For many years, the fans and drivers of NASCAR considered road course racing a novelty. It was the grand idea of the powers that be that road course racing in stock cars could convert the open wheel fans to their cause. Racing at tracks like Riverside, Sonoma, Watkins Glen, and Suzuka was never pretty, and always challenging for the drivers who are used to solely left turns.
Now what is a driver to do when they struggle on road courses? Before the days of simulators, it was left to the hands of the road course ringers. Drivers with the years of practice and success on road courses across the country and the world would migrate to the premier stock car series to challenge famous names like Earnhardt, Labonte, and Gordon.
And now they’re gone.
What happened to these road warriors? They were undone by the very forces that helped create them. The same overseers who created the very novelty of seeing drivers like Ron Fellows, Jacques Villeneuve, and Justin Marks race with the big boys, arguably killed their plans of such continuation with the advent of the Chase for the Sprint Cup. If you want to win the championship now, you have to compete and be competitive at all tracks, including road courses.
While some teams in the second-tier NASCAR Xfinity Series and underfunded teams at the Cup level may continue to use the ringers, but the large use of them has disappeared. Drivers who would be seen running on weekends like these are a who’s who from sports car and open wheel racing. But now, if anyone wants to see those drivers race in NASCAR, they better bring a sponsor and a strong reason to compete.
Gone are the days when you could see a road course ringer compete for a win in NASCAR as well. Boris Said, who famously competed at the front of so many Cup races at Sonoma, is now relegated to underfunded equipment and no better than a Top 20 finish. Furthermore, drivers with success and experience at the Cup level such as Ron Fellows and Scott Pruett are boxed out, because drivers need to race for their rides and the championship.
With that said, remember this weekend to give some extra cheers for Boris Said, Tomy Drissi, and T.J. Bell, because who knows how many more times these boys of the lefts and rights will get a shot to race in NASCAR.
