American driver for Penske Team

[FAS33]

let's get a yank onboard our series down the track, I was thinking Kurt Busch or maybe Carl Edwards, seeing how those drivers in NASCAR are starting to improve their road racing skills, with bit of Ambrose flavour, it shouldn't be a hard transition from a NASCAR to a V8 Supercar, bring it on.

[D.R.T.]

The salary reduction might be tough to swallow for an NASCAR driver.

[Umai Naa]

Boris Said?

[Chris - Melb]

The way Kurt Busch left Penske's employment, that's not very likely.

Why would Penske look beyond his own teams? Brad Keselowski is no slouch on road circuits. Not to mention the trio of IndyCar drivers he has.

Bathurst clashes with a NASCAR race, so the latter are the only possibilities.

The less said about Boris Said the better...

[Malfunction Junction]

Juan P.......


Never mind, I'd actually like to see Jimmy Johnson here, he's up the front on road courses and it might be a nice segue for Penske to pinch him.

Not sure if Chad Knaus would be so comfortable engineering though.....

[racer69]

Are we talking about a driver running the enduro's or a driver coming out here full-time for the series?

The likes of Edwards, Busch or any other NASCAR driver or Indycar driver isn't going to come down here full-time unless they lose their ride.... and even when they do its not hard to find another one, as Kurt Busch has proved.


V8Supercars should have embraced the likes of Emerson Newton-John when he was racing down here 15 years ago if they wanted a 'Yank' factor.

[Chris - Melb]

I was referring to this year's Bathurst. I'm not entirely sure what the thread initiator was referring to. I can't see a NASCAR driver giving up the big money to come here for a full season either.

[venturi]

Joey Hand or Pat Long, although both may have clashes with either BMW DTM or Porsche sportscars respectively.

[Mystery]

But a Nationwide driver might. Sam Hornish?

Alright I can't see it, but if there was going to be one I'd think he's highly likely.

[racer69]

If a team was serious about getting an American driver involved, they wouldn't be looking anywhere near NASCAR, they surely would focus on the likes of say a Ricky Taylor. Young, fiesty, has driven powerful RWD cars and road racing is their bread and butter.

[JHamilton]

Kurt Busch... really? Maybe you can't feel the hate all those miles away, but he is not a well liked driver.

A road racer would be my choice and Colin Braun comes to mind. Tommy Milner would be perfect, but he's tied up with GM.

[HJJ]

'Dinger. Ties to Penske, great road racer.

[JHamilton]

Originally Posted by HJJ

'Dinger. Ties to Penske, great road racer.

[bluesport]

Scott Pruett?

[kittle]

Originally Posted by bluesport

Scott Pruett?

And he has driven a V8 Supercar. Ok it was a long time ago, back in the EL falcon Days for AJR.

With Brighty and Jones...

[peckstar]

and he was really average
he is also 54 which might be a bit old

[eduardo1]

Yeah, if you were getting an American, you'd be looking at sports cars or possibly IndyCar.

NASCARs are so different, and they race them so infrequently on road tracks, that they'd struggle far more than Dahlgren and Engel, regardless of talent.

The whole hype around Ambrose coming back - with the lack of testing available now it would take him a season to be a consistent front-runner, even in a competitive car.

[Driver TBA]

Originally Posted by D.R.T.

The salary reduction might be tough to swallow for an NASCAR driver.

4th place prize money in NASCAR is about the same as a high end V8SC yearly salary.

Very tough to swallow.

[Juarez Jed]

Prize money goes to the team, not the driver.

The top 25 Nascar drivers earn multi-millions in payments and endorsements, much more than any V8 driver.

[Driver TBA]

Originally Posted by Juarez Jed

Prize money goes to the team, not the driver.

Yeah I know. Was more making a point about the financial gulf between the two series.

[mountainstar]

Originally Posted by Juarez Jed

Prize money goes to the team, not the driver.

The top 25 Nascar drivers earn multi-millions in payments and endorsements, much more than any V8 driver.

Drivers get anywhere from 20-60% of the prize money in Nascar depending on what deal they have with their team.

[Paradise City]

Pat Long. He's an old Penske driver in the ALMS albeit via Porsche.

[Dimension]

Edwards is an interesting prospect, seeing as his contract expires soon. But would he really be good enough to be considered for the job? I'm actually a bit of an Edwards fan, but thats not because he has mad skills. Especially on road courses where the drivers have more of an influence than on ovals, Edwards hasn't made much of an impression on me.

Keso will not switch from Nascar to V8. He's a title contender in the series that matters most to him, why switch?

As for the rest of NASCAR, I don't think many would consider going abroad unless they loose their ride, and many of those that do don't really qualify as good enough road racers.

So.... JEROEN BLEEKEMOLEN

[mountainstar]

You will not get any known name Nascar driver down there unless he has already made his money and just wants to live in Australia. Your only chance is a driver that ran in sportscars or a no name series like indycar or a driver that just has a genuine interest in the championship.

[Mystery]

"No name series" :-) You wouldn't get away with that in every spot in this forum would you!

(I don't agree incidentally)