rec.autos.simulators

Scott
PA-Scott
G.T.S. Racing - http://www.racesimcentral.net/

--
Scott B. Husted
ICQ# 4395450

Mark

On the subject of the IRL, Roger Penske recruited Jason Leffler from
the IRL to use him as his test driver this year.  Stewart may be
reaching the "household name" level, but there are definitely others
with talent in the IRL.

Driver:  "No sir, I'm sorry -- I can't accept that million-dollar
purse.  Your race just isn't prestigious enough, and I couldn't
tarnish my reputation as a driver by taking your money and making
myself a millioniaire.  I'll go struggle in some other series . . ."

If a first-place prize of over a million dollars, and a total purse in
excess of 8 million isn't "prestigious," then I don't know what is.  

Speaking of prestigious, could you tell me, by chance, how much
Montoya's earned for any of his past 3 victories?  I'm not questioning
his talent here, mind you -- he's a DEFINITE talent -- but I'd like to
put a dollar figure on this issue of "prestige," just for the record.

-- JB

The IRL sucks; F1 is just a bunch of weenies; NASCAR ain't real
racin'.  CART rules, period.  The Indy 500 is dead, and Tony George
should be hanged until dead.

There.  Everybody satisfied?  Good.  Now, let's get back to talking
about simulations.  

[Please note that this is the first deurogatory thing I've said here
about ANY race series, and I'm only speaking in jest about F1 and
NASCAR -- and the IRL for that matter.]

-- John Bodin
   Former Publisher, The IRL Insider Magazine
   (now defunct due to the demise of the Indy 500 and the IRL)
   http://www.don'tbothertheirlisajokeandyoudon'tcareanyway.com

;-)

-- JB

"No, your honor, I didn't say she was crazy, I said she was . . ."

I can't tell you how good it makes me feel to know that you follow the
IRL *that* closely -- I couldn't have come up with those figures off
the top of my head.  Doesn't this illustrate to you the inherent
wrongness with your overall view of this whole issue?  The IRL is a
series that you seem to loath, and yet you follow it closely enough
that you are able to retain more useless, esoteric information about
that series than an avowed, *** IRL fan?  Seek help, man, seek
help.  If you like something, watch it, follow it, devour it if you
will, but if you don't like something, then find better things to do
with your time.  Take a walk, spend time with your loved ones, but
don't waste another second of your life following the IRL, worrying
about the state of the Indianapolis 500, or getting all twisted up
with negativity in general.  Geez -- racing is SUPPPOSED to be
entertainment.  

Again, the issue of "top talent" is purely based on individual
opinion.  Alex Zanaradi isn't competing against Dale Earnhardt or Jeff
Gordon, so he isn't (and hasn't) competed against the top talent,
which makes him second-rate . . . gimme a break!  We're almost down to
the "my driver is better than your driver" level here.  I feel an
uncontrollable urge to say, "Oh yeah?  Well neener-neener . . ."

Not in the least.

Read above.  I simply pulled it off ESPN.com     I can find the winnings of the
professional chess players but that doesn't mean im a "***" fan.

If it means it would scramble my brain enough to think that the IRL is a
"professional" race series I will pass <G>   The day I believe the IRL in its
current format is a "professional" race series is the day I get a lobotomy!  <G>

SUPPOSED to be is the operative word for the IRL.

I dont and will never follow the IRL.

The last time I knew Zanardi was not a stock car driver, he was an open wheel
racer.   BIG difference.

Scott
PA-Scott

--
Scott B. Husted
ICQ# 4395450

As for IRL... I'm not real partial to it, but probably because it
doesn't get much exposure, so I don't see it much.  I will say this:

ANYBODY that will jump into a high powered missle and hurl it around at
those speeds deserves a TRUE racing enthusiats respect, league
regardless.  The "Billy Boats" take just as much, or more, risk as the
"Schumacher's" or "Andretti's", etc.  What saddens me is that even
self-proclaimed/so-called "racing enthusiasts" can have the audacity to
belittle the IRL's driver's efforts, and they are engaged in a
potentially life threatning sport as much as any open wheeled driver.  

I have seen drivers with "heart" in each series.  To think that a driver
is less of a person than another because he drives in IRL is ludicrous.
I remember watching Buddy Lazier almost collapse while in the Winner's
Cirle at Indy a few years back.  Why? Because he was driving with a
(recovering) broken back.  Think about that. 220+ MPH with a broken
back... knowing that even a small mishap could leave him crippled for
life. Yet, he took the risk. Why? Because he's a RACER through and
through.  

Odd. I hear all this about that "no name" driver, etc.  Hmmm... seems to
me that every upcoming driver is a "no name". That's why's he's there...
to prove his worth. Few knew squat about past "newbies" in CART.
(Remember some of the hairbrained mistakes a certain newbie made in his
rookie year in CART?  It was a fellow by the name of Alex Zanardi.)  But
some went on to prove their talent... those that couldn't, fall by the
wayside.  That's racing.  Ditto this this "Tony Stewart" kid... who's
he?  Well, it's being proven that he can indeed run with the best in his
chosen ield: Nascar Winston Cup. And, like it or not, he came up through
the IRL to get there.

And therein lies another overlooked fact: Perhaps most of the upcoming
IRL boys don't WANT to drive F1 cars.  Their passion is oval racing.  As
for the so-called "has been" F1 drivers in IRL (or CART)... well...
could it just be that (though their skills aren't what's required for
F1)... they just want to RACE?  Seems to me that's a genuine racer. One
that won't quit because he can't be in the "Big Show" that has all the
glamour... but instead, he finds a car, a series, SOMETHING... and keeps
racing.  Seems to me that's "heart".  But what do I know?

Anyway, it saddens me to see drivers that lay everything on the line,
risking life and limb, REGARDLESS of venue, to be sneered at and
belittled because that venue doesn't happen to be the "Anointed One" of
the small person doing the sneering.  To me, that's a real tradgedy.

Andre Ming

Z.

Please remove NOSPAM from my email address when replying.

Hmmmmm, I wonder which series has had people do that most difficult
trick of being successful in open and stock cars :)  IRL or CART?

Bill / Amish on TEN

And your point is what?  With the exception of John Andretti, I would hazard
a guess that most CART drivers wouldn't even want to drive NASCARs.  A lot
of the CART guys have road racing roots, not the other way around.  If they
are going to leave a series for another (by choice and not by not being able
to get rides, aka Cheever, Goodyear, Roberto, etc.) it'd be F1.  IRL and
NASCAR are more alike than CART and NASCAR so you might see a fair amount of
transition between the two, but I don't think you'd see many Busch or WC
drivers going to IRL.

Bill / Amish on TEN

Well put; that needed saying.

DK