Who is your favorite Indycar driver and why?

[00steven]

A lot of us know each others favorite drivers but I want to know why you like them.

My favorite driver is Dario Franchitti. His car control is excellent and he can win any type of track. He also is a student of open wheel history, which is refreshing to see. He's one of the last guys remaining from CART (I love that era of American open wheel) and was great friends with Greg Moore.

[FIAT1]

Sebastien Bourdais. Great racer , talent for car setup and feedback, plus superb demeanor. Through professional. With a good team he would be fun to watch.

[NickFalzone]

I've come around on Will Power. Was never a big fan in his CC days or first couple yrs in IndyCar, but I finally am seeing what a talented and dedicated driver he is, and also I think he's great for the series. Verizon's a huge catch for IndyCar and lately I've seen them promoting him to all their Twitter followers, so clearly he has some value to the company:

Verizon's Twitter (http://twitter.com/#%21/VerizonWireless)

Besides WP, gotta go with Franchitti, then Castroneves.
http://twitter.com/#%21/VerizonWireless

[MAX_THRUST]

Dario for an awsome career, and Montoya and Tracy for there bullsy attituude in CART, Greg Moore for getting me through 99' just sad he never made it beyond the Fontana race....

[gm99]

Easy to say for past drivers:
Greg Moore, for his phenomenal oval racing skills and the maturity he displayed at a quite young age.
Alex Zanardi, for all the excitement he created both on and off the track.
(although of course neither of the two technically ever drove an "Indycar")

More difficult for current drivers:
I've always like Helio Castroneves, but he seems to have lost his plot this season.
James Hinchcliffe - very articulate and shows occassional flashes of brilliance.
Paul Tracy - for pretty much the same reasons I like Zanardi.

[gm99]

Yes, Memo is a class act. He did really well for TCGR back in 2001 (his huge accident at Road America - I initially thought he was dead - didn't really stop him, as I think he scored a podium at Laguna Seca shortly afterwards) and I could never quite understand why no team would give him a full season.

[DanicaFan]

Easy.. Danica Patrick... :)

[heliocastroneves#3]

Well for me it's the same as DanicaFan.. The only thing is that if she goes to NASCAR then she's a quitter for me. Instead of walking away from the road courses she should sort out her problems... And I really don't like it to bash on her or saying she gets a top 30 finish at Sonoma, but it's just.... I thought she had a goal that she want to accomplish. And winning the Indy 500 as a NASCAR driver with a completely new car is not the way to accomplish your goal (winning the '500)

Besides Danica I've always been a fan of Arie Luyendyk, Greg Ray, Alex Zanardi and now I'm also a supporter of Hélio Castroneves and Dan Wheldon.

[nigelred5]

Easy to say for past drivers:
Greg Moore, for his phenomenal oval racing skills and the maturity he displayed at a quite young age.
Alex Zanardi, for all the excitement he created both on and off the track.
(although of course neither of the two technically ever drove an "Indycar")

More difficult for current drivers:
I've always like Helio Castroneves, but he seems to have lost his plot this season.
James Hinchcliffe - very articulate and shows occassional flashes of brilliance.
Paul Tracy - for pretty much the same reasons I like Zanardi.

GReg Moore Drove for forsythe in 1996, the final year CART used INDYCAR name, so TECHNICALLY he did, although Technically he never drove at INDY, so Technically even those weren't TECHNICALLY "INDY"cars. ;)



I grew up being a Huge Mario Fan.
Nigel only drove for two years, but proved his mettle on the ovals and shold be considered a true indycar driver.

Zanardi, Moore and Montoya would have/should be our current crop of true legendary veterans still competing.
I've alwaysreally liked Dario, but something about him and his attitude has been grating on me lately. I don't know exactly what it is. Maybe it's just jealousy knowing who he goes home to ;)

I've really been looking forward to seeing Hinch do well for years now. He was sort of caught out in the musicla chairs of hte mergification. I think he would have been full time in Champcars the year of the merger. Glad to see he landed with Newman Haas and I've been happy wiht his results. I just hope NH is stable enough to keep him in a car next year.

I really like Power but it almost seems like he's driving for his Job again. He hasn't been without fault in some of his incidents this year and it seems like the pressure has gotten to him.

[nigelred5]

Yes, Memo is a class act. He did really well for TCGR back in 2001 (his huge accident at Road America - I initially thought he was dead - didn't really stop him, as I think he scored a podium at Laguna Seca shortly afterwards) and I could never quite understand why no team would give him a full season.

I always liked his approach as well. I suspect there were far more drivers bringing cash to the table in those years than was apparent, and it's been pretty well known Memo for what ever reason just couldn't bring that. Teams had good sponsorship deals in those days, but bringing some extra sponsorship never hurt and I'm sure that allowed some drivers to be paid a decent salary, whereas today thatmoney IS the team's budget.

[00steven]

GReg Moore Drove for forsythe in 1996, the final year CART used INDYCAR name, so TECHNICALLY he did, although Technically he never drove at INDY, so Technically even those weren't TECHNICALLY "INDY"cars. ;)

Since the merger all of the IRL's, CART, and Indycar stats have been lumped together. So historically as far as Indycar is concerned, he drove an Indycar.

[heliocastroneves#3]

Well, when I'm at IndyCar.com I don't see at Bourdais's stats that he won 4 championships.... So it might be only partly merged (stats)

[gm99]

GReg Moore Drove for forsythe in 1996, the final year CART used INDYCAR name, so TECHNICALLY he did, although Technically he never drove at INDY, so Technically even those weren't TECHNICALLY "INDY"cars. ;)


Yes, you're absolutely right - I thought CART stopped using the IndyCar tag right after the split, but they did actually still use it in 1996. I probably should have known this, as I have a book by Ned Wicker on Ganassi Racing's 1996 season that is called "Indy Car champion" ;)
Zanardi's rookie season was '96 as well, so what goes for Greg is equally valid for him.

[Chris R]

It is pretty hard to have a single favorite from the current crop of drivers. There are a lot of really good drivers - but no one really has the combo of skill and personality that make them a favorite..... TK is a great guy - but I have always looked at him as a solid B+ driver - not an A. Dario and Dixon are both A drivers but neither are brimming with personality. Power is really good, a little fragile under pressure and a little prone to whining - but I think he could work his way into "favorite" status... I want to like Graham Rahal more but he is having a really hard time stepping it up - I think he is better than Marco - but is probably suffering pretty much the same problem - moved up a bit early.... I also want to like Simona - but at some point she needs to show results.....

So all said and done I'd put Dario on top of my list right now - but I can see Will Power or Graham Rahal getting there if they continue to improve in the car and out.....

I also have top give a call out to Wheldon - never cared for him much in the past - but his TV work has really made him shine.....

[gerkebi]

Graham Rahal. He is smart, articulate and has possessed a maturity beyond his years since first stepping into a Formula BMW at age 15. It was fun to watch him scream down the front straight at Road America at over 100 mph before he even had his driver's license. I saw an epic battle between Marco and him in Formula Mazda at Mid Ohio in which they both raced the wheels off but Graham prevailed. Another great memory was the Indy Lights race at the Formula 1 event in Indy a few years back. He should have won that one but spun on the last lap, coming in second. I think it was his first Lights race.

Another great one was his Atlantic win at Mid Ohio during the SCCA runoffs. Not to mention his win in his first Indycar race in St. Pete. I was fortunate enough to be at all these races. I think we will see great things from Graham in the years to come. He is a class act.

[numanoid]

For me, tied with Helio and TK as favorites.

Danica and Wheldon (after seeing his personality) come in second.

Power is growing on me as is Dixon.

I have high hopes for Simona.

[DavePI2]

Easy for me. TK, balls to the wall from start to finish. If you are in front of him at the start watch out , the train is comming through. Best teammate also. Also like RHR and Ed Carpenter, great gentlemen.

[SoCalPVguy]

In the olden days (LOL) I had favorite drivers like Dan Gurney, Mario Andretti, Joe Leonard, later Lone Star JR Johnny Rutherford, Jimmy Vasser and Alessandro Zanardi. Men of subtance, personality (well maybe not Joe, ha ha), and success.

Laterly between the old Champcar and IRL, and now Indycar, I had absolutely no favorite what so ever !!! The current mix of IC drivers are bland, no name, has beens or never was'es, colorless, foreign, ride buyers who come and go week to week. There is no personality, not much substance to speak of, nor consistency to root for.

Well, that is until New Hampshire... Seeing Will Power flip the double (angry) birds at TGBB made me smile, no - laugh out loud, in admiration of his passion and fortitude- and he is now my current fave !!! Go Will Power !!!

[Marbles]

I would have to choose the much underrated Japanese driver Hiro Matsu****a.

That's Hiro Matsu****a.

WTF! I said HIRO MATSU****A!!!

[Marbles]

I'm sorry. Not quite in order of preference.

Past:

Greg Moore.
Paul Tracy.*
Al Unser JR... and... hell, all the Unsers.
Rick Mears
Bobby Rahal...

Present:

Hinchcliffe
Rahal
Wilson
Simona de Silvestro

* Technically still present.

[garyshell]

You mean 'king Hiro?

Gary

[SarahFan]

Rick Mears

Why? Do you really need to ask? Im guessing if your on this forum you don't

[00steven]

A lot of us know each others favorite drivers but I want to know why you like them.

Did you read this Sarahfan?

[harvick#1]

Takuma SATO!!!!!!!!!! :D although, when hes on, damn hes fun to watch racing, the 07 Canadian GP still was amazing, though that was F1

but seriously, I'd go with Power, and Simona, both are very professional at their job. nothing still compares to the good old days when Zanardi, Tracy, Montoya, and co where all on full tilt all the time

[SarahFan]

Ok Ok I'll Play.... Besides the fact I rank him the greatest to ever race at the speedway it's kind of perssonel

As a kid my uncle and father raced a 2-seated dune buggy .... Baja 500 and 1000 etc

They were running the mint400 outside Vegas and my whole
Family (mom driving and 2 brothers and sister ) were in our volkswagon bus going from one pitstop to another .... I was young 5 or 6 at the time so it's foggy at best...

But Rick lost a tire on his buggy and we came up on him.... He grabbed the tire and climbed inthe back of the bus with all us kids and we took him to the next pitstop....

Well a few years later he is racing indycars and winning the 500 etc.... He he alwAys been#1 around my family's house

[00steven]

Ok Ok I'll Play.... Besides the fact I rank him the greatest to ever race at the speedway it's kind of perssonel

As a kid my uncle and father raced a 2-seated dune buggy .... Baja 500 and 1000 etc

They were running the mint400 outside Vegas and my whole
Family (mom driving and 2 brothers and sister ) were in our volkswagon bus going from one pitstop to another .... I was young 5 or 6 at the time so it's foggy at best...

But Rick lost a tire on his buggy and we came up on him.... He grabbed the tire and climbed inthe back of the bus with all us kids and we took him to the next pitstop....

Well a few years later he is racing indycars and winning the 500 etc.... He he alwAys been#1 around my family's house

Rick Mears IS the best ever at the speedway. :D

[Chris R]

Ok Ok I'll Play.... Besides the fact I rank him the greatest to ever race at the speedway it's kind of perssonel

As a kid my uncle and father raced a 2-seated dune buggy .... Baja 500 and 1000 etc

They were running the mint400 outside Vegas and my whole
Family (mom driving and 2 brothers and sister ) were in our volkswagon bus going from one pitstop to another .... I was young 5 or 6 at the time so it's foggy at best...

But Rick lost a tire on his buggy and we came up on him.... He grabbed the tire and climbed inthe back of the bus with all us kids and we took him to the next pitstop....

Well a few years later he is racing indycars and winning the 500 etc.... He he alwAys been#1 around my family's house

great story!

[Marbles]

You mean 'king Hiro?

Gary

Yup, but of course I only mentioned him because I was drinking at the time.

My reasoning for choosing the other drivers is pretty straight forward. With the exception of Tracy, they all strike me as cool professionals who have a true sense of sportsmanship. Unser Jr. and Wilson being the most graceful in accepting defeat under controversial circumstances I recall seeing in racing. I like Franchitti but I moved him down a notch after New Hampshire.

And PT of course because he was the first Canadian to get a fast car and win some races and because he's PT but generally he doesn't fit what what I appreciate most in drivers.