Road race specialists at Sanoma

[Robert Evans]

I usually only really take the time out of my busy schedule to watch three Nascar races from flag to flag; Daytona 500, Watkins Glen, and Sears Point. All the rest of them I'll catch only if I have the time.

I really like the road courses and like seeing how these guys approach the tracks. Guys like Gordon, Stewart, Rudd, Martin, etc. have have either come from roadcourse background or have taken the time to test and learn how to do it right. I'm glad they're right up there with the best of them. (Just look at how few of them can actually heal-toe correctly...most of them just cram it into gear).

I also like seeing guys like Ron Fellows and Boris Said fighting it out with the Nascar guys. I do feel that those "ringers" haven't gotten a fair chance at competing against the regulars. If you put guys like Martin or Stewart into some roadracing cars for just one weekend maybe twice a year in unfamiliar cars, I doubt that they would be much more comptitive than Said or Fellows are in Nascar just twice a year. All are good drivers, but they are lacking quality seat time yet are expected to outclass their Nascar counterparts. Put a couple of the Nascar regulars into a TransAm car and they'd probably be no more successful than the ringers would be at Sears Point.

Also, I noticed that Boris Said was out-horsepowered in drag races down the straights. He was definitely quicker than whoever he was racing against in the corners, but then that distance was quickly shortened when it became a drag race. If you had a chance to watch the qualifying, they were able to show time differentials all the way around the track. Said's incremental times were very quick in the corners, while his times were slower when he was on the straights. It appeared that his car was not very fast, and I'd bet that if he had the HP of a Stewart or Gordon motor in his car he'd be much faster.