After watching Sam Hornish the last year and a bit it looks like he just doesn't have what it takes to drive stockcars. Should he give it up? Sometimes Penske is too loyal.
That move today when he took out Bill Elliot was just stupid. Whatever happened to hold your line ???
Didn't Jeff Gordon wreck a lot of cars his first couple of years? This Hornish's 2nd year?
Didn't Jeff Gordon wreck a lot of cars his first couple of years? This Hornish's 2nd year?
Jeff Gordon was what....20 years old? He also won races. Hornish is a veteran Indy Car driver and a Champion who is in his 30's. He doesn't seem to be able to drive a low down force big weight car. He was great in Indy Car although his last few outings there it seemed his mind was somewhere else.
Down Force Cars... are you kidding me !!
First off, An Indy Car generates a downforce rating of more then 12,000 lbs, even though they weigh in at less then 50% a Stock car, they generate triple the amount if downforce.
You tell me how many guys made the transition, in modern day, from Indy Cars to Stock Cars without struggle...Tony Stewart was one and the best, Robbie Gordon, Mears, Hornish and Menard are average drivers in Stock Cars to say the least.
Its tuff for anyone to jump into these fast taxi cabs and be on there game right out of the box, furthermore even if you give most of the drivers a couple of years to become super star's, they still fail....
Driving a Stock Car is a great talent on its own, but don't consider them to be the best drivers in racing by far.
An interesting question for everyone would be, how many Stock Car Drivers have ever left the confinements of Steel and Roll Bar confinements to be a stand out in Indy Cars??
Answer that one and you will have your answer to just how good Sam Hornish really is!!
Several Drivers in Nascar don't stand out like Super Star's, but they got their on several key elements, meaning a talent ride, a money ride, or just the simple good old attitude of buying your own stuff and taking the shot, i.e. Mayfeild.
Lets hope your question isn't answered just by a short background in Cup stat's, but answered by true drivers stats based on past history at any level.
Stat's at this level will show you names like Foyt, Rutherford, Allison, Donahue, Richmond, Stewart, and yes, Hornish.
True Drivers that were standouts in anything they ever drove.
Hornish is coming along....just give him some time. Â Â
B.A.R. I don't get the point of your first couple sentences ??? It sounds like you think I said Cup cars have a lot of down force? My point was exactly the opposite.
Guys coming from IRL into NASCAR have to rethink their whole driving process. What my point was is that Hornish, although a great IRL talent, can't seem to get his hands and feet to do what a stock car needs. Guys like Stewart took to it right away. Almendinger seems to be getting it also. Scott Speed seems to be on the right track. AJ Foyt and Mario Andretti are a different deal as when they were racing open wheel and stockcars the difference wasn't as huge as it is now between the cars except for weight.
I contend that it would be easier for a talented driver who only raced stockcars to make the transition to Indy Cars easier than the other way around. Some guys are great open wheel drivers, some guys are great stockcar drivers, some guys are great at both. I don't think Hornish has what it takes to win in Nascar on a consitent basis. Look what Jeff Gordon did with JPM's car at Indy. He would have qualified for the US Grand Prix in the top 10 the year before.
Some may say 'you don't drive what the hell do you know'. Maybe nothing but that's what is great about racing. Everyone is allowed to have an opinion ;D