I know. I was basically calling Hornish a dumbass. It blows my mind he's content being a back marker in Nascar when he could be winning races in Indycar.
Also applies to Danica. Not winning so much, but being more competitive. At least Franchitti was more interested in winning.
He's capable of winning, and likely winning Indy, which is more important than any race to ol' Rog. But lets not act like he'd come and compete for titles just by taking a Penske seat. JPM did much better in NASCAR than Hornish did, and while he is finding his groove now, it took him a while to find consistency and even a race win, and he's more naturally talented than Hornish. Then you've got Power and Pagenaud, with a road and street biased schedule. and that's just Penske(haven't even mentioned Helio). Dixon is the best all around driver in the series right now. If he hasn't lost it, he's very much in the second tier of IndyCar drivers, and that's in one of Penske's cars.
I think was saying that had Hornish stayed he would be winning races, and opposed to being a back marker and then coming back to win races. I agree with his assessment of the former, that he would have remained successful. And I also agree with your assessment of the latter, that he would be out matched at the top of the grid if he came back now. But I think he could still win races.
Hornish really surprised me, I think I may be on record as saying he might be the next Tony Stewart or some such great prediction. He seemed to have the right personality to do well in NASCAR. He would mix it up in an open wheeler in ways that scared me. I think your assessment is very close.
I may be late to the party on the Hornish discussion but I've got some friends in Charlotte that know him. His family is very, very important to him. He is making nearly three times as much in NASCAR right now than he could make with a top flight Indycar team. The safety that NASCAR provides is the other reason he's still in the sport. His wife absolutely does not want him in an Indycar as there's more chances of bad injuries or death. If Danica had not had a NASCAR ride after that race in Vegas that killed Dan Weldon she would have retired from auto racing. For some, the safety is the most important thing. Sam sticks with NASCAR for two reasons - family/safety and money. And let's not forget that Sam knows a TV gig is in his future once he decides to give up racing also.
Also, while I can believe he makes more in NASCAR than he could at a top flight IndyCar team, I doubt the disparity is nearly three times. If he's at a top flight team, with his resume, he's going to be making somewhere around 2 million. That means to run as a backmarker in NASCAB he's getting paid 6 million? I don't see it. Twisted Tea isn't that good to the point they can toss that kind of money around.
Didn't realize that. You'd think Nascar would have put him in the booth for one of the Xfinity races if that's the case.
I'd be happy with anything involving a Michael Waltrip replacement. I'm as big a Jeff Gordon fan of anyone on here but I'm not impressed with him as a TV analyst. Kurt Busch is probably the most well-spoken driver I can think of and think he would be great at it one day.
He must really like the Charlotte area. Maybe the family is settled in with the school system and all. I agree, he ain't making 3 times more.
It's really hard to gauge how much drivers make because they all have their own deals. Some of them don't get any of the prize money because of lofty salaries. Some drivers have no salaries and race for a portion of the prize money. They all have incentives built into their contracts. And if you help bring a sponsor you get a cut of that. You also get cuts of your merchandise dollars. I'm not sure what Petty is paying out these days but I'd say when you factor in all of the incentives, base salary, merchandise, sponsor money, etc - Sam is at least in the neighborhood of $5,000,000 per year. If it's true he could have got about 2 million from an Indycar ride then it's not quite 3 times the salary. And the Indycar schedule is much shorter and forgiving so you do have to factor that into things. But I will stand by what I said originally and that's Sam won't go back to Indycars because of his family most of all due to the dangers of those types of cars. And, because he has a TV deal likely waiting when he hangs it up and the studios are in Charlotte/Concord near his home. He has no incentive to return to Indycar. Montoya was an anomaly - and he's a racer at heart. He wanted to be in a ride where he could win and it's hard telling what Penske threw at him to get him in the Indycar fold again. And Montoya enjoys his time off which is a benefit to running that Indycar schedule which is tight and now ends prior to Labor Day.
I've heard Jack Roush is a tight ass which is why he can't keep drivers. That may he why he went from a top 3 team to one that has Stenhouse and Bayne running full time.
