NASCAR drivers chicken out of IndyCar challenge

UPDATE "We're reaching out to a variety of people to make sure we can build a schedule that does its best to accommodate drivers from all different forms of racing over the three days we are on track at Las Vegas," he said. "We are taking everything into consideration to make sure that if these drivers want to participate we can make it happen."

He also emphasized that the guest drivers would be well prepared for the race.

"We are going to provide ample testing time at Las Vegas for the five selected drivers to make sure by the time they get to Las Vegas they are up to speed," Bernard promised. So what excuses will the NASCAR drivers come up with next?

02/25/11 Let's see how many excuses why a NASCAR driver is afraid of taking on the $5 million IndyCar challenge at the October 16th Las Vegas race.

“It’s just impossible logistics-wise," said Montoya, considered one of the candidates for pulling off the feat.

The IndyCar finale is Oct. 16 in Las Vegas but that effectively rules out the participation of any NASCAR Sprint Cup driver because they’re booked to race the night before at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

It’s possible for a driver to be at both races, but it doesn’t work in terms of practice time.

“If you were really going to go to try and win the $5 million, you would have to get all the practices down and do it right," Montoya said. “It’s intriguing and I think it’s intriguing for a lot of people.

“I think a lot of people are going to going 'Ohhh,' but being realistic it’s impossible. Are you going to show up on Sunday and race without practice and hope for the best? Who the heck is going to win that?"

Tony Stewart, who has done the Indy 500-Coca-Cola 600 double, said trying to race in Las Vegas and Charlotte the same weekend – especially in different series – doesn’t work.

“If you don’t run three or four races, you’re probably not going to have a shot to win it anyway," Stewart said. “Just going to do a one-off deal doesn’t make sense for us to do right now."

But oh wait, NASCAR says they are the greatest drivers in the world. Yeah right. Chickens if you ask us. It was OK when IndyCar champion Mario Andretti ran a one-off Daytona 500 in 1967 and gave the NASCAR boys a driving lesson in the No. 11 Holman Moody Ford Fairlane. Whupped'em good and man did it sting.

And then IndyCar driver AJ Foyt replicated the feat in 1972 driving the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford. And it stung yet again.

It was OK when they were not regular drivers but came in and got the job done. But when the shoe is on the other foot, well just call them yellow belly chickens those NASCAR boys.