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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
ALEXANDER: Overcoming Open Wheel Obstacles
The former open wheelers in NASCAR are finally realizing their potential...
Adam Alexander  |  Posted August 06, 2009   Charlotte, NC
SPEED pit reporter Adam Alexander. (Image: SPEED)
The former open wheelers in NASCAR are finally realizing their potential and proved that again last weekend at Pocono Raceway of all places.

Juan Pablo Montoya has been a force to be reckoned with for some time now but has truly become a frontrunner and a habitual threat for the win the past few weeks, not to mention a viable contender to make the NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup. And while his IndyCar counterpart, Sam Hornish Jr., won’t vie for the title this season, he appears to have turned the corner in the colossal NASCAR learning curve after scoring his career-first top-five finish at Pocono.

I don’t have a stake in each week’s victor but I was highly disappointed for Montoya following his speeding penalty at Indianapolis Motor Speedway because although he erred on pit road, a win or a top-five finish that day would have given him a sizeable cushion on making the Chase. Montoya has handled the burden of qualifying for the Chase in admirable fashion, refusing to buckle under pressure. His experience of running for championships in the Formula One pressure cooker has really greased the skids for him in his bid to make the “playoffs.”

Montoya’s mistake at Indy was an anomaly for him because he doesn’t make too many flubs anymore. Sure, he’s an aggressive driver but he now knows how far to push the car and his competitors. When Montoya first arrived on the NASCAR scene, I thought he would be lucky to consistently run 20th within a couple of years – no reflection on his talent, but a testament to the fact that the move from open wheel to stock cars is such a daunting transition.

While he certainly made some mistakes and learned from them in his early days in a stock car, I think we all looked for reasons to point the finger at Montoya for any on-track skirmishes. Following the Pocono race, Kasey Kahne applauded Montoya and said most drivers would have lost control of the car had he put the same move on them that he put on the Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing driver. Montoya is one of the most successful drivers in the history of motor sports, so the fact he didn’t immediately succeed in NASCAR demonstrates just how challenging the jump truly is.

Sam Hornish Jr. has discovered this firsthand in the first two years of his Cup career. He wasn’t just a face in IndyCar – Hornish was a dominant three-time champion who won the Indy 500. While Hornish accomplished everything conceivable in that series, it has taken him some time in Cup because success doesn’t seamlessly translate from one type of car to another. Given the marked improvement Hornish has shown in his sophomore season, he could be a consistent contender by this time next year. The Penske Racing driver’s 2009 performance has greatly exceeded that of 2008, and he already has been in position a couple of times to take a swing at the win and could have done so at Pocono.

So, if Danica Patrick is seriously considering venturing into the NASCAR world, she should take a hard look at the uphill climb Montoya and Hornish endured. I think she wants to be where she can win races and compete for a championship, and I just don’t think that’s possible at the Cup level based on her predecessors’ experiences. While she may be a perfect fit one day in NASCAR, her credentials don’t come close to matching Montoya’s and Hornish’s upon their open wheel exit.

If Danica truly aspires to ascend to the top of her game, she should sit tight in the IndyCar Series because she has proven she can be competitive and potentially a future championship contender. Any move to NASCAR would need to be on a gradual basis with a sampling of ARCA, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and Nationwide Series races. That route has proven beneficial for others and, given the level of competition in the Cup Series, it’s almost impossible to do it any other way nowadays. Just ask Montoya and Hornish – success is anything but instantaneous. But it can happen.

The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDtv.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or Speed Channel
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Adam Alexander

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