DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti and Tony Stewart opened the door for open-wheel drivers to race stock cars.
Juan Pablo Montoya kicked it in.
Montoya had one of the best rookie seasons in recent NASCAR history in 2007. He won a race, ran strong in several others and finished 20th in the Cup standings — better than most expected since he was making the difficult transition from open-wheel racing to stock cars.
In short, he set a new benchmark for others to follow.
There are plenty of followers, too.
Fellow open-wheel stars Dario Franchitti, Sam Hornish Jr., Jacques Villeneuve and Patrick Carpentier are making the same jump to NASCAR’s top series this season. And they are hoping for similar results.
“Juan ended up in the top 20 in points and was rookie of the year. If I could do that, that’s plenty good for me,” Hornish said.
Although the influx of open-wheel drivers was met with some skepticism — defending Daytona 500 winner Kevin Harvick, for one, said they made a mistake — others believe it will be good for the sport.
The additions could create more competition for open seats, expand fan base and maybe even boost television ratings.
“You have to look at it as a positive,” veteran driver Kyle Petty said. “If you believe the propaganda that we are the greatest racing series in the world, then you would hope you would attract the greatest drivers.”
The newcomers have no illusions of what’s in store when the season begins with Sunday’s Daytona 500. Each of them has talked with Montoya about the transition, trying to get a feel for what to expect.
“People don’t appreciate how hard it is,” Montoya said. “It’s really hard. In F1, if you miss the boat, you’re third or fourth and you really sucked that week.
“Here, if you miss the boat, you’re 30th. You’re either good or bad. In the middle, you’re bad.”
More open-wheel drivers could be on the way, too, especially if any of the newcomers have the kind of success Montoya enjoyed in 2007.
“Since that barrier’s been knocked down and that door has been opened, then that opens the door for other European drivers, Japanese drivers, who knows,” Petty said. “It opens this series up and it makes people in Europe look at this series and think, ‘That’s pretty cool.’ ”
Daytona 500
Sunday, 1:30 p.m., KDVR-31
What: 50th running of the NASCAR race.
Where: Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway
