The Danica Patrick 'Excuses' Thread. A refuge for haters.

I have spent years observing the obsurd banter back and forth on Danica Patrick. Most of it is perpetuated by a bunch of insecure guys who deep down can't handle that a GIRL is doing well in a field that they seem to think is the domain for men. They say she is overrated, not as pretty as some of the supermodels they have photos of hidden in their computer (her job is to drive well not be hot), or just plain not any good. Well today she made history and won. She took it to the boys and was first accross the finish line. I have always said that there is no room for explanations on the score card so I applaud the victory for, on this day, she did a better job than her competitors. Time has yet to rate the greatness of her performances over the course of a career but there is no doubt that as a driver she is in a small percentage of people in this world who can handle a top line racing car within the last few percent of its performance enveloppe.

Well done Danica. She may have certain advantages to getting rides but this is at least equally offset to the extra BS she needs to put up with because of her gender.

That said, this thead is for the haters. Feel free to use it as a place to write down all of the reasons Danica Patrick was lucky or did'nt really 'win' the race for a myriad of reasons that serve as nothing more than to make your fragile egos 'feel' better.

 

Well said, Rob.

 

The auto racing fan base generally fails to recall that it is a business not a pure sport.....and the business is entertainment where sponsors pay for camera time for their logos on cars, fire suits, helmets, etc. Bottom line is that Danica has been a huge money maker for her teams and a great value for her sponsors. Congratulations on the win.....may there be many more!

 

What I don't understand is why you seem to think that the only reason anyone would criticize Patrick is out of insecurity?!? Is that the limit of your ability to rebut others' comments? Insult their masculinity? Insinuate that their intentions are the result of some self-esteem issue?!? Don't have a response to our criticism so instead you question our motivation? Brilliant...

How about the fact that much of the criticism about her is legitimate and warranted? You ever consider that possibility? Or are you too busy holding up your Danica poster with one hand. It seems to me that most of her support here is being driven by the little head because the big heads don't appear to be doing much thinking.

Don't worry about my self-esteem, I am much better at my job than Danica is at hers.

 

+1
Well stated. But what's his other hand doing?

 

Re-read my post. I mentionned (the part you quoted BTW) that 'most' is perpetuated by... not 'all' therefore your 'only' reason reasoning is not accurate to my description. It appears as though Danica's driving seems to get a LOT more attention than that of the other drivers. Why is that? There is no doubt there there is a whole band of Dancia haters that are just waiting for her to make a mistake so that they can report it to the world. Seems like few other drivers have such 'fans'.

For the record allow me to offer my personal opinion on Danica. I think that she is a world class driver whose performance merits the level of racing she is at. In the past she has made mistakes and will probably make more in the future. This is no different to any other racing driver. In addition to this she has had instances where she has been unlucky and did not win. Again no different to any other driver. So far in her carreer she has shown herself to be a good driver but not in that few percent of the great ones. Once again the carreer of most drivers fit in here. We'll see if she is a late bloomer or will see her career out as a 'once in a while winner'. Either way her race performances are nothing to be ashamed of by any metric. This is my big head observation. As for the small head one I think she is a good looking girl but not my bag. Then again I could care less what she looks like, I only care what happens when the helmet is on.

 

Thankfully she does both! Fluke or otherwise, she's bringing attention to a sport that desperately needs it in this country and I'm happy for her.

 

Clapping?

 

don't care about IRL,don't care about Danica.... all mumbo jumbo third rate entertainment at best. but thread title was funny so i post anyway

 

This could be a first! we've actually agreed on something! My observation of IRL is the driver is a puppet on strings being controlled by spotters in various locations and another voice in your helmet calling the rest of the race for you. . . .

Carol

 

Wow! You're top 40-50 in the World?

 

Concur....well said!

Seeing all these threads, I never knew F-chat was so populated by guys who didn't like girls.....

Mario, MS, Bell, Moss, Rahal, Sullivan, et al..... won more than a few races on either strategy or fuel mileage/team work. There is no reason to bust DP chops just because her first win happened to be more strategy than something else.

 

Now if she can only beat the other people on her team, I might be convinced.

 

I am totally equal opportunity. Really.
That means equal responsibility.
If The Danica had been a man her ride would have disappeared years ago.
That said she is great for the sport.

 

+1, +1. Both are very true. She consistently has one of the best cars (and up to recently failed to win) but she attracts a rather large fan base.

 

If she won the race she beat everyone...including her fellow team-mates....what are you saying?

modus tollens.... if "P" (she won the race) then "Q" (she beat her team-mates) ...if NOT "Q" (her team-mates did not win the race) then "P" (she won the race)

 

Remember Massa's first win? Why is he still in the sport? ... heck quite frankly I have no idea

Remember Mansell's first win? Eventually he learnt to slow down and win more often ... and became a WDC winner.

Just be honest with yourselves ... you simply hate her. Also be honest and analyse how ALL drivers get to the professional seats, many of them are rich kids with heaps of contacts but only about 75-90% talent. Every now and then a true talent makes it like MS, but the rest are just play boys. This has always been a problem in motorsport ... read the history books ... especially before 1950.
Pete

 

Ever heard of a guy named Dale Earnhart JR.....when he was w/ DEI he/they had as much access to high quality people and equipment as any other high-line team on the grid....yet he was 1-50 or something like that..I don't follow NASCAR.

Maybe 1.5% of the people on this board have any idea of what it's like to make it in professioanl motorsports...I cetainly don't

All I know from years of viewing, observing, listening, reading, etc is that success (be it motorsports, golf, football. etc) comes when the right combination of talent, support, $ and opportunity come together....then things happen.

Most of us would sh+t our pants doing 80% of what DP does...I don't think 99% of the people here have any right to sit here in cyber space and judge thoe who do what we only dream of doing.

If a person feels that DP is taking up another deserving drivers job, then get off your a$$, and try to take her seat.

 

The reason that Danica's driving get more attention than other drivers is because SHE gets more attention than other drivers, simply because she's a female. This is the same girl that makes the cover of SI for finishing 4th while the race winner gets a tiny picture on the corner. It is impossible to ignore her results when sportscenter basically announces the top 5 finishers of the race, then how Danica did. Of course everything she does is going to be dissected. I feel that a male with her exact same CV would be hard pressed to even find a top ride, much less keep it. She's been very fortunate in that respect and if she wasn't as marketable as she is, she'd be doing something else.

That said, she won fair and square and earned herself some respect. Also, this is great for American open wheel motorsport. Well done Danica.

 

Dale Jr has won 17 races all of them with DEI, his record is nowhere near as bad as you state. He only took 12 races to win his first race and 16 to win his second race. The only thing he's failed to do so far is win a championship.

 

I think what she does off the track is bad for the sport. It's great for her but bad for racing. I don't follow her series so I don't care who wins the title but I do care if it brings down the motor sport flag in general.

Those Superbowl beaver ads were obscene.

 

First four seasons (Danica is starting her 4th, current rank of 3rd in 2008):

Danica:
2005: 12th.
2006: 9th.
2007: 7th.
2008: 3rd (first three races of 16 total).
Wins: 1.

Earnhardt Jr:
1999*: 48th.
2000: 16th. 2 wins.
2001: 8th. 3 wins.
2002: 11th. 2 wins.
Wins: 7.

*Incomplete season. 5 starts only.

Emerson Fittipald (F1):
1970: 10th. 1 win.
1971: 6th.
1972: 1st. 5 wins. 2 second places and 1 3rd place finish.
1973: 2nd. 3 wins.
Wins: 9 and WDC in F1.

Anyway.

She got her first win on her 50th race. Good job. It took Jenson Button 113 races to do the same thing, and he is far from rubbish.

Anyhow.

She's a good driver, fast, and she's capable. She is, however, on the event horizon between "good" and "great". The people in front of her are the best in the series. Last year she went up against some pretty solid heavyweights. Franchitti. Kanaan. Dixon. Hornish. Castroneves. These guys are genuine hardcore racers, and to discount her performance in light of the competition at the top is silly. There were 6 people ahead of her last year and a lot more than that behind her. A lot more.

She improves her race craft year over year and brings excellent exposure to a sport that desperately needs it.

She's earned her spot, despite the epileptic flagellations of misogynist bed-wetters that say otherwise.

 

I dont doubt her ability as a racer. Without her marketability on her looks and unique position in a male dominated sport, she is quite forgetful. I dont see her as anything spectacular. For the most part she is the driving version Kournikova(tennis) and with that, her performances will not be remembered only her looks and minor impact on marketing.

In short she will not be remembered for any great period of time, in a series that is by and large on the margins in motorsport. Im glad she won but the earth is still turning last I checked.

 

Superb post. She is a racer, not a driver. Those who matter know the difference...

 

I really don't care whether she wins or not, but she has been good for the IRL in terms of sponsorship and coverage. Just look at the ridiculous CART/Champ Car/whatever final at Long Beach, would there be any open wheel racing left in the US without Indy and Danica?


The other thing is even the most worthless driver in F1 or IRL or wherever is better than 99.99999% of the population. How many of us can say that about our job?