I've been a minor fan of NASCAR for a few years but I for some reason I am really looking forward to this season. Why? I think it's a combination of things that appeal to my blogger mentality. What's a blogger mentality? For me it's an appreciation for disruptive technologies or people. In the case of NASCAR it's three things: Juan Pablo Montoya, Toyota and Red Bull.
1. Juan Pablo Montoya: I've been a fan of JPM since his F1 days with Williams and McLaren. Is he a bit hot-headed? Yes. Could his departure from Ron & Co. been done better? Yes. Never-the-less, he's in NASCAR now and I hope he does very well. The spotlight sure is on him though. This week I saw feature articles in Sports Illustrated and few other publications plus a cover story in USAToday on Friday.
Of course NASCAR loves the fact that JPM will pull in an entirely new fan base. I remember the first US Grand Prix that JPM raced in, the Columbian's were everywhere. I think the tri-color Red, Blue and Yellow of the Columbian flag almost out-did the Ferrari tifosi red. How will the 'traditional' NASCAR fan base react to swarms of Spanish-speaking Columbian fans? We'll see. In addition to the Hispanic fans, JPM will also attract some F1 fans, like me. For the first time in my life I now own a piece of NASCAR merchandise, a Montoya t-shirt.
2. Toyota: In case you haven't heard (ha) this will be the first year that a foreign car company will race in the Nextel Cup. All politics and nationalism aside this should be very interesting. Toyota, like Honda, don't take racing lightly. From a factory support standpoint they will outspend everybody else to win. They haven't had too much success in their F1 crusade, but I think NASCAR is different. I predict Toyota will get a win this year.
From a spending standpoint, Toyota and Red Bull do bring a bunch of cash to the table to hire the best talent. Whether that will translate into wins remains to be seen, however it has made a lot of other crews happy. The other teams need to up the pay of their top talent to keep them from going elsewhere. That's good for the 'employees' but not so good for the 'owners'.
3. Red Bull: I mentioned Red Bull and their money with Toyota above. Like Toyota, Red Bull brings a singular focus to racing. They also do things a bit differently than other sponsors, they own their teams. In the traditional role an independent team owner runs a series of cars and then solicits sponsors. Sponsors can change and you always have to be chasing new ones. With Red Bull they are the owner and sponsor. They control all aspects of the team.
In F1 you have independent teams, factory teams and Red Bull teams. That dynamic creates an interesting haves vs have-nots. Will Red Bull's entry into NASCAR start a change in the team make-up? Will we ever see a factory team?
Red Bull is also primarily a European brand, if I am correct it's the first major European NASCAR sponsor???
Add all these things up and we're sure to have an interesting season. Oh yeah, Formula 1 starts in four weeks.
