While it may seem simple enough, a driver making a transition from one motorsports series to another is oftentimes very difficult.
And that difficulty is most apparent when drivers from other motorsports series attempt to switch to the NASCAR world.
Frankly, those who have switched from another series to NASCAR and achieved success are few and far between. Tony Stewart is arguably at the top of the list, making the transition from open-wheel racing to become a three-time Sprint Cup champion.
Jeff Gordon is another one who comes to mind, switching to NASCAR after a stellar career in dirt and sprint car racing.
But others have tried and had less than great success.
Juan Pablo Montoya lasted seven seasons in Sprint Cup but was never quite the driver that he was in open-wheel racing, where he returned to in 2014 in the IndyCar Series.
Marcos Ambrose stayed nine years in NASCAR before returning back home to Australia to race V8 Supercars in the upcoming 2015 season. Ambrose was both quite popular and had decent success in NASCAR, even if he failed to win on an oval in the Sprint Cup series, arguably one of his greatest regrets of never being able to accomplish.
Former IndyCar champ Dario Franchitti lasted a short while in NASCAR. Ditto for former CART and Formula 1 champ Jacques Villeneuve. Likewise for Travis Pastrana.
Even IndyCar-turned-NASCAR driver Danica Patrick has had a rough go of it in her own transition from open-wheel to the stock car ranks.
But all things being equal, if there were certain drivers we’d love to see give it a shot at NASCAR, here are the ones we think could have some success.
from Bleacher Report http://ift.tt/1ymGnWU
via IFTTT January 16, 2015 at 02:03PM
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