The NASCAR ’best driver’ fallacy

[Editor's Note: As we have stated on numerous occasions, NASCAR TV announcers pronounce every week to viewers that NASCAR drivers are the best drivers in the world. Nothing could be further from the truth. Take them out of a stock car and most NASCAR drivers are complete wankers. However, drivers from other series come to NASCAR and have either dominated or run very well. Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Ryan Newman, AJ Foyt, Mario Andretti all come to mind. There has never been a NASCAR driver that excelled in another form of racing. Never. This Toronto Sun article points out the bias exhibited by the NASCAR announcers toward open wheel drivers who show well in their sport.]

There were two significant things that happened during the Talladega Superspeedway's weekend of NASCAR races — both of which have Canadian connections — and neither of which got the kind of coverage they deserved.

First, it was Juan Pablo Montoya's third-place finish in the Auto Racing Club of America (ARCA). On Friday he saved his No. 4 Ganassi Dodge after being hit at 185 m.p.h. in his first restrictor plate race and ran great from start to finish.

Montoya has a long history of both Champ Car and Formula One racing in Canada.

The second was the thrilling fifth-place finish by A.J. Allmendinger in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race on Saturday.

Allmendinger, who now calls Toronto home, looked liked a seasoned veteran as he battled Mark Martin, Mike Skinner and Johnny Benson right to the checkered flag.

It certainly should put to rest the myth perpetrated up and down NASCAR pit lanes that open-wheel drivers rarely turn out to be good stock car racers.

Yet there was Michael Waltrip acting as a race analyst for the SPEED network during the truck race telling anyone who would listen that Allmendinger was in over his head.

In fact, there were five occasions during the race that Waltrip repeated his mantra: "He doesn't know what he's doing" in reference to Allmendinger's running with the leaders.

And he kept it up right to the checkered flag.

Did Waltrip finally acknowledge that maybe Allmendinger really did know what he was doing?

Not on you life.