Open Wheel Racing: NASCAR’s Talent Pool May Find Its Roots There

For nearly nine decades it was the dream of practically every grass roots, oval track, open wheel race driver in the United States to one day drive in the Indianapolis 500. Ever since the first Indianapolis 500 in 1911, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway represented the pinnacle for racers who competed on the short oval race tracks of America in high-speed, high-horsepower, open wheel race cars. Drivers such as Bill Vukovich, Parnelli Jones, A.J. Foyt, Al and Bobby Unser and Johnny Rutherford were perfect examples of these drivers who honed their racing skills in Midgets and Sprint Cars before achieving stardom in the Indianapolis 500. But times have changed dramatically. More and more grass roots, oval track, open wheel race drivers still dream of racing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, only in a NASCAR Winston Cup car in the Brickyard 400, not in an Indy Racing League machine in the Indianapolis 500.

As NASCAR Winston Cup racing continues to grow in popularity, it has lured many USAC stars to the series. Ken Schrader made his move to NASCAR as a full-time Winston Cup driver in 1985. Even though he became a regular in the series, open wheel drivers still continued to aspire to Indy Cars. But as CART began to become more influenced by street and road courses, which started a trend toward foreign-born racers, drivers in the USAC Midget, Sprint, and Silver Crown series were virtually stuck without hope of advancement. That is why a young Jeff Gordon bolted the open wheel racers to head to NASCAR in 1991 for two seasons in the Busch Series before beginning his magical Winston Cup career in 1993.

The advent of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series brought even more drivers from the USAC open wheel ranks into full-fendered racers including such drivers as Mike Bliss and Randy Tolsma. When Indy Racing League star Tony Stewart decided to leave open wheel racing and sign with team owner Joe Gibbs, that was yet another major sign of a migration in progress. With Stewart's spectacular rookie season in NASCAR Winston Cup, now more and more team owners in both the Winston Cup and Busch Series are recruiting drivers from open wheel racing. Gibbs has signed USAC star Jason Leffler to compete in the Busch Series.

Dave Steele and Ryan Newman are the latest open wheel racers heading to the NASCAR Busch Series. And in July, Formula Atlantic driver Anthony Lazzaro was signed by team owner Cal Wells III to begin a NASCAR career in the Busch Series beginning in 2000 with hope of advancing into Winston Cup racing. It appears the trend will continue, but why are open wheel racers suddenly becoming such a hot commodity in NASCAR?

Bob East, the dominant chassis builder in USAC open wheel racing with the Beast chassis, has the answer. "Steve Hmiel told me one time the reason they liked open wheel guys is when they race the Midgets, they have to get every bit out of it that they can and race within inches of each other, but they can't touch them because they will crash bad," East says. East was referring to the technical consultant at Dale Earnhardt, Inc., who spent a decade as team manager at Roush Racing. "The Silver Crown series is a real good stepping stone because they have to learn tire management and they can't run into each other," East continues. "Most of the local stock car guys, like in ASA and ARCA, have grown up in stock cars and have beat on each other since they were 16 years old. They can't do that on a superspeedway because it beats up the car and their bodies." Where NASCAR team owners such as Gibbs used to look at drivers currently in Winston Cup or the Busch Series for his rides, he found a potential "franchise player" in Stewart, the '97 IRL cham-pion. Stewart, in turn, convinced Gibbs to give Leffler, another open wheel talent, a chance in Gibbs' Busch Series car.

Leffler made his Busch debut in the Kroger 200 at Indianapolis Raceway Park the night before the '99 Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. "He is a little bit like Tony," says Gibbs, who had an eye for talent when he was the head coach for the Washington Redskins--winners of three Super Bowls under his tenure. "Tony has had a lot of background with him. We had watched him race different places. I think he shows that extra bit of talent. We are going to see what he is like in these bigger cars and we are going to take it one step at a time. We'll have to see how it goes. We'll see how Jason likes them. He has only been in two tests with us and IRP was a real test for him because it's a tough race." Gibbs does have some warnings before other team owners try to emulate his approach.

"I think for somebody to say we are just going to grab open wheel guys and they are going to do this, I think that is a big mistake," Gibbs says. "I think it has to be the right guy. They look at Tony Stewart and when somebody sees that kind of success, they have a tendency to say let's go in that direction. Tony is a real unique guy. I think he is very talented. He was in not only open wheel racing, but he has been in big horsepower stuff along with dirt Late Model racing. Tony has an extensive background. "Tony spent another year in the Busch Series getting ready. I think the rush to jump on an open wheel driver is not the answer. The answer is to get a good one that is in that series." Ironically, all it would have taken for Leffler to be a full-time driver in the Pep Boys Indy Racing League this season was a full-time sponsor. He was already serving as a test driver for Treadway Racing and was ready to become a rookie in the series. But, as is a problem with many teams in the IRL, the search for sponsorship did not yield a backer, and Leffler decided to head south literally.

"I haven't really given up on the Indy 500; I'd like to do that one day," Leffler says. "I did a lot of testing with Treadway Racing and Firestone. They had a hard time finding a sponsor for me, but they still wanted me to stick around. I really couldn't. They wanted me to get a contract, but not run me the full season. I told them I would go somewhere else and wait it out. "NASCAR is where it is at right now. It's where all the big sponsors are and where all the good teams are. The IRL never really presented any great opportunities for me as far as getting a full-time ride and a future with a team. Not that the IRL hasn't helped open wheel drivers. I think it has helped, even us guys going into stock car racing, because it made everybody realize there are some pretty good drivers in the USAC series." Leffler also credits his relationship with Tony Stewart, who is co-owner of his Silver Crown team along with Bob East, for helping him get started in NASCAR.

"Tony helped a great deal," Leffler says. "He has been a big help to me, not only getting that deal going but he helped me at the tests and helped me at the beginning of my transition to stock car racing. Hopefully, he'll be there a long time. That's one great thing about being associated with Joe Gibbs--they have Tony Stewart and Bobby Labonte and a lot of great people there that you can get good advice from and really trust. I don't feel I'm alone out there in my learning curve. I feel that I have Tony for advice, I can ask questions and trust what he says."

That advice is very useful as Leffler continues to adapt to the vast differences between an open wheel racing machine and a stock car. "A stock car is a lot heavier, has less horsepower, and less tire than a Silver Crown car," Leffler says. "It is actually, to me, a little harder to get around the track than an IRL car. An IRL car has a lot of downforce and a lot of tire so in some places you are running wide open. My biggest problem is getting used to all the weight in a stock car and getting used to the radial tires compared to what I'm racing now. But I have a good team, so that helps out.

"I think some of these guys may be taking NASCAR for granted. I think it is the toughest type of car to race. You don't have the luxury of all the ground effects and the high horsepower. I like it because I can relate a little better to the mechanics. When we make a change, we change sway bars and springs and stuff. The IRL, you change ride heights 50,000ths of an inch and that lowers the tunnel and gives you more downforce. NASCAR is closer to what I've been racing. Stock car racing is great and that is where everything is at right now."

Stewart is bringing more open wheel racers with him, including Leffler. "I just like the kid. I think he is a talented race car driver," Stewart says of Leffler. "There is more to being a good race car driver than just sitting in the seat and driving. He has a really good feel for the race car and he listens well. He can take what you are telling him and apply it to the race car. He is really good about giving feedback and really feeling changes when you make a change to the race car. He is the type of guy you want to take under your wing and help out."

Some are surprised that the IRL let a driver like Leffler get away, especially when he embodies all the qualities the IRL is hoping to attract in its series--a young, American, grass roots, oval track, open wheel racer. "I don't know how the IRL has any choice right now," Stewart says. "The car owners are the ones that have to do that. What is the IRL going to do? Unless the IRL is going to physically put him in a car and pay for the bills, how is the IRL going to have any control over it? It's the same thing that happened to me.

"Everyone is struggling with that right now. He had to do the same thing I did. With all these unknowns that are going on with the CART/IRL deal, he was smart to come here. NASCAR Winston Cup racing is the pinnacle. It's solid. It's stable. You know what is going to happen from one week to the next. It's the series to be in right now." Although it was Jeff Gordon who won three NASCAR Winston Cup titles after leaving the USAC ranks, Stewart's arrival may have been the defining reason why the rush to open wheel racers has become so strong.

"I think the Winston Cup car owners and officials and everybody are educated to the fact you didn't have to grow up in North Carolina or Virginia or Tennessee to drive a stock car. A good race car driver is a good race car driver, no matter what you put them in. I think it is opening a lot of doors for a lot of other people, whether they come from a formula background, road course racing, whatever. It has given a lot of guys opportunities to run in the truck series, the Busch Series, and now the Winston Cup Series." Stewart also gives high marks to another USAC racer who is making his move into the Busch Series--Ryan Newman. "He's really talented," Stewart says. "He is out winning races and that is what you have to do to go to the next level. I don't care if you finish in the top five every week, you have to be spectacular and you have to win races, and both him and Jason are doing that." "The main reason these guys are leaving for NASCAR is there are ride opportunities for them with all the corporate sponsors going down there," East says. "They are basically going to teams with their helmet bag and if sponsors like them, they put a package together where they can go do that. To do an IRL or CART team, they basically have to bring their own sponsors with them." East has built his reputation in USAC open wheel racing, but he does not have mixed emotions to see his drivers forsake a future in Indy cars for stock cars.

"In my business, where they go doesn't matter to me because I don't have anything to do with Indy Cars," East says. "As a business owner, when people read that those drivers came through our shops, fathers with their sons who think they are the next Jeff Gordon or Tony Stewart, this is where they are going to come to buy their cars. No matter where they go, as long as they move on, that's good for our business. "Tony George has a great idea to bring Indy Car racing back around; the problem is the corporate sponsors haven't come along," East says. "Jason Leffler couldn't get sponsorship to run with Treadway. They actually don't have any open rides for these kids. As much as they want to, they don't. That's the problem. "I guarantee you that Jason and Tony Stewart would probably have never left if the same dollar for dollar value existed. Jeff Gordon probably wouldn't have left. If Tony George's idea works out, then they will split with some going to NASCAR and some to the IRL. Until then, they will keep going to NASCAR."

For as good as some of these open wheel racers have become in NASCAR, East believes in order to appreciate these racers at their best, one should look at what they did in USAC. "All the fans who think Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart, how good they really are, they should watch them at Terre Haute sometime," East says. "They would see how good they really are." But, considering his open wheel background, which form of racing has Leffler's heart? "My heart lies in just being able to move on and being with the best team I can possibly be with, and surrounding myself with good people, and being successful, and giving it 100 percent," Leffler says. "It really didn't matter if it were stock car or open wheel." Gibbs may have the best reason of all why a talented open wheel race driver should consider NASCAR Winston Cup racing over Indy Cars or CART."I guess it is opportunity, where you think the best opportunity will be," Gibbs says. "I would say their evaluation is, 'Where can I have the most fun? Where can I make the most money? Where am I going to get the most attention? What does it look like is best for my career?' I think all of those are things they evaluate.

"I would say if I was a race car driver and I looked at the money that could be made over here, the crowds, excitement, and TV, if you add the whole package up for NASCAR, I think it would be hard to beat."