Road course ringer
In NASCAR, a road course ringer, also known as road course specialist,
As of 2024[update], current NASCAR national-level road courses include
. For many years, NASCAR only hosted two or three races on road courses in any of the top three divisions, providing limited opportunities for ringers. However, in some cases, the ringers have been able to pull off victories.NASCAR describes road course ringers as "drivers who specialize in turning both left and right," and says that "perhaps the greatest road-course ringer in NASCAR history might be Dan Gurney" after he won four straight NASCAR races at Riverside.[3] He lapped the field at the 1964 event.[3]
Term origin
"Ringer" is a slang term commonly used in sports to describe a particularly good competitor who is brought in to win in a specific match as opposed to competing in the entire schedule. It can also be used to describe an athlete who plays in a higher level playing in a lower level tournament; a softball team in a Class C/D tournament (as governed by USA Softball) hires one or two players who fit in Class A or B, or a tennis player who plays in Class I tournaments as a "ringer" in a Class II tournament. For example, in association football, at the FIFA Under-23 Championships that is typically held at the Olympic Games, teams are allowed a selected number of players just over the age of 23. The term does not relate directly to racing and does not refer to the shape of the race course, but instead the term in NASCAR refers to the driver being typically driver who races in other circuits.
Drivers
A road course ringer is often brought in if the usual driver either is inexperienced at road courses,[1] or is having a poor season and the team needs an excellent qualifying run to qualify for the race.[1] Cup Series teams who are near the bottom of the top 35 in owner points hire a ringer or adept former competitor like Terry Labonte to ensure that they remain in top 35 to keep a guaranteed starting spot in future races. It is not unusual that a lower level team's best finish would be at a road course because of the use of a road course expert.[1] Some full-time drivers are adept at racing on road courses, but they are not considered road course ringers.[1] Road course ringers have competed in championships which race primarily road courses, frequently in IndyCar or sports car racing series such as ALMS or Grand Am.
I think a handful of guys, or 10 guys, 12 guys that really like going to the Glen and like going to Sonoma and look forward to those races. Then there's probably half the field that can take it or leave it. Then there's a quarter of the field that would be fine if we didn't go.[4]
Notable road course ringers
- A. J. Allmendinger (2006–present), Previously served as ringer in NXS and for Kaulig Racing at the Cup level before becoming full time.
- Mark Donohue (1972–1973), Won 1973 Winston Western 500
- Ron Fellows (1995–2013), Five NXS road course wins, 24 of 25 Cup starts were road courses[1]
- Robby Gordon (1991–2012), 2003 Road Course Champion
- Dan Gurney (1962–1970, 1980), Five NXS road course wins, 9 of 16 NASCAR starts on road courses [3]
- Kenny Habul (2012–2016), 15 NXS starts, all road courses
- Andy Lally (2007–2021), Primarily road courses in NXS. Nine top tens at road courses
- Trackhouse Racing Team
- Max Papis (2006–2013), 12 of 14 NXS races were road courses. Currently a driving coach for Richard Childress Racing[2]
- Sargento 200winner
- Scott Pruett (2000–2008), Following 2000 season ran only road races [1]
- Trackhouse Racing Team’sProject 91.
- Boris Said (1999–2022), Only road course starts since 2010. Running road course currently for MBM Motorsports[1]
- Brian Simo (1997–2012), all road courses attempts and starts execpt at Loudon in 1998 Busch Series.
- Truck Series
- Shane van Gisbergen (2023-Present), won his debut race, the 2023 Grant Park 220 street course race, driving the "Project91" Trackhouse Racing car
- Jacques Villeneuve (2007–2022), Ten road course starts, running road course currently for Team Hezeberg
Wins
Ringers Fellows, Said, and Pruett had combined for 13 Top 10 finishes in their 35 career road course starts (as of 2007).
Ron Fellows has won the most races by road ringers, winning in the
A. J. Allmendinger won as a ringer in the Cup Series for Kaulig Racing in the inaugural 2021 Verizon 200 at the Brickyard.[6]
Most recently, 3 time Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen, won as a ringer in his NASCAR Cup debut. He won the inaugural 2023 Grant Park 220 street course race at the Chicago Street Course, driving the "Project91" car for Trackhouse Racing.[7] Trackhouse's Project91 program was designed to invite international road course ringers to the Cup Series, taking advantage of the Next Gen car's improvement for road course racing.
Decline in the Cup Series
Since the late 2000s, the "ringer" has steadily disappeared from the Cup Series. Factors contributing to this trend are:[8]
- The Chase/NASCAR playoffs has made it counterproductive for teams to sacrifice the driver points of their full-time drivers in exchange for a possible win by a road course specialist.
- Because of this, full-time drivers have been forced to become more proficient on road courses, which in turn means that the average NASCAR driver today is a much better road course driver than in the recent past.
The decline of "ringers" was dramatically illustrated at the 2009 Watkins Glen race. Only one road course specialist was substituting for a driver in a fully sponsored, full-season NASCAR team—Patrick Carpentier for Michael Waltrip Racing. He did not compete for Michael Waltrip Racing the following season, though he did run for Latitude 43 Motorsports for eight races.[9] Fellows drove in the race with the part-time Phoenix Racing, Said was then a part-owner of his team, and three other specialists were with lower-tier teams without full sponsorship. In the years afterwards, road course specialists drove for rides that would start-and-park. For example, road course driver Tony Ave would say, in a 2020 YouTube interview with a fan, that he stopped racing in NASCAR because he didn't want to become a start-and-park driver.
Xfinity and Truck road course ringers in playoff era
- The nature of the Xfinity Series races at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and Road Americaoften allows road course ringers to participate in those races, since they are not subject to NASCAR's seven-race restriction Cup Series regulars are restricted by NASCAR rule. Also, prior to 2021, both events (Mid-Ohio only in 2021) are often held on weekends where Cup Series action is at an oval (different road course in 2021) elsewhere around the country.
- Similarly, because Cup Series drivers are prohibited from participation in the Canadian Tire Motorsports Parkbecause it is in the playoff, a road course ringer is preferred as a substitute driver. Note too a road course ringer may often substitute for a team if they normally use a driver under 18 years old. NASCAR classifies road courses in the same category as tracks less than 1.25 miles, allowing drivers 16 and 17 years of age to participate in this race.
Dirt track ringer
A variant of the road ringer, the dirt track ringer, has appeared in NASCAR since the Truck Series organized the
Notable drivers have included Scott Bloomquist, Bobby Pierce, Logan Seavey, and Kyle Strickler.
Truck Series regulars Stewart Friesen and Sheldon Creed began their NASCAR careers as dirt track ringers before racing full schedules.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Borden, Brett (August 10, 2007). "Road race twists bring out new faces". ESPN. Archived from the original on 2009-09-02. Retrieved 2009-03-15.
- ^ a b Network, Mike (June 22, 2008). "Infineon: How Well did the Road Course Ringers Race?". Bleacher Report. Archived from the original on 2012-10-11. Retrieved 2009-03-15.
- ^ a b c Aumann, Mark (April 17, 2008). "Gurney was the sport's first 'road-course ringer'". NASCAR. Archived from the original on 2008-12-19. Retrieved 2009-03-15.
- ^ "Pocono II: Second, third finishers press conference". Motorsport.com. August 4, 2008. Archived from the original on May 18, 2015. Retrieved May 7, 2015.
- ^ Bowles, Tom and Heffelfinger, Toni. What's the Call? Road Course Ringers Archived 2006-05-10 at the Wayback Machine, Frontstretch, June 29, 2005
- ^ Estrada, Chris (2021-08-15). "A.J. Allmendinger wins Indy road course Cup race - NBC Sports". NASCAR Talk | NBC Sports. Retrieved 2022-03-10.
- ^ Sighn, Sanjesh (2023-07-02). "Shane van Gisbergen triumphs in epic first ever NASCAR Chicago Street Race - NBC Chicago". NBC Chicago. Retrieved 2023-07-02.
- ^ Caraviello, David (2009-08-08). "NASCAR's road ringers reaching end of their era". NASCAR.com. Archived from the original on 2009-08-10. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
- ^ "Driver Patrick Carpentier 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Results - Racing-Reference.info". racing-reference.info. Archived from the original on 2016-09-12. Retrieved 2017-06-24.
- ^ Pryson, Mike (2020-11-20). "NASCAR Camping World Truck Schedule for 2021 Includes 2 Dirt Short Tracks". Autoweek. Retrieved 2022-03-10.
External links