quote Originally posted by JimmyS: Danica is not and may never be a top driver. Thats not the point. The point is... she has been successful in a place where only men have been. I think that alone is why you haters hate her so much. It's because you are sexists and believe that a woman has no place competing in what was once a men's only sport. If this was any other woman with the same stats, you would hate her too.

If you stop right there, and I understand you're a fan, then I have absolutely no argument with you Jimmy. I have a little bit of a moment when fans that I KNOW they know better make statements like "makes more money in 1 day than anyone on this forum makes in a year" and "she makes more money than any other driver in history". You knew that was BS right AFTER you wrote it, Jimmy, you just got caught up in the heat of the moment.

There are a lot of drivers that make more per year than Danica and through history there have been a lot more. If she's making $5 million/year as reported in Forbes, that's about $80K a day. You honestly think nobody on this forum makes $80K per year? Of course not, again, just the heat of the moment and I understand that.

That you came back and said you shouldn't have posted that is good on you, but you also need to take your fan glasses off and look at reality. It's not good to put sports stars up that high on a pedastal and you know that. I'm a Hendricks Motorsports fan. I think Rick Hendricks runs a class operation. Of the stable of drivers there, my favorite is Jeff Gordon. (Don't hate me, I'm just being honest. ) I know that he's not the driver he was in the past. Heck, his record shows it. I doubt he'll ever get to anywhere near his previous abilities, although I think there's an outside chance if the stars align he might actually squeak out that 5th championship (although I agree that's unlikely). I can call him my favorite driver and still recognize that he's not "all that". He's human, he makes mistakes, and right now I think there are at least 4 or 5 drivers out there that are consistently better than him.

That's all I'd like to see in your posts, Jimmy, is a look at things through the reality glasses. I honestly think you'll like it better too.

John Stricker

I think you need to stop putting her gender in it. Take all the names and genders out of all the stats, just label em as A) X wins, etc B) X wins, etc.....

and I think that everyone would forget she existed. As a DRIVER, taking her nice tits or whatever people love about her as a WOMAN out of the equation, she is mediocre at best. All the people who keep saying "IGNORE THE STATS, SHE'S THE BEST WOMAN DRIVER EVER!!!" are kidding themselves. F1, NASCAR, Indy, WRC, MotoGP, etc are ALL about the best driver/rider, not man vs woman.

I think she's better than "mediocre". When she was driving those few races in NASCAR the first part of the year I thought she did pretty well, even though she didn't finish well. She needs more time in the ARCA series before she moves on, she did really well in that race, but I doubt her ego will let her drive there as much as she needs. She got caught up in some things not of her doing and if she stays in it she'll find out the middle/back of the pack is not a good place to be in NASCAR because that's where you're mostly likely to get wrecked. There are a lot of people driving that are never going to be champions in their series. One can argue that they are taking a seat from a future champion but until they come up with a sure-fire way to find out who a future champion is then that argument is without merit since anyone that doesn't win the race that day could very well be accused of the same thing.

John Stricker

quote Originally posted by TommyRocker: I think you need to stop putting her gender in it. Take all the names and genders out of all the stats, just label em as A) X wins, etc B) X wins, etc..... and I think that everyone would forget she existed. As a DRIVER, taking her nice tits or whatever people love about her as a WOMAN out of the equation, she is mediocre at best. All the people who keep saying "IGNORE THE STATS, SHE'S THE BEST WOMAN DRIVER EVER!!!" are kidding themselves. F1, NASCAR, Indy, WRC, MotoGP, etc are ALL about the best driver/rider, not man vs woman.

quote Originally posted by JimmyS: Danica's rookie year was 2005. In her rookie year, she drew a lot of media attention simply because she was a woman competing in a man's sport. 2005 marked a huge milestone for Danica. She became the first woman in history to lead the Indy 500. She finished 4th in that race. That achievement alone catapulted Danica into the publics eye. She was also named Rookie of the Year.

She led the race very briefly because everyone else pitted and she stayed out. It wasn’t due to ANY driver skill Jim, it was a STUNT to put her in the record books. Only that.
She was quickly passed as soon as the field came out of the pits and she was forced to pit.

quote In 2008, Danica went on to be the first woman to win a IndyCar Race. On April 20th 2008 she won at Twin Ring Motegi. (Yes Randye, I know you say that win was contrived. Contrived or not, the record books show her as the winner.)

You’re damn right I said “contrived win”. Panica won that race after everyone else RAN OUT OF FUEL
Let the TRUTH be known.
The crew managed the fuel mileage and fuel allotments for that race and had Panica hold to a set speed and position. No race craft on her part. No brilliant race strategy on her part. It hasn’t stopped some people from trumpeting that “glorious win” as though it showed her enormous “skill” though.

quote Danica has won 3 pole positions. She is one of only 18 drivers in IndyCar history to achieve that many pole positions. Doesn't seem like a major achievement? It does when you consider that only 18 other drivers in the 89 year history of IndyCar, have done it.

Panica does well when she’s ON THE TRACK ALONE
Racing in the field of other cars…not so much…
How do you think she got the nickname “Panica” inside IRL???

quote Danica is not and may never be a top driver. Thats not the point. The point is... she has been successful in a place where only men have been. I think that alone is why you haters hate her so much. It's because you are sexists and believe that a woman has no place competing in what was once a men's only sport. If this was any other woman with the same stats, you would hate her too.

Yup, that’s it Jim. You pegged it. That’s why I like drivers like Sarah Fisher, Cyndie Allemann, Anna Beatriz, Pippa Mann and a few others that I have real respect for. Female drivers that are showing real talent and racecraft and worry more about their professional skills in this sport than they do about the next cover of “Swimsuit Illustrated” or their next Go Daddy commercial. Female drivers who aren’t “Hot & Sexy”, but rather “average” looking and don’t give a rip about it because they’re racers first and foremost and not a fabricated media phenomenon with a huge following of drooling teenage hormone intoxicated boys. Yep, that’s the kind of “sexist” I am Jimmy.
I respect substance over image any day.
That said, let’s look at the statistics that *really* matter about Panica:
6 YEARS in Indy Car
86 Starts
1 Win (on fuel mileage)

Danica isn't the best driver, but she is an interesting, feel good story. Underdog, beating the odds, having relative success in Indycar. In her defense, most series only have a few drivers who consistently win. Still, her lack of wins shows that she is not at the top of the sport. She is still young enough to learn and progress, but right now she seems to have hit a wall in open wheel. Either it is driver skill, equipment, not having the right communication with her team, or all three.

Maybe her future is in Nascar. It's hard to say. I agree with jstricker, she did do well in her couple races even without great finishes. In her last Nationwide race, she struggled early, was able to work with Eury Jr on improvements to the car, and was working her way past cars that had previously passed her to retake positions when she was wrecked. For only her 3rd stock car race, 2nd in Nationwide, she was doing as well as can be expected.

quote Originally posted by jstricker: That you came back and said you shouldn't have posted that is good on you, but you also need to take your fan glasses off and look at reality. It's not good to put sports stars up that high on a pedastal and you know that. I'm a Hendricks Motorsports fan. I think Rick Hendricks runs a class operation. Of the stable of drivers there, my favorite is Jeff Gordon. (Don't hate me, I'm just being honest. ) I know that he's not the driver he was in the past. Heck, his record shows it. I doubt he'll ever get to anywhere near his previous abilities, although I think there's an outside chance if the stars align he might actually squeak out that 5th championship (although I agree that's unlikely). I can call him my favorite driver and still recognize that he's not "all that". He's human, he makes mistakes, and right now I think there are at least 4 or 5 drivers out there that are consistently better than him. John Stricker

I am a big fan of Gordon too. Ironically, I became a fan of his years ago, not because of his wins or championships as much as the fact that him winning those races and titles seemed to enrage a lot of other fans. I figured if he had that many people upset, he must be doing something right! That isn't why I am a fan now, but I never watched racing too much before I became a fan. Your right, he isn't the driver he has been. He has blown a few races this year he would have locked down in the past. Still, I think he could squeak out a championship. Had the chase system not been implemented, he would already have two more titles. He is consistent enough to run near the top in points every year. However, he has to get that killer instinct back at the end of races since you really must win some chase races to get the title. Still, he is human. His best years are behind him behind the wheel, but he certainly is not an also-ran out there (Compared to, say, Bobby Labonte, who won the Winston Cup in 2000, and has won only 5 races since, the last in 2003, and who has not had an average finishing position below 22nd since 2004).

Well said, randye.

I'm more impressed by Simona De Silvestro than Danica. Some stats:
http://www.indycar.com/driv...simona-de-silvestro/
2009
• Finished third in Atlantic Championship for Team Stargate Worlds with four wins, four poles and nine podium finishes in 12 starts.
• Claimed wins at Utah, New Jersey2, Lime Rock and Trois-Rivieres to become winningest female driver in series history.
• Led a series best 172 laps.

I think that's great and can't wait to see more. Why doesn't anyone outside of Indy know her name, but everyone knows Danica?
From her website http://www.simonadesilvestro.com/:
"Female athletes of all sporting disciplines are in a constant battle with commercial forces to compromise their class and digintity in order to satisfy a male dominated marketplace. Simona's quest is to shatter the stereotypes, leap beyond the barriers and truly be a role model for young women across the globe."
I would much rather have her as a role model than Danica.

[This message has been edited by kwagner (edited 05-27-2010).]

A few other drivers get more attention than solely their driving performance merits.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. comes to mind. It isn't that he doesn't have any driving skill. He does. It is just that he gets more attention than his skill level merits.

In his case, it is because of who his father is, as opposed to Danica Patrick, who gets more because of how she looks.

You guys that follow Nascar more could tell me if there are any "pretty boy" drivers who, because of being handsome, get more attention than their performance merits.

When you peak - you win. Hmmm...seems like I've heard that before...

quote Originally posted by kwagner: Well said, randye. I'm more impressed by Simona De Silvestro than Danica. Some stats: http://www.indycar.com/driv...simona-de-silvestro/ 2009 • Finished third in Atlantic Championship for Team Stargate Worlds with four wins, four poles and nine podium finishes in 12 starts. • Claimed wins at Utah, New Jersey2, Lime Rock and Trois-Rivieres to become winningest female driver in series history. • Led a series best 172 laps. I think that's great and can't wait to see more. Why doesn't anyone outside of Indy know her name, but everyone knows Danica? From her website http://www.simonadesilvestro.com/: "Female athletes of all sporting disciplines are in a constant battle with commercial forces to compromise their class and digintity in order to satisfy a male dominated marketplace. Simona's quest is to shatter the stereotypes, leap beyond the barriers and truly be a role model for young women across the globe." I would much rather have her as a role model than Danica.

SPEEDWAY, IN (May 23, 2010)- Sarah Fisher Racing (SFR) team owner/driver, Sarah Fisher, made her way into the field of 33 starting positions for the Indianapolis 500 early this afternoon. Fisher clocked her fastest lap of the month during her qualifying session, with a speed of 224.735 mph in her No. 67 Dollar General machine. Fisher will roll from Row 10 in the 29th starting position on race day, in between Andretti Autosport's John Andretti and AJ Foyt Racing's Vitor Meira, after posting a four-lap average of 224.434 mph, the fastest of all female qualifiers, and the 17th fastest time in the field, in her first and only qualifying attempt of the weekend. The 29-year old Fisher will be one of four females starting in the 500-mile race next Sunday. Danica Patrick, Ana Beatriz, and Simona De Silvestro will be joining her on the starting grid.

About Sarah Fisher:
At just 29 years old, Sarah Fisher has already competed in eight Indianapolis 500's, been voted "Most Popular Driver" four times in two separate Series (IndyCar and NASCAR), been awarded "Indy's Best & Brightest Leaders Under 40" and enters her third season as a team owner in 2010. Fisher is the first woman to qualify fastest for a major North American open-wheel event, the fastest woman to ever qualify for the Indy 500 and is the youngest woman to compete at the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Fisher has been a guest or profiled on a variety of national platforms such as, LIVE! With Regis & Kelly, The Tonight Show, The Today Show, Glamour, People and Forbes Magazine, to name a few. In 2008, she formed her own race team: Sarah Fisher Racing (SFR), and made her first start as a team owner in the IndyCar Series' Indy 500. In May 2009, Fisher made her eighth start in the Indy 500, marking the most number of starts for a woman in the 93-year history of the race."

Unless she suddenly finds some new skill within her somewhere, I'd be inclined to say that the handwriting is on the wall for Panica.

Since Paul Tracy didn't make the race, I for one will be rooting for Sarah Fisher and Graham Rahal. Sarah because she is a good oval racer and her and her husband have put everything they have into running a good operation (even though it's small and way underfunded compared to the big teams). Graham because he found himself out of ride unexpectedly in the offseason and he seems to have huge talent potential if he gets the chance.

Both ended up crossing paths earlier this year when Sarah quickly found out at the first open test that she's out of her league on the road and street courses and Graham needed a ride....so she got out of the car on the road courses and hired him:



I just don't like Danica because of her attitude and ego even though she doesn't have the results to back it up. Michael Andretti (I've met the guy, and his dad Mario) was one of the biggest whiners (unlike Mario who's a class act) with an "I'm the sh*t" attitude in his day....but he did have the results. Guess Danica learned every thing from her team owner except the winning part. Guys (and gals) running around in mid pack or worse don't deserve to have that.

Earlier this season I enjoyed seeing Danica trying to drive the wheels off her car trying to catch up to Simona DeSilvestro just so she could be the "first" female finisher. Unfortunately Simona made a rookie mistake with the paddle shifters and missed a shift causing her to spin out....until then though she was taking Danica to school and ran most of the race in 5th place.

[This message has been edited by kslish (edited 05-27-2010).]

Sara Fisher was born and raised like 25 miles from me. She had lots of luck in karting (Circleville ohio has a world class kart track only a few miles from her house). After she moved up the ladder into more racing, not so much. Outside of her own little town, even Ohioans dont have much interest in her. Ill watch an Indy race to see Danica, no interest in watching Sara any more than Janet Guthrie.

quote Originally posted by randye: 15 minutes ago Pippa Mann just secured the pole position for tomorrow's Freedom 100 Indy Lights race at Indianapolis. Team e Racing #17 driven by Jeff Simmons will be starting in the number 5 position.

Just saw that your driver unfortunately took out Pippa Mann on lap 3. Ouch....

[This message has been edited by kslish (edited 05-28-2010).]

quote Originally posted by kslish: Just saw that your driver unfortunately took out Pippa Mann on lap 3. Ouch....

Yep.
The old brickyard didn't treat us well and our day ended very early.
Not that I have to defend Jeff, but it wasn't as though he 'aimed" to take out Pippa and we all, (including Jeff especially), feel very badly about it.
We knew we had a very fast car this year and we had posted consistent190+MPH times in practice.
I'm not sure what Jeff was thinking but it looked like he may have gotten a little too overconfident in the car and too aggressive a little too early. Even though the Indy Cars had been out earlier this morning, it had rained very hard last night and the lower part of the track wasn't what it had been the previous several days of laying down rubber.
As they say.."That's Racin' "

The end of Team E's day starts at about 0:47 in the video....

[This message has been edited by randye (edited 05-28-2010).]

Oh man, tough break!

quote Originally posted by randye: Yep. The old brickyard didn't treat us well and our day ended very early.

That was a hard impact. Is your driver okay?

quote Originally posted by Flamberge: That was a hard impact. Is your driver okay?

Yes, Jeff is ok.
The car needs some work though....

quote Originally posted by randye: Yes, Jeff is ok. The car needs some work though....

Time for a HIGH SPEED buffer after that lick!

http://sports.yahoo.com/irl...slug=ea-danica052810


Danica struggles to find herself amid chaos

INDIANAPOLIS – The Danica debate has raged for years: Is she about the sport or about herself? What does Patrick want more: to win or to be “that GoDaddy girl?” Every decision Patrick makes gets shoved through this prism. When she hops from IRL to stock cars, is it for love of the game or for love of the fame?

The debate has hardly made a dent in her image to this point. In fact, Patrick’s top-10 finishes in the Indianapolis 500 have helped her brand, and her sex appeal has brought a ton of eyeballs to her sport. Just look at the 33-percent ratings jump last February when Danica made her NASCAR debut.

[This message has been edited by madcurl (edited 05-29-2010).]

..
I no longer cared for car racing,after I raced my first motorcycle(scarey)
I only know one name DANICA and I hope she wins the race by at least a lap .. I could not name any other driver before I read this thread..
..Ms Danica is the best thing to happen to car racing since Fire Ball Roberts .
she makes me think of Vukovich & the best car racer (no contest) that ever lived Juan Fangio .....Juan was hairy sphincter muscle ugly!!
.. she stirs REAL interest,no one cares about the other bunies,,what were there names again,?? I forgot already..

[This message has been edited by uhlanstan (edited 05-30-2010).]

Ladies and Gentlemen,

START YOUR ENGINES!!!!!

Man, what a mess! way too much yellow
Sarah Fisher is doing pretty good though, and Tony Kanaan is doing great!

Danica finishes 5th. Course, she didn't fight for the lead ever.

quote Originally posted by heybjorn: Danica finishes 5th. Course, she didn't fight for the lead ever.

No, she didn't. But give her what's due, she ran a good race. Started about 23rd or something and just kept getting better and better. No errors in the pits. No errors on the track. She did well this year and has every reason to be proud of her finish.

John Stricker

quote Originally posted by heybjorn: Danica finishes 5th. Course, she didn't fight for the lead ever.

Man, I must admit-I only click-on to the thread thinking she had crashed or atleast had a towel thrown at her face.

quote Originally posted by jstricker: . . . But give her what's due, she ran a good race. John Stricker

Yes, she did a good job.

I was hoping we might see Franchitti fighting Sheckter, who still had almost all of his "push to pass", for the win.

Yeah, even I will admit she did good on the track and in her post-race interview.
Poor TK though, he came SO close.

i am a fan of racing. i would rather be building the car than racing it. too easy to get hurt[i have called my wife to come and get me at the hospital]. to finish and not hit anyony is a good day for anyone. a race car driver would rather be lucky than good any day. danika did good, not a bad payday at indy. all my friends run at a dirt track in n.j. called new egypt speedway. ah i miss dirt racing and building race car bodies.

quote Originally posted by heybjorn: Danica finishes 5th. Course, she didn't fight for the lead ever.

Given how bad her car was at the start, 5th was a very good finish, her car was soo twitchy, I thought she was going to put it in the wall at any moment..

Cheers Beers n Gearz. Joe

I was there and watched her. She ran a decent steady race and stayed out of trouble. She got passed and she made clean passes. Best run she did was at one time she did try to pass 2 cars going into turn 1 3 wide. She was on the inside and did back out though. Good middle of the pack run for the whole day. Great finish for her too. Sarah Fisher couldnt do crap. I think she was the first lapped car and she ran there all day. Before she finally gave up she must have got 3 tire changes in 30 laps. We sat right in front of hers and Danicas pit.

23rd to 5 th place in a 2nd rate car ???hmmmm pretty good ,,My experience is totally in racing motorcycles,but I know how difficult it is to move thru the pack(especially for me).
..Im 68 years old and the hope is dimming that Danica ,,Pippi,,Sarah,,Milka or any of the other track bunnies will fight over riding shotgun with me,but I can dream ,,an even better fight than Jennifer and Anjelina ,,who would give it a top ripping,hair pulling gleefull winner take all(ME) slug fest.

,,why don,t famous women actress go bald?? the vacuum in thier head keeps the hair in

quote After video review, IndyCar officials determined that three cars, including Patrick, illegally passed Marco Andretti after the caution flag flew on lap 199. So they brought Andretti up to third and bumped Alex Lloyd, Scott Dixon and Danica down one spot apiece. The decision came more than two hours after the race concluded. Alex Lloyd's team said they had no plans to protest the reworked finishing order; no word yet from the other teams.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nas...ic?urn=nascar,244598

Danica sighted:



Danica Patrick is in L.A. with other sports stars for the awards.
Photos from the 2010 ESPY Awards at azcentral.com

[This message has been edited by spark1 (edited 07-15-2010).]

No honey. You messed up.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nas...wreck_bristol_031911

quote Originally posted by madcurl: No honey. You messed up. http://sports.yahoo.com/nas...wreck_bristol_031911

You know....no matter how hard I try, I just can't seem to figure out why I prefer her racing rival Milka Duno....just can't figure out what it is

quote Originally posted by madcurl: No honey. You messed up. http://sports.yahoo.com/nas...wreck_bristol_031911

Either senario is possible. To say that someone deliberately "got loose" to take out someone who's, female, getting all of the press, and new to the series, wouldn't be that far-fetched.

------------------
Whade' "The Duck Formerly Known As Wade" Duck
'88 Ferrario

quote Originally posted by IMSA GT: You know....no matter how hard I try, I just can't seem to figure out why I prefer her racing rival Milka Duno....just can't figure out what it is

at least her oversize boobs match her oversize mouth, lol.

"He runs HARD" "He runs hard every time I've been around him."

DUH! What's he supposed to do?

If you can't run with the big dogs, stay under the porch!

quote Originally posted by madcurl: No honey. You messed up. http://sports.yahoo.com/nas...wreck_bristol_031911

Actually, Truex admitted after the race it was mostly his fault. He said he lost it a little trying to keep off the wall and came down a few feet. Danica also pushed UP the track a few feet. It was like they say, just a racing thing. Both cars just happened to go the wrong way at the wrong time and ran into each other in the middle. He appologized to her at her trailer.

[This message has been edited by rogergarrison (edited 03-22-2011).]