be an absolute superstar. you don't beat the best open wheel racers in the country as soundly and consistently as he is if you aren't just that **** good. he is one of those special ones that comes along every five years or so.

bottom line, JJ has nothing to prove to anybody. he has proven that he is a winner in more ways than barron, rice, renna, herta, gidley, hornish, the laziers, meira, scheckter, ray, fisher, and almost everybody else had proven before they were given their break and landed the indy car ride. i only wish that we were able to ride him all the way to the top. perhaps that ship has not completely sailed just yet.

note:the last paragraph is not a knock on anybody.

[PHJIndy]

Wing whiners!

[carl s]

Originally posted by D Byrd
the way i see it, if you can win in a midget, sprinter or silver crown car at IRP, and do it more than once, you can win in anything.

kinser had way too little pavement experience and too much dependence on those billboards on top of his car. throttle control seems to be almost an afterthought for WOO.

leffler was thrown into the deep end as the next gordon or stewart, without spending time making the transition. now that he is doing well in the trucks he'll make the natural transition to busch for a season and then back to cup and he'll be a force to be reckoned with.

stewart was terrible in busch. not enough horsepower to show off his superior car and throttle control.

gordon did decent in busch, winning a few races, but much like stewart, his superior car and throttle control was wasted in busch. both gordon and stewart saw far more success in cup than busch. busch is good for asa, arca, and truck guys coming up to learn how to race and establish a name running the same place as the cup guys week in and week out. it's only useful for USAC guys, as is trucks, in learning how to deal with the tires, tracks, weight, and drafting.

last night on speed, JJ talked alot about throttle control. for him, trucks and busch will only be useful in learning about the tires, tracks, weight of the car and drafting. he will showcase his true abilities when the higher horsepower comes into play and his tremendous throttle control and feel for the car will need to come back to the forefront.

i think JJ will be an absolute superstar. you don't beat the best open wheel racers in the country as soundly and consistently as he is if you aren't just that **** good. he is one of those special ones that comes along every five years or so.

bottom line, JJ has nothing to prove to anybody. he has proven that he is a winner in more ways than barron, rice, renna, herta, gidley, hornish, the laziers, meira, scheckter, ray, fisher, and almost everybody else had proven before they were given their break and landed the indy car ride. i only wish that we were able to ride him all the way to the top. perhaps that ship has not completely sailed just yet.

note:the last paragraph is not a knock on anybody.

Thanks Mr Byrd
and thanks for all your efforts in the past to get the IRL off the ground.

carl s
Indio, CA

[hdolan]

"being a sprint car champ doesnt mean you are gonna be a nascar champ. "

True, but, they pay the drivers over there, and well...strange concept...

[Belanger99]

Gotta agree and disagree with Heath.

Agree that Kinser was royally hosed in WC by the Berstein team-by the time he got there, the team and the equuipment was junk, and wasn't going to get better. In fact, I believe that at the time Kenny knew he was getting out of WC racing. Could Steve have used more experience? Possibly.

I don't agree on Leffler though-Jason went to what at the time was a pretty bad race team, only recently has Ganassi, not Sabates been able to raise that race team to a level of respectability, and truly, I don't think week in and week out, they are one of the top teams runnin even with their three cars and huge budget. They've had some good runs, but....

And Jason had a few decent runs for them-IMO, he jumped to soon to quick-he's doing quite well in the truck series, and I kind of like the fact that he's going to run a few races with a Cup team with ties to bigger operations.

I only agree with Dennis on one point-Steve has plenty of experience running without the crutch, and every time he's taken it off, he's been able to beat the best who run regularly without it. I think he still could. More pavement time? Yes, but Dale Earnhardt could have run Bersteins junk and wouldn't have found victory lane.

JJ's had some pretty good training on saving tires, the 100-mile dirt and pavement races of the SC division are pretty decent training for that, throttle control you can get from the sprints.

I seem to remember Blaney saying it was actually easier once you got to Cup, because of the added horsepower. Stewart said the same.

Quite frankly, the IRL could use a few more race winners and a few less parade drivers.

[manson]

Jason Leffler was never a Sprint Car champion.

[calinoff]

One has to remember the fact that when the took the body off the "car" Kinser was driving, the found that one of them was a back-hoe...and the other a fork lift.