03-19-2002, 08:05 PM
Did it ever occur to you that noone cares about Arena Football? Dumbass!
NO MORE MR. ’NICE GUY’
March 18, 2002
By Robin Miller
You would be hard-pressed to find a nicer, more polite young man than Michel Jourdain Jr. Maybe too nice, we all have surmised, during the past six years for the somewhat mean streets of Champ Car racing.
Certainly there have been some flashes of excellence by the second-generation driver from Mexico City, but nothing over a sustained period of time.
Last year, for example, he nearly pulled out a victory in the Michigan 500 before finishing third to earn his first podium visit.
But for the season, he only collected 30 points and wound up 20th in the FedEx Championship Series.
Between his inconsistency, having uncompetitive equipment several times and no teammate to learn from, Jourdain seemed to be one of those guys destined to fall into the cracks of big-time motorsports.
When his longtime ally, Herdez, opted to drop Michel and bring rookie Mario Dominguez on for 2002, it appeared his career might be over at age 25.
“I was worried about the future, absolutely,” he admitted. “You knew there weren't many rides available and the economy has been difficult, but we never gave up hope.
“I have to thank my dad, my family and my friends for the support they gave me over the winter. Then, thankfully, we found Gigante and Office Depot.”
It's no secret that without a major sponsor, Jourdain would not be Jimmy Vasser's teammate at Team Rahal right now.
But last Sunday afternoon in front of his countrymen, Michel made Gigante's and Office Depot's investment look real good. He started sixth, finished fourth and stayed racy for all 85 laps around Fundidora Park.
“In the face of incredible pressure, I thought Michel did a tremendous job,” said Bobby Rahal afterwards. “There was a lot of pressure on him with the new sponsorship and the race being in Mexico.
“You could have excused him if he went off the track or tried to hard, but he never put a wheel wrong. He showed a lot of maturity and I'm very proud of him.”
That was the key to Jourdain's best-ever road course showing. He hung tough for two hours, battled fading brakes and held off Alex Tagliani the final 20 laps. After nearly winning the pole position on Friday (he went from first to sixth in the closing 30 seconds of qualifying), he seemed to be in a groove he never lost.
“Having Jimmy for a teammate really helped a lot and my pit stops were great and we were fast all weekend because Team Rahal gave me a great car,” said Jourdain.
“We were starting to lose the brakes a little near the end so I had to back off and take care of them, but everything else was perfect. What a great start for my sponsors.”
Besides not having a teammate to share feedback and ideas, Michel has never really been pushed to succeed. But that's where Scott Roembke comes in.
“We've got Michel working with a trainer--hard. And I stressed that if he wanted to keep up with Kenny Brack and those guys on the track, he needed to do it off the track as well,” said Roembke, chief operating officer for Team Rahal and Jourdain's eyes and ears in the pits.
“I think he's got plenty of talent. We just need to cultivate it and make sure he stays focused.”
One of the coolest sights of the season opener was the enthusiasm Jourdain generated. The fans cheered him wildly during qualifying, before the race, during every pit stop and after he turned off the engine.
He'd never received that kind of attention. Then again, he'd never deserved it more.
NO MORE MR. ’NICE GUY’
March 18, 2002
By Robin Miller
You would be hard-pressed to find a nicer, more polite young man than Michel Jourdain Jr. Maybe too nice, we all have surmised, during the past six years for the somewhat mean streets of Champ Car racing.
Certainly there have been some flashes of excellence by the second-generation driver from Mexico City, but nothing over a sustained period of time.
Last year, for example, he nearly pulled out a victory in the Michigan 500 before finishing third to earn his first podium visit.
But for the season, he only collected 30 points and wound up 20th in the FedEx Championship Series.
Between his inconsistency, having uncompetitive equipment several times and no teammate to learn from, Jourdain seemed to be one of those guys destined to fall into the cracks of big-time motorsports.
When his longtime ally, Herdez, opted to drop Michel and bring rookie Mario Dominguez on for 2002, it appeared his career might be over at age 25.
“I was worried about the future, absolutely,” he admitted. “You knew there weren't many rides available and the economy has been difficult, but we never gave up hope.
“I have to thank my dad, my family and my friends for the support they gave me over the winter. Then, thankfully, we found Gigante and Office Depot.”
It's no secret that without a major sponsor, Jourdain would not be Jimmy Vasser's teammate at Team Rahal right now.
But last Sunday afternoon in front of his countrymen, Michel made Gigante's and Office Depot's investment look real good. He started sixth, finished fourth and stayed racy for all 85 laps around Fundidora Park.
“In the face of incredible pressure, I thought Michel did a tremendous job,” said Bobby Rahal afterwards. “There was a lot of pressure on him with the new sponsorship and the race being in Mexico.
“You could have excused him if he went off the track or tried to hard, but he never put a wheel wrong. He showed a lot of maturity and I'm very proud of him.”
That was the key to Jourdain's best-ever road course showing. He hung tough for two hours, battled fading brakes and held off Alex Tagliani the final 20 laps. After nearly winning the pole position on Friday (he went from first to sixth in the closing 30 seconds of qualifying), he seemed to be in a groove he never lost.
“Having Jimmy for a teammate really helped a lot and my pit stops were great and we were fast all weekend because Team Rahal gave me a great car,” said Jourdain.
“We were starting to lose the brakes a little near the end so I had to back off and take care of them, but everything else was perfect. What a great start for my sponsors.”
Besides not having a teammate to share feedback and ideas, Michel has never really been pushed to succeed. But that's where Scott Roembke comes in.
“We've got Michel working with a trainer--hard. And I stressed that if he wanted to keep up with Kenny Brack and those guys on the track, he needed to do it off the track as well,” said Roembke, chief operating officer for Team Rahal and Jourdain's eyes and ears in the pits.
“I think he's got plenty of talent. We just need to cultivate it and make sure he stays focused.”
One of the coolest sights of the season opener was the enthusiasm Jourdain generated. The fans cheered him wildly during qualifying, before the race, during every pit stop and after he turned off the engine.
He'd never received that kind of attention. Then again, he'd never deserved it more.
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