Comments on: Vitor Meira: Underachiever Or Underrated?

By: Doug

Doug — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 05:04:53 +0000

Henry, that pass was a piece of art, but keep in mind he was in Panther equipment at the time. Even though Panther may be waning and struggle at other tracks, they always show strong at Indianapolis. Vitor is one of those drivers who have moments of brilliance and healthy amount of talent, but aren’t among the elite drivers. There’s nothing wrong with that, and I do think Vitor deserves a better ride than Foyt. John Barnes was an idiot to let Vitor go, but I don’t think Vitor’s one of the best. He’s definitely one of the very good, and would make an excellent #3 or #4 driver at Andretti, but he just doesn’t have that last little bit of edge to attract the attentions of Ganassi or Penske.

By: Brian

Brian — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 22:28:09 +0000

– yeah; too bad that he didn’t bring million$ from Apex Brasil or the like when he came to the series.

By: The Speedgeek

The Speedgeek — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 18:48:58 +0000

Mutt, an anti-Dixon post? Surely you jest. I kid. No, I’m with you, Vitor had Dixon handled at Indy in ’08, but Dixon had the benefit of the better pit position. Open and shut.

I was not a fan of Vitor at first because he faild The Speedgeek’s Official “Have I Heard of You Before You Got to the Big Leagues?” Test. However, Vitor’s been on the short list of guys that I was wrong about, and clearly had more talent than I originally gave them credit for. That is a very short list, one that includes the likes of Jenson Button, Kimi Raikkonen and Max Papis (or, Massimiliano, as he was known when he debuted in F1), but does not include the likes of Juho Annala, Juan Caceres and, as he’s known in my house, “S^%&&y” Dan Clarke. Vitor’s shown himself to be a guy who doesn’t crash, and basically always brings the car home in a position that represents best possible for the car and crew, and sometimes better. That’s the mark of a good driver, even if he’s not in the “great”category. He’s no Dixon, Dario or Briscoe, but he’s certainly far from a Conway, Barrett or Duno. Ideally, you’d see him driving for an AGR or an NHL, and then we’d see what he could really do with a good, stable ride.

By: AZZO45

AZZO45 — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 16:20:17 +0000

Americans sure LOVE an underdog story We project greatness & endless potential onto the “little guy”. The minor leaguer making his MLB debut against Andy Petite. The back-up goalie will be the key to the team challenging for the Stanley Cup. The losing NFL team would obviously do BETTER if they only put in the 2nd or even the 3rd string QB (Living in metro Detroit I sure have heard the last two on sports radio)

I agree 100% that Vitor is a very nice man. Lets also remember that Meira’s MENARDS ride in the early IRL days was rumored to include him bringing some $$$ & non N/A sponsors (the kind that might have been run on the 2006 Panther Dallara…) He has had some bad luck… but truly great drivers don’t stay winless for so long. JMO.

By: AZZO45

AZZO45 — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 16:08:29 +0000

Please Tim… let him win ANY race (before praying for an Indy 500 win for the man) Just sayin’.

By: Leigh O'Gorman

Leigh O'Gorman — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 11:33:28 +0000

As a side-note, is AJ Foyt going to be the next generations Chuck Norris??

By: The American Mutt

The American Mutt — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 01:01:51 +0000

For the record, I remain unconvinced that Dixon would have beaten Meira, at Indy, had he had to actually pass him on the track.

By: Timnothhelfer

Timnothhelfer — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 23:19:41 +0000

My son is a diehard Vitor fan!
I would relish seeing his face on the Borg Warner…

By: Roy Hobbson

Roy Hobbson — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 22:00:54 +0000

Just wait until Foyt’s commando farm-training kicks in. Vitor will be jussssssst fine.

(He’ll also be incapable of physical injury, as well as proficient in many military-style combat manuevers.)

By: Tom

Tom — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 21:15:29 +0000

Vitor is certainly a nice guy. Unfortunately, nice guys don’t necessarily get sponsorship. In racing these days we lose very few drivers in deadly crashes. Instead we lose good drivers from lack of sponsorship money.