Road course ringer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Road course ringer (or road course specialist) is a term used to describe a non-NASCAR driver who is hired by a NASCAR team to race at a road course (Infineon Raceway, Watkins Glen International, or the now closed Riverside International Raceway).
A road course ringer is often brought in when either the normal driver is inexperienced at road courses, or if the driver is having a poor season and the team needs an excellent qualifying run to qualify for the race. Road course ringers have competed in championships which race primarily road courses, frequently the Trans-Am Series.
[edit] Famous road course ringers
For a more complete list of current ringers, click here.
- Ron Fellows
- Boris Said (plans to run most, if not all, of the 2007 NEXTEL Cup Series season)
- Scott Pruett (although he ran the 2000 season full-time, and took poles in open-wheel oval racing)
- Brian Simo
- Robby Gordon (runs series full-time now)
- Mark Donohue
- Tommy Kendall
- Dan Gurney
[edit] Success
Dan Gurney won 5 NASCAR races as a ringer, while also succeeding in Formula One. The last win by a road course ringer was by Mark Donohue in 1973 in a Penske Racing AMC Matador in the Motor Trend 500 at Riverside. [1].
Fellows, Said, and Pruett have combined for 12 Top 10 finishes in their 33 career road course starts. Said has the only two poles by a road course ringer: one in the 2002 Dodge/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway and the other, ironically, a superspeedway pole for the 2006 Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway.
