Open Wheel Drivers Will Increase NASCAR's Popularity

For years, it was almost mandatory that an aspiring NASCAR driver earn his way into the sport. You had to be successful at your local dirt track. And then you had to make some noise racing Late Models or become a champion in one of NASCAR's Touring divisions. The next step may have been the ARCA REMAX series or if you were lucky, the NASCAR Busch Series. And then, if you were at the right place at the right time, you found yourself driving in NASCAR's uppermost level of competition. It appears as if that has all changed over the last decade or so, as team owners continue their search for the next Dale Earnhardt or Jeff Gordon.

And instead of looking for the traditional stock car bred kids from the bullrings, owners seem to be looking to open wheel racing for their next star in the making.

The open-wheel conversion to stock car has been around for decades. Back in the 1960's and 1970's, Mario Andretti, Al Unser, A.J. Foyt, and Dan Gurney made intermittent appearances at some of NASCAR's crown jewel events. In fact, Andretti and Foyt won multiple Grand National races, including the Daytona 500. Gurney proved to be an original road racing ace in stock car racing.

But none of those open-wheel stars ever intended to completely abandon open-wheel racing altogether for a full-time stock car career.

As NASCAR's popularity has unwaveringly increased, stock car racing has captured the intrigue of several open-wheel winners, most notably Juan Pablo Montoya from Formula One, and A.J. Allmendinger from Champ Car. Both Montoya and Allmendinger have full-time Nextel Cup rides line up for 2007, as they embark on the intricate transition from open wheel cars, to the weightier stock cars.

Montoya, a former Indianapolis 500 winner and Champ Car champion, will drive the famous Texaco Havoline colors for Chip Ganassi Racing, and has already made quite an impression in his two ARCA races. Montoya has a huge international following, which will likely render him as one of the more popular drivers in NASCAR right off the bat. Also, being from Colombia, Montoya is sure to increase the popularity among the Latin community.

Allmendinger will drive Toyota Camry's owned by the newly formed Red Bull Racing.

Allmendinger won five races in 2006 for Forsythe Championship Racing after being fired from RuSport early in the season. He also competed in two Craftsman Truck Series races for Bill Davis Racing and recorded finishes of 13th at New Hampshire, and 5th at Talladega.

Allmendinger does not have the immense devoted fan base that Montoya has accrued, but his name has become well-known among the auto racing world. It's likely that some Champ Car enthusiasts may keep track of how Allmendinger is adjusting to NASCAR Nextel Cup competition.

And Montoya and Allmendinger are not alone. Over the last couple of years Chistian Fittipaldi, Michel Jourdain Jr, and Paul Tracy have given stock car racing a shot. Formula One driver Jacques Villenueve has expressed interest in racing in NASCAR. The three-time Indy Racing League champion Sam Hornish Jr may possibly make his NASCAR Busch Series debut at Phoenix in November, and run a partial Nextel Cup schedule in 2007 for Penske Racing. Earlier in the season, it was rumored that Danica Patrick and Dan Wheldon would be the next to transfer to NASCAR.

The open-wheel to stock car craze purportedly began when Jeff Gordon left the USAC ranks to drive stock cars, but he never raced in CART or Formula One. In my opinion, the open-wheel to stock car craze began with Tony Stewart and Robby Gordon. It didn't take long for the 1997 Indy Racing League series champion to adapt to stock cars as Stewart won the Winston Cup title just five years later.

Robby Gordon has enjoyed moderate success in NASCAR since he left the open-wheel ranks.