MOTOR SPORTS

Where have all the IndyCar bad boys gone?

Curt Cavin
curt.cavin@indystar.com

Robby Gordon. Parnelli Jones. A.J. Foyt.

The first thing that comes to mind with these names? Success on the track. The second?

"One of those guys you don't mess with because if you did, you'd pay for it."

That's Jimmy Vasser on Gordon — "Built from granite," he added — but it could just as easily have been a rival talking about Jones, Foyt or any number of IndyCar drivers almost as famous for their attitude as their victories. These celebrated black-hat cowboys were as much a part of IndyCar as the yard of bricks, checkered flags and milk. Interest was raised with the tension.

Now, they're all but gone. Times — and drivers — have changed.

Thirteen drivers are married — several others nearly are — and many of those have children. They're businessmen, corporate spokesmen, professionals. Ed Carpenter represents the race team he co-owns. Scott Dixon spent most of last weekend's qualifying session with his two sundress-wearing daughters at his side. Alex Tagliani has flowers painted on his helmet in honor of his month-old daughter Eva-Rose.

IndyCar itself seems to lament the loss of the bad boys, launching a marketing campaign last year built around rivalries.

Today, Jones wouldn't pop Eddie Sachs in the mouth, as he did in the old Holiday Inn bar next to Indianapolis Motor Speedway. And, for that matter, Sachs wouldn't have called Jones a liar one too many times to prompt the punch in the first place.

"You can't do the things you used to do," Vasser said, "things Parnelli and A.J. and that generation did."

The question is, would racing be better with a bad boy (or three)?

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IndyCar tried to capitalize on conflict with an #IndyRivals campaign. There's no question tension still sells, said Mike Kitchel, the series' public relations director.

"I think rivalries are a really vital part of the sport because they're real," he said. "This is not (professional wrestling) or the Jerry Springer Show. These guys are competitors and those moments show how much these guys want (to succeed)."

It's undeniable, however, that IndyCar has changed.

Tempers flare more often in NASCAR partly because emotions are encouraged but also because the cars are strong enough to absorb contact.

Indy cars bump some on road courses and street circuits, but drivers must take care of each other on the ovals. Aggression must be contained.

"That doesn't mean some guys won't take you deep into the corner every time, regardless of position," said two-time 500 champion Arie Luyendyk, who now counsels younger IndyCar drivers in his role as the regular pace car driver. "I don't think there was anyone tougher to race with than Mario (Andretti), and you should have seen how he raced his own son. There was no love lost."

Part of what's different about IndyCar racing is the money involved. Stefano Coletti noticed that the minute he arrived from GP2, a European series that is the final step before F1. There, drivers seek the $30 million contracts of the sport's elite. Those who have the mega-deals don't want them taken away by someone pushing them around. Hence, the conflict.

"In Europe, it's you die, I live," Coletti said.

European teammates are also judged against each other, but most IndyCar teammates work together for the betterment of the team, reducing the need to play things tough.

The result is the near extinction of IndyCar drivers as villains.

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Carpenter and his young teammate, Josef Newgarden, were riding through Gasoline Alley on a golf cart last week when the subject of IndyCar's current bad boys came up. The sport is so buttoned up, so friendly, they struggled to generate a list of possibilities.

One was easily identified.

"Juan is a (expletive)," Carpenter said. "He tries to be a bully."

Newgarden gave Carpenter the did-you-just-say-that look.

"Yep, print it," Carpenter said.

Juan Pablo Montoya has heard that word before, and he is fine with it. He was that way in junior karting. He was that way in CART. He stuck it to the great Michael Schumacher when no one in Formula One would, much less could. Seven years in NASCAR didn't change him. He's no different today.

In just his third race back in IndyCar last season, Montoya put bold moves on Marco Andretti, James Hinchcliffe and Mikhail Alesin in the rain at Barber Motorsports Park. Nothing dirty, just aggressive.

"I'll race anyone the way they want to be raced, you know what I mean?" he said.

We do. No one else in racing cares less about what people think of him than Montoya. He likes a good scrap. His clash with Coletti in last month's IndyCar Series race at Barber Motorsports Park is an example of that.

Coletti might be a newcomer to U.S. open-wheel racing, but Montoya had been his favorite F1 driver. When Coletti got his first chance to be aggressive with the master of aggression, he took it, going around the outside of Montoya in a sweeping corner where passes don't normally occur.

"He wanted to race me so bad he ran into me," Montoya said, laughing.

Montoya can take a punch. But, be ready to get one back. It's not hard to see how a driver like Montoya can ratchet up the entertainment level of a race.

"Listen to me," said 2003 500 winner Gil de Ferran, who spent two years racing Montoya in CART. "Watching him win that (March 29) race in St. Petersburg was classic Montoya. Super optimistic. Can smell blood better than any person racing today. Great in changing conditions. Ridiculously fast, especially on cold tires. And then add in the fact he'll race you like there's no tomorrow.

"Yeah, he's the same Juan."

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So Montoya is an IndyCar tough guy. But who else?

Reigning series champion Will Power seems to find himself in the middle of conflict, especially last year with Simon Pagenaud. But there's no sense he's a fighter in the physical sense of the word.

"He just has a goofy side," said Pagenaud, who is now Power's teammate at Team Penske.

Ryan Hunter-Reay is coming off a three-race probation for avoidable contact with Pagenaud at NOLA Motorsports Park, and rivals say he seldom thinks he made a mistake. But that doesn't mean they don't like him on and off the track.

Dixon is steely, sometimes icy, but people enjoy racing with him. Helio Castroneves sometimes elicits a roll of the eyes, but he's not large enough to be intimidating. Tony Kanaan has the body of Mike Tyson, but the closest he's come to a fight is a half-hearted swat at Sam Hornish Jr. after Hornish shoved him following the 2007 race at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International. Sage Karam? At least he was a standout wrestler in high school and has the toughness swagger.

Then there's James Davison, who last week drew the ire of Hunter-Reay for posting a video of him passing last year's 500 winner on the outside in Turn 3 in practice.

"Seriously?" Hunter-Reay said.

Going back to the Carpenter/Newgarden conversation, they laugh when considering the occasional brashness of Graham Rahal. "That's OK," Newgarden said. "He's just Graham. We all get that."

As for fighting words, Carpenter directed a few at James Hinchcliffe after the Canadian initiated their Turn 1 crash late in last year's 500. Carpenter wanted to punch him, saying on television it was "a good thing he already had a concussion last week." Carpenter then spoiled the drama by texting Hinchcliffe an hour later.

"I hope you know I wasn't serious," Hinchcliffe said in the text.

Maybe it's not a tough guy. Danica Patrick confronted Dan Wheldon after a 2007 race in Milwaukee. Kanaan and Ryan Briscoe also have stories of drawing Patrick's wrath. Danica, however, is gone from IndyCar. Simona De Silvestro and Pippa Mann bring a different attitude to the track.

Justin Wilson is just too nice to be a tough guy. There's a lot of that to go around at IMS.

***

IndyCar drivers tend to be neighbors and friends. Carpenter and Dixon live about four blocks apart on Indianapolis' Northside. Dario Franchitti is a regular at Kanaan's house. Wilson and JR Hildebrand train on mountain bikes together in Colorado.

Davison and Sebastian Saavedra are former roommates. Before Newgarden moved from Nashville, Tenn., to Indianapolis, he often stayed at Conor Daly's house. Daly visits Marco Andretti in Nazareth, Pa.

A little more conflict would be nice, but Carpenter cautions against reading too much into IndyCar drivers playing nice. When helmet visors drop and the green flag drops, toughness rules.

"Remember, being friendly and being friends are two different things," he said.

Follow Star reporter Curt Cavin on Twitter: @curtcavin.