quote Originally posted by Monkeyman: JimmyS---Oddly enough, I've collected a few Danica things, too. I currently have 3 pair of her underwear and a signed (by Danica herself) restraining order. Does that count?

LOL!!!!!!!!!!

quote Originally posted by Monkeyman: JimmyS---Oddly enough, I've collected a few Danica things, too. I currently have 3 pair of her underwear and a signed (by Danica herself) restraining order. Does that count?

quote Originally posted by Monkeyman: JimmyS---Oddly enough, I've collected a few Danica things, too. I currently have 3 pair of her underwear and a signed (by Danica herself) restraining order. Does that count?

LOL, that counts in my book. What did the judge say?

Jim

quote Originally posted by jimbolaya: LOL, that counts in my book. What did the judge say? Jim

The judge settled case for one pair of underwear.

Well, the starting grid is set and Milka Duno didn't qualify

Still, there are a record four women starting this year; with Sarah Fisher having the fastest average qualifying lap speed of the four at 224.434mph. The pole sitter Helio Castroneves, has an average qualifying lap speed of 227.970mph.

Tony Kanaan did manage to grab a spot today after suffering a serious crash during a qualifying attempt yesterday.

[This message has been edited by williegoat (edited 05-23-2010).]

quote Originally posted by JimmyS: I have my own theory as to Danica's performance this year. Keep in mind this is just a theory. While I agree that Danica is a good middle of the pack driver, she has been doing uncaracteristicly awful this season. On April 29, 2010 – Andretti Autosport announced it signed 2009 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport champion Adam Carroll to drive a limited schedule of IZOD IndyCar Series events in the second half of the 2010 season. They have not announced what car Adam will be driving. Onto my theory... I think that Andretti didn't think Danica's contract through completely and possibly left out some kind of clause about her driving in another series of racing. I think Michael might have expressed some displeasure with her about driving Nascar. She decided to do both and that ticked Michael off cause she wouldn't be devoting her full concentration on her IndyCar responsibilities. So to get even, they have been purposely sabotaging her cars setup. I think Andretti is looking for an excuse to pull her out of her car and put Adam in her seat. If she is not performing, Andretti has a excuse to pull her out.

Jim,
You know I respect you being a Fan(atic), about an "also ran" driver, that's your right brother, but that has to be one of DUMBEST things I've ever heard from you, especially since I know that you are "above average" in your knowledge and insight into IRL.
I thought you and I talked about our, (Team e), driver contracts with Bobby and with Jan and with Jeff...
You should know full well that *any* driver serves at the pleasure of the team owner.
IF...let me repeat..IF...Panica has any sway at all over Andretti, it's for one reason and one reason alone, and that's SPONSOR MONEY.
Andretti is no fool. He's not going to "sabotage" a car set-up just to get Panica out of the seat, he can do that with two words, ("You're fired"), and he's not going to throw away that kind of sponsorship money, especially is this economy. The simple fact is, Panica CANNOT communicate what's wrong with a car's set-up...never could. The crew has to GUESS.
YOU especially know how hard we are all fighting to find sponsor money right now Jim.
Go Daddy has quite a bit invested in Panica, (God knows why...), but like it or not they have created a MEDIA IMAGE. It sure isn't an image based on her being a *great driver*, but a puely manufactured image and sex. Go Daddy is going to play that investment out for all it's worth. If they thought their money would be better spent sponsoring a rodeo, you'd probably see Panica straddling a Brahma bull and wearing a Stetson in a "New York Minute". She's got a "gravy train" going with her current PR gig and she knows damn well it probably ain't going to get better for her...(because her race skills sure aren't getting any better...)

Edit to Add:
WATCH the Indianapolis FREEDOM 100, Firestone Indy Lights race this Friday, May 28
Our Team E Racing, car #17 will be driven by Jeff Simmons this year.
http://www.indycar.com/sche...restone-freedom-100/
www.teameracing.com

Simmons quickly gets back up to speed

By Dave Lewandowski



Jeff Simmons was getting reacquainted with racing associates, friends and Indianapolis Motor Speedway personnel before a Firestone Indy Lights Open Test. Oh, he also was reacquainted with a Firestone Indy Lights car.

Simmons, who has competed in the Firestone Freedom 100 four times, participated in the five hours of track time in the No. 17 Team E car. It was his first time in a Firestone Indy Lights car since competing at Kentucky Speedway in August 2007.

It appears he hasn’t lost a step. Simmons, a Connecticut native who resides in Albuquerque, N.M., was fourth on the combined (two sessions) speed chart with a quick lap of 47.3506 seconds (190.072 mph) on the 2.5-mile oval. Gustavo Yacaman, driving the No. 10 Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing car, topped the session with a lap of 47.2413 seconds (190.511).

“I wanted to build up gradually, and I think it was a testament to everybody at Team E that we were so quick right off the bat,” said Simmons, whose best finish in the Firestone Freedom 100 is second in the 2004 race. “We had a good starting setup and we kept the car in a good window. I got the chance to slowly work my way into traffic and feeling that out, because I haven’t had that for almost two years.

“So be able to have a car that I could be confident in was great. We were quick all day – basically in the top three all day – and if we wanted to play the super-drafting game at the end we probably could have gone a little quicker. But when we come back the track is going to be different from having the IndyCars run on it.”


http://www.indycar.com/news...ts-back-up-to-speed/

OH...and if you're looking for a good looking woman driver that actually CAN go fast, you might want to look here:
http://www.pippamann.com/
She's 2nd fastest for the open test sessions so far...

[This message has been edited by randye (edited 05-24-2010).]

all Andretti's car are slow this year
it is art not science
but the chic was only fast when she had a weight advantage over the heavier boys
they changed the rule and weight driver in car now not just the car alone
so yes she is mid pack at best
and a bwitch too

quote Originally posted by ray b: all Andretti's car are slow this year it is art not science but the chic was only fast when she had a weight advantage over the heavier boys they changed the rule and weight driver in car now not just the car alone so yes she is mid pack at best and a bwitch too

You know Ray, I never in a MILLION YEARS, thought I would EVER say this, so I'm marking today's date on my calendar and even though this scares me to no end.....
I AGREE WITH YOU.
A large part of auto racing IS "art", insofar as driver talent is concerned.
Agreed, Panica is mid-pack at best and will, likely never be any more than that.
Further agreed, she's a little whiny "bwitch".


I'm going to go look and see how far hell has frozen over now.....

quote Originally posted by randye: I'm going to go look and see how far hell has frozen over now.....

It's just a thin crust, not solid.......sort of a Slurpee-like consistency. We're still OK for now.

quote Originally posted by randye: Jim, You know I respect you being a Fan(atic), about an "also ran" driver, that's your right brother, but that has to be one of DUMBEST things I've ever heard from you, especially since I know that you are "above average" in your knowledge and insight into IRL. I thought you and I talked about our, (Team e), driver contracts with Bobby and with Jan and with Jeff... You should know full well that *any* driver serves at the pleasure of the team owner. IF...let me repeat..IF...Panica has any sway at all over Andretti, it's for one reason and one reason alone, and that's SPONSOR MONEY. Andretti is no fool. He's not going to "sabotage" a car set-up just to get Panica out of the seat, he can do that with two words, ("You're fired"), and he's not going to throw away that kind of sponsorship money, especially is this economy. The simple fact is, Panica CANNOT communicate what's wrong with a car's set-up...never could. The crew has to GUESS. YOU especially know how hard we are all fighting to find sponsor money right now Jim. Go Daddy has quite a bit invested in Panica, (God knows why...), but like it or not they have created a MEDIA IMAGE. It sure isn't an image based on her being a *great driver*, but a puely manufactured image and sex. Go Daddy is going to play that investment out for all it's worth. If they thought their money would be better spent sponsoring a rodeo, you'd probably see Panica straddling a Brahma bull and wearing a Stetson in a "New York Minute". She's got a "gravy train" going with her current PR gig and she knows damn well it probably ain't going to get better for her...(because her race skills sure aren't getting any better...)

You can't convince me that after 6 years of driving in the IRL, she hasn't figured out how to tell them that the car has oversteer, understeer, push, loose and so on.

I also know that Indy Lights is always harder to find sponsorship compared to full blown INDY Car. Andretti is not hurting for sponsorship. Hell, he has 7-11, IZOD and Venom Energy Drink. Those sponsors are'nt going anywhere. I dont think Andretti would have a problem getting sponsorship for Adam Carrol.

You also can't convince me that Danica would have anywhere near the same kind of contract/agreement with Andretti that Bobby, Jan or Jeff have with Team E.

Edit to add.. I watched a race last year where Danice was being her usual bwitch self and wasn't listening/being obedient to commands on her radio. They kept talking to her and she wouldn't respond. They were telling her to let marco pass. He was clearly much faster than she was but she just would not let him pass. Then out of the blue, Marco runs his left front wing into Danica's right rear tire and caused it to go flat. I believe he (Marco) was told to that to teach Danica a lesson. I don't doubt for 1 bit that Michael Andretti is beyond sabotaging Danica in 1 way or another to let her know who's the boss and she don't run the show.

[This message has been edited by JimmyS (edited 05-24-2010).]

quote Originally posted by JimmyS: You can't convince me that after 6 years of driving in the IRL, she hasn't figured out how to tell them that the car has oversteer, understeer, push, loose and so on.

The sad fact is, she hasn't. The next time you're up here I'd like you talk with Doug or Dave on our crew, they will give you the details they got from *her* crew.
She's clueless Jim [Dr. McCoy mode /OFF]
You also just popped the bubble on your "sabotage" theory. IF she's not clueless then she could tell everyone *exactly* whats wrong with the set-up couldn't she?
She would also know in a nanosecond if the car wasn't set-up the way SHE requested right?
You've been around the scene long enough Jim. You know that car set-ups are a cooperation between the team engineers, manager and *driver*, and that a good deal of the race set-up at any given race is predicated a LOT on driver preference. If Panica was so astute, don't you think by now she would be making better set-up choices? Looks to me, (and lot of other people), that she has no idea.
” "This is the worst car I've ever had," she said, according to USA Today's Nate Ryan on Twitter. "There's no stability or grip. It's just scary, really scary ... It's awful, really awful. I think I'm still shaking." And when her comments were played over the track PA, she was booed.

“I wasn’t flat out the last two laps and I was scared to death flat on the first two. I’ve never been bad here before. I’ve never been outside the top 10 on a finish or qualifying, so, it’s not my fault. The car is not good.”

That’s’ IT??!
“No stability or grip”?
“The car is not good”??!!
What the hell does that mean?
(and by the way, that’s EXACTLY the stuff she says over race comm. I’ve listen to it myself..
Panica: ”Guy’s, what the hell? This cars just not right!”
Crew Chief: “What’s it doing?”
Panica: “I don’t know, you guys set this up! It’s just not right!”
Crew Chief: “Well we have to have some idea Dan”
Panica: (audible “huff”), “I TOLD YOU, it’s not F—ing right!!”
Crew Chief: “Watch it Danica, this is an open channel.”
Panica: (another audible “huff) “Switching” (meaning she’s switching to a private radio channel)
I’ve heard this same basic conversation between her and the crew at 3 races.
I quit listening to her…

quote I also know that Indy Lights is always harder to find sponsorship compared to full blown INDY Car. Andretti is not hurting for sponsorship. Hell, he has 7-11, IZOD and Venom Energy Drink. Those sponsors are'nt going anywhere. I dont think Andretti would have a problem getting sponsorship for Adam Carrol.

Jim, we *all* have "sponsorship" from Izod, they're the SERIES sponsor. We have not been told to put Izod stickers on our car, so we don't.
I don't know what separate agreement Andretti might have with them.
Go Daddy is the *primary* sponsor for Panica's car. You have one of Team E's sponsorship packages, you know how it works. I assure you, the champ car packages are no different in basic structure...where do you think Neil got the format from?
Andretti doesn't want to lose Go Daddy, they're a goldmine for him. The only thing I don't know, (as I said before), is IF Panica has a separate agreement with Go Daddy and brought that sponsorship with her to Andretti. You do know that's how it works a lot of times right? In addition to the teams marketing themselves, drivers do the same. They bring sponsorship with them.
Do you know how many calls my brother gets in a week from unknown drivers who have *verified* sponsorship to bring with them, not "peanuts" either...substantial primary sponsor money.
Do you know why they are turned away? (I actually know you do..)

quote You also can't convince me that Danica would have anywhere near the same kind of contract/agreement with Andretti that Bobby, Jan or Jeff have with Team E.

Wrong Jim.
All driver contracts that I know of are essentially the same with regard to hiring and firing drivers.
Do you somehow think Panica has some sort of "lock" on Andretti?
Again, the only contractual difference Panica *might* have is if Go Daddy's sponsorship with Andretti is contingent on her driving the car.
SHE is their investment, not Andretti, his cars or the team. She's the one they focus all their media advertising around, you'll notice they sure don't make a lot of mention of Andretti in their advertising....

Mark my words, if Panica leaves Andretti, Go Daddy will go wherever she goes...count on it.

I know you're "smitten" with Panica Fever Jim.
That's ok, we've had this "converstation at least a couple of times in person.
It's fine for you to worship your "also-ran" driver Jim, really it is!

Care to make a $50 bet with me on her winning the Indy race next weekend??
I could use an easy $50

[This message has been edited by randye (edited 05-24-2010).]

This is the first year I'm really REALLY looking forward to the Indy 500. Why? They finally made some changes that make the cars more dependent on the driver and not a piece of cake to drive.

Notice how they speeds are up this year (5th fastest field overall in history), even though the cars are essentially the same as last year. Why is this? They made two rule changes that make the cars more aerodynamically slippery and removes downforce....they eliminated the Gurney flap off the rear wing and moved the mandatory caution/rain warning light off the rear wing stand and relocated it to behind the transmission to get it out of the airflow. The result? The cars are faster and more of a handful to drive......finally separating the truly good drivers from the average ones and making the teams work more as they couldn't rely on past data to tell them what the cars will do and the driver's actually had to provide feedback to the teams so they could use that input to fine tune the cars.

Every driver commented how much more of a handful the cars are to drive now at the limit.....Townsend Bell and Graham Rahal stated the cars were scary, but their job was to keep their foot down. As Bell put it "In the end, my foot was dumber than my brain, and I just kept my foot in it" or Rahal "you just have to grit your teeth and go for it, if you don't, you aren't doing your job". Not one blamed the team, or the setup, or anything else. It wasn't that long ago that Juan Pablo Montoya after winning to 500 commented that IndyCars had become so easy to drive on ovals with the proper setup and the mandatory high downforce package that he made a comment along the lines that his grandmother could drive the cars when setup correctly since all you had to do was plant your foot down and steer.

Danica just expects a good car, and her team couldn't just instantly give her one this year without input from the driver with the changes. Look at how much her teammate Tony Kanaan (who is a good driver) struggled and rumor has it he usually defines the baseline setup for all four of the Andretti cars (he drove all four of the Andretti cars in practice the first week at Indy).

My personal favorite driver, Paul Tracy failed to qualify because of setup issues....you could see him trying to manhandle the car practically drifting through the corners but that just scrubs speed. Afterwords though he handled it correctly and said it was "his" fault even though in reality the team practiced more in race trim than on qualifying setups and got caught with their pants down when the weather changed....he said "he" was unfamiliar with the changes to the cars since this is his first time in an IndyCar this season and all he could do was try to hold on.

Andretti will keep putting up with Danica though, as long as GoDaddy keeps writing the checks and the series loves the exposure Danica brings. Good sponsors aren't that easy to find in this economy (for instance, another Andretti driver, Ryan Hunter-Reay brought IZOD to the team as IZOD has personally sponsored him since 2008). Otherwise I'm sure he'd tell her to get back to restarting her sterling NASCAR career, where she needs to get back to learning how to finish 30th and 3 laps down every week....because it's starting to become apparent that the days of her being the fastest female driver are numbered in IndyCar with more women starting to compete in the series (i.e. the two rookie women that qualified in front of her). Before she just had Sarah Fisher (who is just a part time oval specialist) and the slow moving chicane known as Milka Duno (every driver is probably thankful she didn't qualify) to compete with for attention.

Finally, if her car is so crappy and so undriveable at Indy this year and "its not her fault" for the results because of said car; can we also surmise that in past years when she has had fast speeds and good results, that also was more because of "the car" she had? So not only did she throw her entire crew, engineering staff and team owner under a greyhound bus and made herself look like an ass in front of the public, she also threw herself under the greyhound as well (by indirectly saying the only way she can go fast and look like a real driver is if the car is good and she has no clue and no care on how to make a average car better).

[This message has been edited by kslish (edited 05-24-2010).]

Let me make something clear here. Am I a Danica fan? Yes. Am I a fan of her actions and attitude? No. I can understand her actions and attitude but that doesn't mean that I greee with it. Is Danica a "GREAT" driver? No. Any mooron can see that. Is she an above average driver? Yes. You don't finish 5th in the points standings because you suck. She has accomplished things in IndyCar that no other woman to date has been able to achieve. She didn't accomplish these things because she sucks. There isn't a person on this forum who could get in an IndyCar and whoop her. Most of the people who bash her couldn't even get in an Indycar let alone be able to drive one better than her.

You want to gain a whole new respect for what these drivers do? Sign up for the Mario Andretti Driving Experience. http://www.andrettiracing.com/MARE/ . I did and let me tell you, even at only 150mph, you gain a whole new respect for the drivers who do this for 2+ hours straight at speeds over 200mph. These drivers are athletes whether you want to believe it or not.
http://www.facebook.com/vid....php?v=1194489784459

[This message has been edited by JimmyS (edited 05-24-2010).]

Fox's "Race Day" and Channel Shift.com have their studio inside Team E Racing's shop.
Here's Michele Rahal's take on Panica Patrick:

http://www.break.com/userco...ck-Video-511045.html

quote Originally posted by newf: True but I always wonder how much is due to driver skill and how much is the team and getting help from teammates and other drivers (can't have a non "good ol' boy" winning mentality). I can't imagine there is more driving skill involved in circling a loop in the same gear all day than there is in most open wheel racing, but that's just me I really can't get into watching Nascar and the like unless they are on a road course, just a matter of personal opinion I guess. I'm sure I'm overstating the lack of skill of the Nascar drivers, just not to my taste and I don't understand how it got so popular.

I'm not a fan of Nascar either. I went to one of the races down here at Homestead... and it was absolutely packed. The part I enjoyed most was the tailgating. Honestly though, it was UNBELIEVABLY packed. I go to the Indy Car race here EVERY SINGLE YEAR... and there were at least 30% more people at the Nascar race than at the IndyCar race... I just don't get it.

For the most part, I've just never been a fan of any sport that exclusively goes around the same circle over and over and over and over. The strategies don't do enough for me to make it worth it. I like IndyCar though because it is sort of a step in-between the type of innovation you see with Formula-1 and Nascar. I know many would disagree with me on the level of sophistication between an IndyCar and an F1 car... but the F1 teams still have more freedom in the design.

Indy still has a few tracks that are courses rather than just ovals... so it makes the sport a bit more interesting.


I'm all about F1 though. I've been a loyal watcher since probably 2002. Doesn't seem like a very long time... 8 years... but still. I remember watching a few races as early as 1994... but I haven't missed a single race since 2002 (sometimes I'll have to watch on DVR).

I was kinda hoping Danica would go to F1 when / if the US-F1 team came to fruition... not sure what's going to happen with that.

------------------
Todd,
2008 Jeep Patriot Limited 4x2
2002 Ford Explorer Sport 2dr 4x2
2002 Ford Crown Victoria LX
1987 Pontiac Fiero SE / V6
1973 Volkswagen Type-2 Transporter

quote Originally posted by newf: True but I always wonder how much is due to driver skill and how much is the team and getting help from teammates and other drivers (can't have a non "good ol' boy" winning mentality). I can't imagine there is more driving skill involved in circling a loop in the same gear all day than there is in most open wheel racing, but that's just me I really can't get into watching Nascar and the like unless they are on a road course, just a matter of personal opinion I guess. I'm sure I'm overstating the lack of skill of the Nascar drivers, just not to my taste and I don't understand how it got so popular.

NASCAR drivers are extremely talented. It just doesn't show. My favorite form of racing is MotoGP. Those guys do thing you'd swear were in defiance of the laws of physics... and it shows. Amazing things. Inhuman things. Their bikes are often only on one wheel. The NASCAR guys probably do things just as difficult... you just can't see it. The "minor leagues" of racing in this country is now all centered around getting drivers into NASCAR. That's why we can't develop a decent open wheel driver anymore.

Im going to Indy this year. Only reason is a friend got free tickets and hes driving. So I only have to stay awake a few hours to watch the race.....or merry go round as I call it..


***would you consider renting a pair of Danicas underware for an hour or two, LOL.

quote Originally posted by Formula Owner: NASCAR drivers are extremely talented. It just doesn't show. My favorite form of racing is MotoGP. Those guys do thing you'd swear were in defiance of the laws of physics... and it shows. Amazing things. Inhuman things. Their bikes are often only on one wheel. The NASCAR guys probably do things just as difficult... you just can't see it. The "minor leagues" of racing in this country is now all centered around getting drivers into NASCAR. That's why we can't develop a decent open wheel driver anymore.

I agree, I think the Nascar drivers are extremely talented. The reason it doesn't show like it does in other forms of racing is that Nascar has basically tailored the rules to keep everything equal, so they have a bunch of cars going for the win at the end. The better drivers still tend to rise to the top (an example would be how Jimmy Johnson manages to be so successful, and Dale Jr an also-ran in virtually identical equipment). The talent is mostly about car control, being able to drift the cars through the corners of those ovals, consistantly, and faster than everyone else without wrecking.

quote Originally posted by Fformula88: I agree, I think the Nascar drivers are extremely talented. The reason it doesn't show like it does in other forms of racing is that Nascar has basically tailored the rules to keep everything equal, so they have a bunch of cars going for the win at the end. The better drivers still tend to rise to the top (an example would be how Jimmy Johnson manages to be so successful, and Dale Jr an also-ran in virtually identical equipment). The talent is mostly about car control, being able to drift the cars through the corners of those ovals, consistantly, and faster than everyone else without wrecking.

I agree with this to some extent. A lot of the "greatness" of a driver lies in the car setup, which is a function of the driver, the team, and how they communicate. An example of this is Kyle Petty's results years ago at Rockingham. Somehow they found the right setup for that track, and Kyle took several wins there, some by a margin of over a lap. So he had the driving talent, but the talent for setting up the car wasn't there, except for one track. I'll bet that just about every one of the "Top drivers" are chassis and handling experts.

quote Originally posted by spark1: She weighs about 100 lbs, some say 105 and stands about 5' 2".

In the Nascar series, do her feet reach the pedals? Does she have to move the seat way forward? Does she get ticked when someone else has been driving it and the seat is left back? Does she have to sit on a phone book to see over the dash?

Ha.

Oh, btw. What is her last name? Lots of celebrities use their middle name as their last name to hide their true identity.

And did her dad want a boy much or something? Oh, it's a girl. Then we'll call her Dan..uh, Dan-ica.

I'm on a roll.


Just kidding, Danica lovers.

quote Originally posted by Formula Owner: I agree with this to some extent. A lot of the "greatness" of a driver lies in the car setup, which is a function of the driver, the team, and how they communicate. An example of this is Kyle Petty's results years ago at Rockingham. Somehow they found the right setup for that track, and Kyle took several wins there, some by a margin of over a lap. So he had the driving talent, but the talent for setting up the car wasn't there, except for one track. I'll bet that just about every one of the "Top drivers" are chassis and handling experts.

You'd lose that bet, at least in Nascar. Most know very little about the actual mechanics of it all. Kevin Harvick, IIRC, is a rare exception because I think he has a degree in engineering and actually works on things from time to time. The big thing is that most of the good drivers are great at communicating with their Crew Chiefs. They can tell them that it's "loose in and tight off" or whatever and that "clicks" with the crew chief to make the appropriate changes. For example, Jeff Gordon did remarkable things under Ray Everham and Robbie Loomis, but to be honest, I don't think he and Steve Letarte are ever really going to mesh that well. It's not so much that he hasn't racked up the wins but rather the fact that way too often he comes in and the make a change and it makes the car worse, not better.

Either Letarte just doesn't work the race changes well or they're simply not clicking together.

John Stricker

Ryan Newman has a BS from Purdue in vehicle structure engineering. Wikipedia says he is the only NASCAR driver with a college degree but I doubt that is true.

The late Alan Kulwicki had a BS in mechanical engineering from the University of Wisconsin and he was the first NASCAR driver with a degree.

[This message has been edited by spark1 (edited 05-25-2010).]

quote Originally posted by spark1: Ryan Newman has a BS from Purdue in vehicle structure engineering. Wikipedia says he is the only NASCAR driver with a college degree but I doubt that is true. The late Alan Kulwicki had a BS in mechanical engineering from the University of Wisconsin and he was the first NASCAR driver with a degree.

By contrast, Panica is a former cheerleader and high school dropout who later got a GED....

quote Originally posted by randye: By contrast, Panica is a former cheerleader and high school dropout who later got a GED....

Panica...I like that name. Another reason I call Milka Duno the Anti-Danica: Milka has four masters degrees.

She still looks nasty.

Dont take a degree to be fun in bed.

quote Originally posted by Formula Owner: I agree with this to some extent. A lot of the "greatness" of a driver lies in the car setup, which is a function of the driver, the team, and how they communicate. An example of this is Kyle Petty's results years ago at Rockingham. Somehow they found the right setup for that track, and Kyle took several wins there, some by a margin of over a lap. So he had the driving talent, but the talent for setting up the car wasn't there, except for one track. I'll bet that just about every one of the "Top drivers" are chassis and handling experts.

I agree that communication and crew chief is important too. That part of the relationship is certainly part of Johnson's success, as I am sure it is for any top driver. However, having a great engineer/crew chief is really a necessity for any great driver to win too. A driver still can have a great drive on the track without one, but will likely finish farther back. In Nascar, nobody will ever know that someone had a "great" drive to the 12 position in the race, but another driver with the same car and setup might have finished 25. In F1, it is more noticable as someone who does not have a winning car could pick of 4-6 positions over the race to finish mid pack instead of the back.

quote Originally posted by jstricker: You'd lose that bet, at least in Nascar. Most know very little about the actual mechanics of it all. Kevin Harvick, IIRC, is a rare exception because I think he has a degree in engineering and actually works on things from time to time. The big thing is that most of the good drivers are great at communicating with their Crew Chiefs. They can tell them that it's "loose in and tight off" or whatever and that "clicks" with the crew chief to make the appropriate changes. For example, Jeff Gordon did remarkable things under Ray Everham and Robbie Loomis, but to be honest, I don't think he and Steve Letarte are ever really going to mesh that well. It's not so much that he hasn't racked up the wins but rather the fact that way too often he comes in and the make a change and it makes the car worse, not better. Either Letarte just doesn't work the race changes well or they're simply not clicking together. John Stricker

Very good example. Gordon has not been happy with his car setup a lot under Letarte. Some want to write it off as being the COT, but they just do not seem to be working on the same page. They just never seem to get the car set up to his liking. At least I think this is the likely reason for his ability to still run at the front, but not be able to get in the winner's circle. Seems to make more sense to me than the other excuses tossed around such as inability to adjust to the COT, age, or lack of desire. From interviews and such, none of those seem to be a problem. If anything, the races he has blown this year might be more of himself feeling pressure to win and try too hard in order to get a 5th championship before Johnson does.

Danica is a lame excuse maker. She tries to get into confrontations with other racers over her poor driving abilities. And I can't be a fan just because "she's hot".. "She's Hot" is not a good enough excuse to let her have even one dollar of mine for her merch. It should not be a reason to decide anything other than "would I hit that?"

quote Originally posted by Fformula88: If anything, the races he has blown this year might be more of himself feeling pressure to win and try too hard in order to get a 5th championship before Johnson does.

Bingo!

quote Originally posted by randye: By contrast, Panica is a former cheerleader and high school dropout who later got a GED....

True but she makes more money than any other driver in history. Not to bad for a failure.

quote Originally posted by spark1: Ryan Newman has a BS from Purdue in vehicle structure engineering. Wikipedia says he is the only NASCAR driver with a college degree but I doubt that is true. The late Alan Kulwicki had a BS in mechanical engineering from the University of Wisconsin and he was the first NASCAR driver with a degree.

You're right, it was Newman I was thinking of, not Harvick. I remember that Kulwicki had a degree, but I was thinking only of active drivers.

John Stricker

quote Originally posted by jstricker: I seriously doubt she's exceeded Michael Schumachers earnings. For that matter even Jeff Gordon's who just went past the $100 million dollar mark. John Stricker

I'm not talking total lifetime earnings. That wouldn't be fair considering Schumacher and Gordon have been racing a lot longer than Danica. But i'll bet that her yearly earnings are much bigger.

You also have to consider that drivers make most of their money from endorsements and other things. The "driver" pay is minimal compared to everything else.

I went to Danica's first nascar race at Daytona. Her souvenir trailer had very few items to buy but yet she set a record for souvenir sales.

You all can hate on her all you want but the fact remains that the bwitchy ex cheerleader with a GED makes more money in 1 day than anyone on this forum makes in a year.

So hows that degree you have (if you have one) working out for ya?

[This message has been edited by JimmyS (edited 05-26-2010).]

Really.

You honestly think Danica's getting paid $50 million a year like Schumacher's contract with Ferrari? And that was in '02. I highly doubt that. Jeff Gordon made over $20 million in 2001, you honestly think Danica is making that? Dream on.

quote from a Forbes Article U.S. motor sports fans follow NASCAR racing. But it is a chump-change sport compared to Formula One. Its money leader, Jeff Gordon, made $20 million last year--little more than a quarter of Schumacher's earnings. Schumacher's two-year contract with Ferrari, a division of the Italian automaker Fiat (nyse: FIA - news - people ), guarantees him $35 million a year. The rest comes from win bonuses, endorsements and merchandising.

As for "whiney", I never accused her of being that and I also said that some say that Gordon does whine, so what's your point again?

If I were you I also wouldn't presume to know what others make as far as an income either. There are a number of retired members here that have done quite well in their lifetimes. More than Danica makes? Probably not, but I wouldn't assume as much as you do that she makes more in a day than any forum member makes in a year.

As far as the degrees I have, they're working out just fine, but thanks for caring. Of course, any good hooker that wants to work and has a nice butt and rack can do better. Just depends how you want to make your money.

John Stricker

quote Originally posted by JimmyS: I'm not talking total lifetime earnings. That wouldn't be fair considering Schumacher and Gordon have been racing a lot longer than Danica. But i'll bet that her yearly earnings are much bigger. You also have to consider that drivers make most of their money from endorsements and other things. The "driver" pay is minimal compared to everything else. I went to Danica's first nascar race at Daytona. Her souvenir trailer had very few items to buy but yet she set a record for souvenir sales. You all can hate on her all you want but the fact remains that the bwitchy ex cheerleader with a GED makes more money in 1 day than anyone on this forum makes in a year. So hows that degree you have (if you have one) working out for ya?

[This message has been edited by jstricker (edited 05-26-2010).]

My comments about Gordon being whiney and about the degree were just comments in general. They were not directed at any particular induvidual. I appologize if you thought they were directed at you. The degree part was just a response to randye pointing out (in a condecending way) that Danica only has a GED.

And yeah I think it's pretty safe to say that no one on this forum makes anywhere near what Danica makes. Thats not to say that some forum members arent making a excellent living but come on. Lets just say that Danica makes 10million a year. I think thats understated but lets just use those figures. There are 17 IndyCar races this season. Thats $588,235.29 per race and $27,397.26 per day based on 365 days in a year.

I personally know some people (who are very intelligent) with degree's, who will be lucky if they make $25,000 this year.

At 10million, your right, I was wrong to say per day versus per year.

According to Forbes, she made $5million in 2006. http://jobs.aol.com/article...ion-dollar-salaries/

Edit: It's not really Danica that bothers me, she's just doing what's smart as far as following the money. She may be the equivalent of a stripper in some sense but if that's what you want to do for your money, I won't stop you. My problem is what she symbolizes, which you can see on this very forum. Drivers with more talent/gift/whatever you want to call it (wins, etc), get relatively little attention compared to Danica, because she's female and shows some flesh. "She's hot, what other reason do I need?" You yourself said she has flocks of followers wherever she goes. Are they all after her because of her brilliant driving record? Granted, there are worse drivers out there, and she seems to do ok (personally I think some of the attention she gets goes to her head and prevents her from being the driver she could be). I think the sport would be better off if more fans could move beyond middle school.

[This message has been edited by kwagner (edited 05-26-2010).]

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.

In 2006, Danica Mania began. people started to really take notice. Her driving was only so so but for her 2nd year she was progressing just fine.

In 2007, Danica mania was in full bloom as she signed with, what was then, Andretti Green Racing. She continued to learn and progress in her driving and experience.

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.)

In 2009, Danica finished 3rd at the Indy 500. The best ever finish by a woman at the Indy 500. She also finished 5th in the points standings for the season. Also another first for a woman in the IndyCar series.

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.


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.