Tony Kanaan's struggles should put an end to whining about ride-buying

It seems that the weak global economy has affected motor racing more than any other sport. There's so much stuff you have to buy: a car body, tires, an engine, a gearbox, a steering wheel, seat belts, and much more. For football, all you need is a helmet, pads, and cleats. For baseball, a batting helmet, cleats, and a bat. For basketball, just shoes. You need a uniform for each, and for football and baseball, you need a cup for that special place. If you're a guy, anyway.

But motor racing isn't stick and ball; it's technology and machinery. You need sponsors to fund a competitive team. It's why the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series have so many start-and-parkers at the moment. In the last few years, the practice of "ride-buying" has become more prevalent, especially in Formula 1. Young drivers with backing from big sponsors to get rides on the back of the grid.

But nowadays, you need a big sponsor to get to the front of the grid, as well. Sergio Perez got his rides at Sauber and McLaren with backing from TelMex. Let's be honest and say that Fernando Alonso wouldn't have a ride at Ferrari without Santander, no matter how good he is. And of course, PDVSA is the reason Pastor Maldonado is in F1.

Ride-buying isn't always a bad thing. Alonso is one of the best drivers in F1 history, Perez finished on the podium three times in 2012, nearly winning Malaysia, and, despite his mind-numbingly terrible driving most of the time, Maldonado managed to hold off Alonso to win the Spanish Grand Prix last year. Sure, you've had some flops, Jean-Denis Deletraz in particular, but not all ride-buyers are talentless hacks.

Ride-buying isn't as prevalent in IndyCar as it is in F1, or at least it hasn't been lately. EJ Viso is the most famous pay driver, as, like Maldonado, he, too, has backing from PDVSA. Now, the man who scored perhaps the most popular IndyCar win of the last decade back in May needs some money to keep his career going. 2013 Indy 500 winner and 2004 IndyCar champion Tony Kanaan recently talked about his troubles finding a ride for 2014 and beyond to RACER.com's Robin Miller in a story published on the site on Monday.

Kanaan is talented, and easily one of the top open-wheel drivers in the U.S. in the last two decades. He's also, to an extent, a pay driver. In order to keep his ride with KV Racing and win this year's 500, T.K. needed backing from Brazilian beer company Itaipava and other various businesses from his home country. 

Folks, it's time for us to stop moaning about ride-buyers. The state of the global economy means that pretty much every team, no matter which one it is, will need a driver, whether they are talented or not, to have the backing of a great sponsor to make things work. And, again, not every ride-buyer is a talentless hack. When they're all in the same boat, we need to lay down our rage. Just saying.

-CRL