Fukuyama showing some promise

[Lee Roy]

He looked a little better at Martinsville yesterday, than he did at Dover. He seemed to be able to stay out of the way.

We may see him full time in 2003. Saw this at www.jayski.com


Carter/Fukuyama/sponsor deal in place for 2003? #66-Hideo Fukuyama got his second taste of NASCAR racing yesterday, and it didn't go that well, but not all that badly either. Fukuyama ran at the back of the pack until his day ended when he backed into the wall 50 miles from the finish. Car owner Travis Carter is providing Fukuyama's Cup cars this fall, at Dover, Martinsville and at Rockingham, in anticipation of persuading enough Japanese companies to come up with enough sponsorship money to back Fukuyama on the full tour next season. And during the weekend Carter was told the deal for 2003 has been given the OK by the potential sponsorship backer, so far unnamed.(Winston Salem Journal)(10-21-2002)

[The Beer Baron]

I wonder how NASCAR grants its competition licenses! I wonder will NASCAR give the drivers the provisionals rather then the teams?

[Lee Roy]

I doubt they will change. I imagine that provisionals will still belong the the owners. That's how Fukuyama made Dover and Martinsville.

[Joe Fan]

He did better than I expected but I still wonder how he was able to make the field on a provisional when his team had used its last one at Dover. If there aren't seven teams that can use or want to use a provisional, then the remaining field is comprised of the fastest qualifiers--which Hideo had only qualified faster than two drivers. I know at least 2 drivers who were sent home with faster times.

At any rate, I think Hideo is benefitting from Toyota's interest in NASCAR because he is getting to compete in Winston Cup despite only competing in two NASCAR Winston West series oval races. His best finish being a 15th place finish.

I am against this new trend to fast-track drivers up the stock car ladder because I think it disrespects the sport of stock car racing and what all the other drivers had to do to get there. A driver, no matter of their nationality or sex, should have to work themselves up the stock car ladder and prove themselves in lower series.

If NASCAR wants women and minorities in Winston Cup, then they should take some of their millions and use it to help fund these drivers in lower series and continue to fund them up the ladder if their talent merits it.

Overall, Hideo appears to be a nice chap with talent (he is I think a former Japanese GT champ) but he would be better served starting in Busch Grand National where he could learn the tracks against less-talented drivers.

[RaceFanStan]

Hideo started 43rd .....
went laps down early .....
crashed and finished 43rd .....
he hasn't shown me diddley squat !!!
and I would love to see him run the Truck Series, lmao.
Carlos Cantrares can tell you what they think of non-American drivers.
(Carlos is Mexican, I wonder why NASCAR doesn't hype him, maybe because there are not any Mexican car imports in the US.)

[Lee Roy]

I think the #66 car had a provisional for this race. If it didn't, I'm sure that there would have been something said about it. They probably have more if they are planning additional races.

I don't mind Fukuyama. He's not very good, well at oval track stock car racing anyway, but I feel he has sufficient experience to be allowed out there. He has a lot of experience in GT cars, and has run a few races in Winston West. But, on the other hand, he shows the wisdom of the ABC (ARCA, Busch, Cup) training that many driver go through to make it into Winston Cup.

If Fukuyama decides to continue in Winston Cup next year, after the fourth race of the year, all Provisionals from this year are no longer any good, he'll have to sink or swim on his own talent then.

Hey, one more thing Joe Fan, remember on some open-wheel boards where we were told how NASCAR Winston Cup drivers were not talented? Here comes Japans GT ace and he can't even qualify. The provisionals he's using were earned by Todd Bodine. Bring 'em on. The WC boys will show them the fast way around the track. You notice that Ron Fellows (a very talented driver) doesn't venture into Winston Cup other than the road courses.

[Lee Roy]

The #66 car DID have a car owner's provisional for the race at Martinsville. Fukuyama was not given a waiver to start.


If you look at the provisional chart at http://jayski.thatsracin.com/stats/2002/2002prov.htm

you will see that as of 10/14/02, the #66 car had 5 provisioals for the year, and had used three of them. This past weekend at Martinsville would have used one of the remainaing two. So the #66 car has another provisional to use this year.

[Joe Fan]

Hey, thanks for finding that provisional info Lee Roy. Yes, I remember what the open wheel fans spouted on bulleting boards in the past. I was at Kansas Speedway for the Busch Grand National race this year where Christian Fittipaldi spun out and crashed (on his own accord)on lap two in turn 3. I laughed a bit later because I remembered an email Robin Miller sent me several years ago where he said that a monkey could drive a stock car on an oval. I guess Christian should hunt down Jocko Flocko as a co-driver for his next race.

[Joe Fan]

If anyone wants to see Hideo's pit board, here it is: http://www.nascar.com/multimedia/pho.../content7.html

[Lee Roy]

Yeah, old Miller really hates that NASCAR is so popular. His envy of NASCAR's success is humorous.

Hey, Fukuyama's pit board is a hoot.

[Joe Fan]

One wonders if the ride buying that is prevalent in open wheel series by foreign drivers is now heading to NASCAR. It used to be that open wheel drivers poo-poohed NASCAR stock car racing for its oval racing in low-tech cars. But now that NASCAR is where most of the money is, most open wheel drivers are looking at NASCAR now as a option when their contracts run out.

[Lars]

Originally posted by Stan_MarlinMan
(Carlos is Mexican, I wonder why NASCAR doesn't hype him, maybe because there are not any Mexican car imports in the US.)

Doesn't GM have an assembly plant in Mexico?

[RaceFanStan]

Canada too Lars, lol.

[Lee Roy]

Originally posted by Joe Fan
One wonders if the ride buying that is prevalent in open wheel series by foreign drivers is now heading to NASCAR. It used to be that open wheel drivers poo-poohed NASCAR stock car racing for its oval racing in low-tech cars. But now that NASCAR is where most of the money is, most open wheel drivers are looking at NASCAR now as a option when their contracts run out.

I don't think you'll see the ride buying in NASCAR like you see in open-wheel racing. The NASCAR team owners generally have enough funding so that they can hire a driver based pretty much on talent alone. Of course, the driver must also have a presence that the sponsor approves of. In NASCAR, driving by the "seat of your pants" has nothing to do with having a fat wallet like in Indy Car racing.

[Lee Janotta]

The thing I can't understand about Fukuyama is that there are _so_ many Japanese drivers who already speak English because they raced in Europe, but they get a guy who doesn't sound like he's ever spent more than a weekend off the islands before.

Hmm... Oh well. He's following in a long line of Japanese backmarkers.

How can these people be so good at racing on 2 wheels, and so awful on 4?

As for the ride buying, don't kid yourself... How do you think Buckshot Jones got a ride? And Christian Fittipaldi'll be bringing a huge amount of family money which has supported him throughout his mediocre career. :confused:

Jeez, can you imagine NASCAR flooded with Brazilians the way CART and IRL have been?

[Lars]

Originally posted by Stan_MarlinMan
Canada too Lars, lol.

Ford has one up der too, but is Canada really a foreign country though? Other than they use funny money, some of them refuse to speak AMERICAN & they like to sell petro in the same volumes I like to purchase whiskey...it's easier to get into Canada than it is to get into California.

Go Leafs! Take home Lord Stanley!

[Burnsieold]

Originally posted by Lars
Doesn't GM have an assembly plant in Mexico?

Yeah, and there is one right across the street from the Ford one in Brazil too. Wouldn't it be great to see Giaffone and Castroneves out there too? Brazilians rock!!

[formulastudent]

I have an opinion here which may well inflame things, but here goes.

The orientals, by definition of the gene pool they are plucked from tend to be of a fairly small stature, your average Nascar driver tends to be prime yankee beefcake (with or without extra fat) could it be that Mr Fukuyama may be suffering from the fact he is small, thus means he is physically ill-prepared to deal with the pressures of racing a car for long periods, a car that is heavy in all respects, heavy steering (for a race car) heavy clutch, heavy gear shift, heavy G loadings, maybe if he bulks up a bit a more he will do better. Plus experience will help too!

Owen

[Flintstone Flyer]

Yes student. He does need to bulk up.

Most of the true drivers, Rusty, Dale Jr, Spencer, Schrader,Waltrip etc.. enjoy many cold beers during the week. Keeps them calm, carb'd up and packs a few aroung the mid section.

Very good observation.

[Joe Fan]

I don't know if it has been proven that Asians (the more appropriate term) are any shorter than other races but the fact he may need conditioning is probably a good observation.

A lot of open wheel fans like to say that stock car racing is physically less demanding due to lower G forces than experienced racing open wheel cars. However, when stock car drivers race on banked ovals for 500 miles with temperatures reaching as high as 150+ degrees in a stock car's cockpit, you have to be highly conditioned as well. Its just a different type of conditioning.

David Green told me that Dover when it was a 500 mile race it was one of the most physically demanding races on the circuit (and everyone was real happy when they cut it to 400 miles). Bristol probably is too because of its 36 degree banking and the fact that you are constantly on the gas, then breaking for a corner in such a short amount of time. Martinsville may be somewhat similar to this but is a flat track.

[shiny side up!]

Then you get skinny drivers like Little Boy Busch and I wonder how he keeps up!

I have nothing against foreign drivers in Cup. But, I do have something against people who aren't good enough to be there... Could our friend Mr. Fukuyama win a race in Busch? No?!?! How about the truck series? No?!?! How about Winston West? Maybe on a road course in WW? I really don't think so. I think he should have to prove himself, at some point, in a stock car, or at least a roundy-round without fenders... I feel the same about any driver, be it Buckshot or Fittipaldi. Christian didn't go straight to Cup...Heck, he may never even get there! But at least he is smart enough to do Busch first. And I wish him the best of luck!

[Lars]

Compared to me...most of the driver's are little dudes...Dale Jarrett is the same height as me & Mike Waltrip is taller than me, but most of them either come up to my eyes or shoulders...some are even shorter than that...Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon. My oldest daughter who is 13 is taller than Bobby Hamilton Jr. Not sure the size thing is relevant, but it's actually a dis-advantage for Mike Waltrip when he has to bail out of his car in a hurry.

[full__throttle]

Originally posted by Joe Fan
One wonders if the ride buying that is prevalent in open wheel series by foreign drivers is now heading to NASCAR. It used to be that open wheel drivers poo-poohed NASCAR stock car racing for its oval racing in low-tech cars. But now that NASCAR is where most of the money is, most open wheel drivers are looking at NASCAR now as a option when their contracts run out.

Whats wrong with buying a ride Joe? Its prevalent in Nascar already.

[Roselady3]

I don't think that size is the thing to consider. There have been big greats & little greats. It's the condition. The Roseman is a skinny twerp----but he is strong as a bear. I've seen some big muscular dudes who can't lift as much as him.

As for buying a ride in NASCAR----Buttsnott did it. But he at least spoke english. My biggest problem is that he doesn't communicate well- & that he doesn't have the experience that seems to be required of the other drivers. He gets into these races from the provisional points from other drivers efforts. THAT bothers me. ALOT.

[Lee Roy]

Originally posted by formulastudent
I have an opinion here which may well inflame things, but here goes.

The orientals, by definition of the gene pool they are plucked from tend to be of a fairly small stature, your average Nascar driver tends to be prime yankee beefcake (with or without extra fat) could it be that Mr Fukuyama may be suffering from the fact he is small, thus means he is physically ill-prepared to deal with the pressures of racing a car for long periods, a car that is heavy in all respects, heavy steering (for a race car) heavy clutch, heavy gear shift, heavy G loadings, maybe if he bulks up a bit a more he will do better. Plus experience will help too!

Owen

A few years ago read an interesting book called "War Without Mercy", concerning racial attitudes in the Pacific war by both the US forces and the Japanese forces. One thing that was pointed out was that in the late 1930's and up until 1941, Americans thought that Japanese people were not capable of long flights over water, such this as nearsightedness and, well, just not capable of doing feats that white people could do. We learned what folly "stereotyping" people could be on December 7, 1941. There is no reason that an oriental person, or an individual of any other background can not drive a Winston Cup car with the proper training.

BTW formulastudent, not calling you a biggot, or even intimateing that you harbor those types of attitudes. You made an immpassionate observation based on observed facts and offered them for discussion. Good job.