lipstick79 0 Report post Posted January 22, 2018 The US, produces some of the finest ATHELETES in the world. Why hasn`t the US produced for F1, EVER ?? Driver, team, PU on ANY level. The US like motorsports, I DON`T get the inability to perform in F1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
radical-one 0 Report post Posted January 24, 2018 They had Mario Andretti Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ruslan 0 Report post Posted January 25, 2018 Don't forget Phil Hill and Dan Gurney. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ruslan 0 Report post Posted January 28, 2018 Re: The U.S. does not have a "hot enough" local road racing scene. Up until the early 1970s, much of the American scene was oval track racing, with the junior series being sprint cars and midgets, running on dirt and asphalt ovals. Then came the gas crises of 1973/75 and the American racing scene died. So even though in the 1980s Indy Car racing switched over to much more road racing, the underlying local road racing scene has never had the depth or seriousness to it. When I go to local SCCA races, most of the drivers are businessmen from 40-60. Not a lot of hungry kids there. Road racing is just not particularly popular. Never has been. If the crucible is not hot enough, then it is not going to generate a lot of great drivers. Now, we did generate a batch in 1950s and 1960s. That was when the car culture was in full swing. Both Phil Hill and Dan Gurney were from California, which always has had a strong car culture. The oval tracks guys toyed with road racing (A.J. Foyt won LeMans), but only Andretti seriously pursued it. But, the oil crisis of 1973/75 killed the car culture here (back then gas was 30 cents a gallon) and it really never returned. Since 1973, there have a been a few new drivers here and there going into F1, but they are each individual cases, not a trend or wave. With the Xbox and PS4....I don't think this is going to change any time soon. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
