Michael Abbate
A.J. Allmendinger
Paul Edwards
Phil Giebler
Joey Hand
Ryan Hunter-Reay
Patrick Long
Grant Maiman
Rocky Moran Jr.
Joel Nelson
Scott Poirer
Boston Reid
Bryan Sellers
Scott Speed
Bobby Wilson
Eddie Cheever har en ganska intressant syn på det här i sin veckospalt för ESPN: http://espn.go.com/rpm/irl/diary/cheever/0911.html
Cheever verkar inte ha allt för höga tankar om formelbilsracing på junior-nivå i USA. Han skriver bl.a.:
Jag tror det är ett bra initiativ även om det omedelbart inte skulle leda till en amerikansk F1-förare. Det borde iallafall öka chansen för att få fram bra amerikanska förare till IRL/CART så det inte enbart blir Europeer och sydamerikaner, kryddat med nån enstaka japan.The opportunity is filled with potential. After I was successful in go-karts in Italy as a teenager, I had to go to England. That was where all the best young drivers from all over the world met in all types of formula series. It was the most cutthroat form of racing I have ever been involved in. If you didn't win races, you were done.
The only way you would get a Formula One or Formula Two team to pay attention to you is if you won. It was ruthless. When you passed somebody, you gave no room. If they went off the track, well, that was good. It was one less guy to worry about.
These young American drivers are going to have to compete amongst themselves, of course, but this is really preparing them to compete against the rest of the world, to experience that ruthless world of climbing the ladder to F1.
Danny has picked the best guys, and eventually he's going to throw four of them into the lion's pit. That's the only way you're going to develop the best driver -- by putting him in a place where if he doesn't succeed, he's out. It's like a gladiator. The last one standing is the one that didn't get eaten alive.
Nothing in road racing in the States prepares a driver for that severe a test. Road racing in the U.S. has always been an elitist activity -- for the wealthy and by the wealthy. Good young drivers in America gravitate toward the Indianapolis 500 and the Daytona 500. Huge races. Huge oval races. There are very few races and series designed to develop young road racers. Their names mean nothing to F1 teams.
