Go Danica!!!

Danica is talented, beautiful, & novel. As of now, that hand beats any which the male drivers hold (talented, handsome, & charismatic... or whatever). Is it any wonder that she got so much air time? Besides, if Danica cannot continue to deliver, watch the penalty which will be exacted.

 

Wheldon started in 16th and slowly made his way to the toprunners. That´s how it goes at Indy. You don´t have to be up there all the time to have a decent shot at winning, but Wheldon didn´t look like winning till the second half of the race. Danica found herself in 16th for some duration of the race and back there she didn´t get much coverage either. I´ll fully admit that she got more than her fair share of coverage and that her being a woman has got something to do with it, but don´t tell me it is the only thing that drew the camera on her. She simply drove a damn good race and an even better race being a rookie, not being a woman.

 

I'd like to see Danica Patrick drive for Ferrari

 

Well, lets not get carried away here

 

She did a great job as a rookie, recognized and admitted her mistakes......... I wish her great races ahead.

 

Enjoy...
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

I think she is overrated both in her driving talents and looks. She had top notch equipment and support for the race. Her predecessors did not. She's a racer, nothing special other than her gender and press hype.

Personally, I much prefer Milka.

 

I like Milka as well. But if look at the races she has won in Grand Am, she drove less than a half hour and then Wallace (and Lamars at six hour) finished the day out. I swear at one race she drove less than 15 minutes. She does do a good job of trying to stay out of trouble and on the lead lap though.

 

I'm not trying to step on any toes here but the fact is she finished fourth which if I am not mistaken is the highest ANY female has finished at Indy. Also no offence to Dan W. who ran a great race and won it, but I just can't understand the bashing. After all she would spank anyone on this board in an Indy car yet she gets no respect. Granted it is not F-1 but the fact is if you were to stick her in an F-1 car I'm sure she would stilll spank anyone on this board that tried to take her on.

I can understand if someone on Dan's camp had a problem with his lack of exposure but can't really understand where people on this board are coming from. After all aren't most of the people who posted HARD CORE F-1 Fans? So why does this just bring out such a strong reaction?

She ran a great race for ANY rookie and I have a feeling if she was a guy who finished 4th at Indy in his rookie outing the guy would get much more respect.

I'm not trying to start a flame war. I'm just stating that she ran a great race. Especially for a 23 YEAR OLD FEMALE. Which I am sure most posters on this board including me realize what she has accomplished at such a young age.

 

Give the other drivers a 100 pound weigh advantage and see what would have happened...........that's about how much less she weights than the average driver and before you complain about my statement.....ask yourself why they weight the cars if weight is not relevant

I am not saying she didn't have a good race.......but it would have been different I think with the weight evened out somewhat.

 

Forget stepping on toes, read the posts.

Dan W.'s stats weren't mentioned untill after the race, he won 4 out of 5 races this year and Indy was one of them but no notice. Danica P. caused a wreck, stalled and nearly caused another crash = not great. What about the other rookies in the field? No mentions other than listing their positions. I said Danica was a draw, a big draw. But to take 50% of the air time in the last 60 laps is too much. I wasn't bashing her at all just questioning. She will of course never be in F1 and she will have all the excuses in the book, "not what I'm looking for,I don't need it, I want to stay true" etc....

Maybe if she takes more clothing off she can get a test in an F1 car.

P.S. Being a woman with a drop of skill put her in a position to prove herself. How many other thousands of drivers just in the US could out run her?

It's good for her, good for the leauge, good for the flair of thetv show and good for women getting into all sports so it's good. But don't tell me she's the second coming of Senna, she barely keeps her rang at the level she's at.

There, that's a little bashing.

 

^
What he said.

 

It's good to meet another Milka supporter!

I second your statements about the other one. She was just plain lucky that she didn't take herself out when she took out the other cars (wasn't she on cold tires?!?!?). Only once was there mention of a record in the books for Dan Weldon and if memory serves me correctly, it had something to do with the number of British winners of the Indy 500 - he is like the fourth or fifth. Too much time was focused on her and not the racing where there was actual racing taking place. I don't think she drove a race any better than anyone else. I was hoping for an Andretti 1-2-3. There was some good racing on ESPN yesterday - NHRA Drag Racing from Topeka - lots more exictement than the slot car race on CBS.

Carol

The Indy 500 is just another race.

 

LOL. I never stated that she was the second coming of Senna, just that for a rookie 23 year old driver she did good. Yet no one seems to think that coming in 4th is any good at INDY. I stated that I thought Dan W. did great in this race and maybe I should have also mentioned how he did all season, but it just seems that too many people think that she has no skill or right to be in an INDY car. When the fact is she would shame most(read:all) of us on this board on any track. She did good, I don't understand the problem most people have with her. Ya'll act like no sport has ever had a person that was used in order to bring more attention to the sport. After all aren't all sporting events based on sponsers? And people who might buy the end product of whatever it is that is being marketed. Face it without poster childs you wouldn't have half the professional sports out there that you have. After all, it is advertising exposure that drives the business of every sport. They are going to capitalize on any new thing that might be big or cause controversy
becuase it SELLS. That is the basic rule of marketing.

Look, the fact is she did damn good for any person in her position, why all the bashing? Also, to the people bashing, how long have YOU ACTUALLY followed Dan W's career. I would venture that most(I said most not all) of the people here bashing would not be able to say that they watched any other IRL events. Yet they are quick to jump onto that boat. Considering that I have been posting and reading this board for over a year and it is rare that anything besides F-1 is SERIOUSLY discussed.

 

She is able therefore she is in the series.
She isn't the best but only one person can be at one time.
She is the quickest female, that's good for her.
She should keep her clothes on and act like one of the guys {she said she wants to be "in the crowd"}, instead of pulling the woman card at every chance.

I'm not her fan nor Dan W's fan. Hell if your name isn't Michael Schumacher or Neil MacKay, I don't want to know you.

I don't like or dislike her. However, I do not like the B.S. being spouted from her and around her for being a woman. If she wants to gain fame and fortune by using the woman card, then she must take the bad with the good.

And the bad isn't: "Who cares about 4th place, it's not even on the podium". <<< That's life.

The bad is: "That nearly naked woman in those pictures is Danica Patrick, I wonder what else she would do to gain more money and more chances to improve her career?" She has a few rich and famous men running her racing career, I wonder if a little "action" took place before she got a test.

Because in all truthfullness I don't think she is that good at all. A mid packer is where I put her. High speed ovals can make nobody's into somebody's. Put her in that open wheel speedster on the 'ring in Germany, I would like to see her shine or whine there.

Now knock it off, I wasn't running her panties up the flag pole.

 

I was impressed with her. Regardless of her gender, she is 23 years old and was an Indy 500 rookie.

If weight's an issue, find smaller guys.

I wish her the best. Having said that, she should skip the skimpy photo shoots. Either be a model or be a racing driver.

 

I say she should do whatever she wants. Who cares what she does in personal life? She shouldn't have to act like anyone...and certainly not one of the boys- as if that is something to be prouder of. One person's opinion of "in crowd" is another one's opinion of disgust and disdain. The jealously and misery bleeds throughout this thread - worse than the crap in the tabloids.

 

Interesting. I thought a woman would be upset over the photos. To be fair, I think Schumacher would look like an idiot doing similar shots.

 

Hey Frances, do you want to see Schumi in a speedo?

 

+1. This is why I wouldn't have been surprised if she won and lapped anyone. I couldn't care less what place she got since the field wasn't on a level playing field. IRL is based on equality ironically. Everyone can only use a choice of 2 chassis, 3 engines, same exact tires, same fuel from same filling station, etc, but why not weight with driver? The cars weigh 1525 lbs without driver. She has more than a 50 lb weight advantage if not more on average, 3% of the vehicle weight, that's a lot. We all know that cars go faster with less weight.

 

I wouldn't discount his driving ability based upon him posing in a speedo, in the buff, or for having a roman orgy with 10 women.

I'm sure there would be lots of copies sold if he decided to pose in a speedo. Even more if he was sporting the same outfit Danica is in her photshoot.

 

Danica grew up in a small community a stone's throw from the regional track where I do my SCCA club racing. I've been hearing about her and following her progress for some time. All you macho blowhards should take note - she's the real deal. I'm not saying she's a Senna, but she CAN drive with the boys. Ask Tommy Kendall, he'll tell you.

 

She did OK in my book. She was doing good on the St. Pete street course also, before mech problems.
We'll look back on this thread after the next IRL road race and see who's right. Can she drive, or not?

One thing for sure, EVERYWHERE I went thruout Indiana in May poeple were talking about racing like never before. THAT is a good thing.

 

Easy on 100 pounds...most male formula drivers weigh nowhere near 200 pounds. lol, the heaviest F1 driver is like 150 pounds and most of the IRL guys are small too.

 

Yeah, a lot of attention was given to Danica, but for good reason. She's female, attractive and competitive. The most, or rather ONLY, marketable thing the IRL has ever gotten its hands on, so there was NO way they were not going to give her a lot of attention. And today she is probably the most marketable person in American sports, thanks to the Indy 500.

The weight issue is kind of funny. Everybody throws around the 100-lb. weight difference because fat-old Robby Gordon used it. If you bother to actually compare the drivers who were in the race, unlike Robby, the average weight for those listed was 152.7 pounds, or 52.7 more than Danica. Dan Wheldon, the race winner, tipped the scales at 157 lbs., and all that extra baggage didn't seem to hamper his efforts. I mean, didn't AJ Foyt win the thing four times? Plus, over 500 gruelling miles, being that small can become a disadvantage.

I liked how, before the race, they compared her to the trophy, which is about 2" and 10 lbs. bigger than her!

Speaking of AJ Foyt, when is someone going to stand up and tell him to send his grandson to a feeder system to get some more learnin'? AJIV is dangerous. Not only is he unaware of his surroundings, but in the post-wreck interview he doesn't even know what happened.

"I dunno. I guess I didn't see him there."