Danica signed to racce in NASCAR

She finished higher than other non "PR Stunts" because she's on one of the better funded teams. Also, she didn't do her own setups. Tony K setup the cars for her and Marco; both of whom would be completely out to lunch if not for TK. There are many other drivers who would have much better results if put in the same car. For example, Justin Wilson or Robert Doornbos, both with F1 experience, but not so much with the boring roundy roundy stuff. If we're talking about female drivers, I'd take your fellow countryman/woman Katherine Legge any day over Danica. Katherine outright beat the boys in Atlantics with three wins whereas Danica had none and floundered midpack during their stints there. They just don't have the marketable "pretty" face of Ms. Patrick.

 

In Talledaga nights 2, her car will be sponsored by Vagisil.

 

you mean Valvoline?
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But My point is: better funded team or not, doing her own setups or not (and I would say that driving a car successfully with someone elses setups is probably harder than with your own), she still has to get in and drive the car on the track and if she was as useless as everyone seems to make out, she wouldn't still be in the series.

Surely if Justin Wilson or Robert Doornbos were really so much better, they would be in better teams.

I would also say that just about every racing driver in the world relies on others to set the car up for races, even Michael schumacher, it's what race engineers are there for. What the drivers then do is adjust the basic setting to suit their drivingstyle as best as they can. Some are better than others at it, that's life. You seem to imply though, that you have some sort of inside knowledge that Danica just drives what she's given and doesn't change a single thing. If this is so, please quote yout sources.

You mention Katherine Legge and how much better she is than Danica. Why isn't she in the series then?. She's not exactly a bow wow in the looks department is she? (okay she's no christie brinkley, but she's pretty in her own way).

At the end of the day, if you guys think Danica is such a c**p racing driver, why don't you put your money where your mouth is, throw down the gauntlet and take her on, on a racetrack?. Afterall, she is "just a PR stunt" so it should be easy.

(By the way, I'm not on some sort of "Danica is great!" crusade or trying to annoy people, I just think she deserves a bit more credit than she gets).

 

Get back to me when she doesn't have the AGR pit crews gaining her 2-3 spots per stop.

My complaint is that she can (with pit help) get to 5th (on ovals). She can even get ahead of 5th with pit help ---- but then promptly loses it on track.

She still seems to have a mental chip on her shoulder telling her that she can't win in a male sport.

And both Indycar females seem to always be at the back on road courses.

Even three decades ago, there were women in rallye that wouldn't back down to anyone. Danica keeps finding excuses in the car to keep her away from the front.

At least with all the Danica ads going to NASCAR, watching Indycar might be less annoying.
(And she'll have fewer right turns to worry about. )

 

Are you serious? Every team is trying to gain positions via pit strategy. That is how it is doen in a spec series like IRL has become. Penske, Chip, they all do it. That arguement if moot.

As to the comments by others about TK handling chassis set-up for Danica and Prince Marco, so what...It still comes down to driving the car across the finish line. DP did a better ob this past season than TK...and I respect th eheck out of TK, except for him resigning with AGR....what a mistake. Ugh.

 

Okay, lets look at your complaints one at a time:

Your first appears to be that she's a c**p driver because her pit crew do too good a job and gain her places during stops. I can't say I get that one and as already said, that's part of the art of racing which every team and driver hope to achieve. If Danicas crew do a better than than everybody elses, then the rest need to practice more.

Your next is that she can "(with pit help)" get to 5th place (on ovals) or even further "with pit help" but then promptly loses it on track. Again there's this emphasis on: "it's the pit crew doing all the work", and that she lets the team down. Surely if this was the case, the mechanics would leave the team and work elsewhere?.
I would also query whether losing places on track is the sole preserve of Danica or do other drivers suffer it as well?. If the answer is the latter, why is Danica singled out for complaint?.

Next you mention her having a mental chip about being winning in a male sport. But it appears to me that there are plenty of males who have a mental chip about her even competing in what is percieved as a male sport. I suspect alot of the criticism aimed at her is purely because she is a good looking female who has had some success in the sport and their male ego's cannot deal with it.

"Both Indycar females seem to always be at the back on road courses".
Along with how many male counterparts?. I'm afraid that some of the fault for this will lie in the fact that for year after year, racing in the USA has concentrated on oval racing. If the majority of races in a series take place on ovals then to maximise any possible success, it makes sense to concentrate on oval racing to the detriment of road course racing. I'm sure Danica is not the only driver who has fallen foul of this quirk of US racing history.

"Danica keeps finding excuses in the car to keep her away from the front".
How do you know the "excuses" aren't true though?. And besides, many a driver has blamed the car over the years for failure of success.
A classic was Nigel Mansell. If he didn't win, it was the car at fault and there was nothing he could do about it and yet strangely, Whenever he won it was all down to him and the car had nothing to do with it!.

At the end of the day, it wasn't Danicas looks that got her to 7th, 6th and 5th in the series over three consecutive years, she wasn't driving the car with her face! (although some seem to think she does apparantly).
Once the brain bucket goes on and the visor's down, all the drivers look pretty much the same to Me and they all have to race the car with their driving ability.

As I say, If Danica's such a rubbish driver, go up against her on a race track and prove it!.

 

The only thing she has over the other drivers is marketability. Marketability brings sponsorship. Sponsorship pays for cars to be on the track. Greater sponsorship gets one on better teams. Better teams generally have operations and resources that setup cars better. Better setups help drivers produce greater results regardless of talent. Put her in a Dale Coyne car or worse yet, a Vision car and see what her results will be.

I can't fault her at all for going to NASCAR though with her market presence. Get while the getting is good and the getting is way better in the tin tops than the indycars. There's way more money in NASCAR since American Open Wheel racing has been relegated to nothingness. She'll add to the "racing entertainment" philosophy of NASCAR.

 

I totally agree and wouldn't for one minute suggest that she is superior to any of her rivals with the exception of marketing, as you say. I just don't think she's as useless as people make out and her record tends to support that (despite what others might think).

What I think will be interesting, is seeing how she copes hauling a much heavier car around the tracks with the added pressure of even closer racing in NASCAR. If she thought IRL was a tough series, I think she's in for a shock.

 

There are many hundreds of very talented drivers who never have nor ever will get an opportunity at a high level. Once there it becomes a 'put up or shut up' situation for a quality team, even Penske KO'd Tracy not because of speed but other things. I am not a Danica fan, but she is quite likely to be the first woman to win the Indy 500, her experience and speed along with the right luck will put her in Winner's Circle. She will deserve it as much as Cheever, Lazier, Luyendyk and many others IMO, that's just the name of the game. I've been there done that with quick guys and slow guys, as for Nascar she WILL need all the 'help' Brian France can give her......

 

I would think Milka would do better than DP simply because of the superior upper body strength.

 

Judging by the buzz here, Danica will succeed in the way NASCAR wants most----higher ratings.

Dave

 

I guess the rumor about "will go blind" is true.

AGR topped the '09 season for advancing all their drivers up the order. It's the best part of their team.
The TV coverage even reviewed the "pit contest" at the end of each race, for those who missed it during the race.

Danica *and* Junior tended to then lose positions on track. TK tended to run into things.

I've competed against female rallye drivers. No "ladies' tee" used there. (And that was back before Danica was born.)

You also see plenty of male drivers who don't have the "I can win this" attitude when they first get into a competitive machine. Even Massa had a touch of it for a while.

Maybe it's the male/female thing, maybe it's the comfort zone of the mid pack, but Danica does seem to lose positions more quickly when she's near the front than at mid pack. To me, that looks like someone who doesn't think of themselves as a potential champion, yet. (Male or female.)

In aviation, the saying goes: "If you don't think you're the best in the business, then you're in the wrong business." I'd think that applies doubly to racing. (Most people in our rallye club thought I was an arrogant ***. )

Through the second half of the 2009 season, for several races in a row, the last two runners were Danica Patrick and Milka Duno.

I don't explain 'em, I just note 'em.

And would you praise Nigel for that?

Plenty of other drivers already have.


At my age, they all look alike, once they put the helmets and flame suits on. Male, female -- whatever. I'm just watching the car.

I think Danica could grow up to be a top racer. I just don't think she's there, yet.

She's shown she can get to the front, but she's short outright wins for the number of "near the front" finishes. That may just be a mental hurdle she hasn't cleared yet.

 

I love DP!

 

DGS:

I'm afraid there's very little I would praise Mansell for (unlike the majority of My fellow countrymen who thought the sun shone out of his rear end). While watching all the scenes of him collapsing after races, barely able to stand due to exhaustion (while other drivers around him were bouncing around, still full of energy), I found Myself screaming at the TV: "Why don't you take the hint from the others and get fit!!?".

If people think Danica is a whiner think again, she's an amateur compared to Mansell!.

I understand your point about the pressure of running at the front getting to Danica and I did wonder if that would have gone after her first win ( a realisation of "Hey!, I can run with these guys!"), but apparantly that didn't happen. I don't think she's the only driver who suffers from this though (male or female).

I'm not trying to claim she's the best driver the IRL has ever seen, I just think she deserves a little more credit for her achievements than she gets. Sure there are areas where she could improve (road course races, dealing with pressure at the front etc), but for a woman trying to fit into a very male orientated sport, I think she's done okay and 7th, 6th and 5th in the series over three consecutive years, to Me, supports that thinking.

I do honestly believe that alot of the hostility towards her is because she's a woman and the people slating her really can't accept that a woman should be in "their sport because it's for men" (not saying this is true in your case by the way ).

As I said previously, should she win a race in NASCAR, there'll be some Coors on the floors!.

Oh and in case anybody thinks Danica's looks are the reason for Me defending her, sorry but as I've said elsewhere, I prefer blondes and am loyal to Sabine when it comes to female race car drivers.

I really hope by DP you mean Danica Patrick!

 

Sorry only my HO (no pun intended) but I hope she sucks like she always has.

 

Didn't she finish #5 in IRL this year? How does that suck? Or did you mean the other kind of suck.

 

+1,000,000!

 

Mmmuust rrreessist oobbvviioouus ccrrruuude rrreeeesssppoonnnsse...........




Phew!, that was tough!

 

Danica turns a 176 mph yesterday at Daytona in an ARCA car.
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Michael, your photo?

I just don't understand any of anti-Danica BS, really silly. She consistently places higher than her own teammates and has finished in the top 6 in points for years, I think fifth this year. All in a second tier car.

The Andretti cars do not compair to Ganassi's or Penske's. So I have to believe the complaints are either gender or jealousy oriented. She may at times act ridiculous, but she obviously knows how to market herself, and she drives as well as 90% of the men around her.

 

Uh-oh. Saturday afternoon and Milka is 13th at 181.9 and Danica is 19th at 181.5... C'mon girl!

 

No. I rarely post a photo that's not mine, but I did not take that one. But here's one that is mine.
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I guess this test is a little more diverse than I first thought. How bout the twins.

http://www.arcaracing.com./news.php?contentid=9140

 

Then here's the Munter gal. This is getting hot.
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