He nailed it.
Why? She has nothing left to prove in IRL...
Nice butt?
"I don't feel insecure about being girlie," says Patrick. "I do as much media as I can because I want this IRL series to be so kick-butt that NASCAR goes, 'Huh?'"
Danica needs to stay out of NASCAR! She would get all the publicity and the other drivers - both those I like and dislike - would be ignored by the media.
If she really wants a career in racing and NOT modeling (which she appears to do more of) then I suggest she move into drag racing.
Rich cultural heritage.
NASCAR isn't even NASCAR anymore. It's supposed to be STOCK CAR racing. It's more like the vigramass million dollar car racing association now and it's anyone's guess what cars these guys drive. Who wants NASCAR to be all People Mag-i-fied which is what will happen when the 'car hood ho' Danica joins.
Would she have a better chance to win in NASCAR? I thought they gave the best restrictor plates to drivers they want to win.
she's figgures to NASCAR cause she SUCKS in the IRL... she's all hype, and she's hooked on her own hype too. 1) NASCAR has gone about as far away from its roots as possible and somehow expanded its fan base; that in itself deserves some scientific study.
2) I'd agree with the "prefer drags and rally" comment except I'm only good for about one drag event a year, then it becomes reruns.
3) IRL &/or CART ... can only tell them apart by the (spec) engine manufacturer's name painted on the side and I'm not even sure it is still CART. They're interesting ONLY because of the drivers themselves and Patrick makes that cut. Almendinger (sic) on the other hand seems to be the real deal as well as a better story.
4) It's not true that finishing 24th means no one has a right to pull for a driver; if Yates could field a decent team Sadler would be in the chase. People like Kyle Petty despite the fact that he couldn't find first place if his father was driving. One of my all time favorites was Cecil Gordon, anybody remember him?
5) Don't knock advertising on the cars, it's the only reason Jarret has a job.
6) Everybody WANTS to see a competitive female driver, everybody WANTS to see a competitive black driver; once it gets done one time (as in drags, tennis, golf) you'll see more.
7) There is no valid explanation for Derrik Cope or Formula 1.
Physically, I don't think she would have any problems. Since the advent of power steering, Cup cars don't take that much brute strength to drive anymore. If you'll check the stats, most of the guys coming into the sport now are rather small compared to the six-foot, 200-pounders of the past. Mark Martin ain't a whole lot bigger than Danica.
The competition? It's brutal, all the way through the field, compared to open-wheelers. Can she handle it? We won't know until she tries.
Will she get treated rudely by her competitors on the track? Actually, that depends on her. The example people often give is Scott Pruett, how he got wrecked just about every week the year he tried Cup full time. Some say it's because he was an Indy-car foreigner infringing on NASCAR's territory. My understanding is that his behavior and attitude toward his peers contributed mightily to that.
Bottom line, IMHO she's welcome to try, and whatever happens, happens. Quite frankly, though, I'm not all that sold on her driving ability. Her nearly winning at Indy wasn't exactly a fluke circumstance, but it had more to do with a bunch of other factors including good pit crew work than with her being dominant on the track that day. I will say in her defense that this year, Rahal's cars are pretty much crap, so I don't know if anyone else could be doing any better.
I actually think Montoya has a better chance of not stinking up the joint and being reasonably competitive the second time around to all the tracks than she would.
little correction if I may....
She DIDN'T hint at it. Her father did. BIG difference.
You know you want her over there....she would be pushed into the wall all season
Jeez. Danica's going to go to NASCAR. It makes too much marketing sense not to. Women are going to eat it up when she's challenging the Good Ol Boys around the tri-oval in her hot pink Betty Crocker Tampax Ford.
Madison Avenue will not be able to keep their hands off of her. She doesn't even need to win a race (remember Anna Kournikova?). She is going to be the hottest thing on four wheels.
Two groups of people will strongly oppose it: 1) purists who remember the Richard Petty/Cale Yarbrough days and think NASCAR has already gone too Hollywood for their tastes. 2) fans of other drivers who are scared that Danica is going to hog the spotlight away from Jeff, Junior or Jimmy, etc.
Nobody's afraid she'll actually win but that isn't the point. It's all about the dollars and the dollars here are too big to pass up. Once NASCAR sold out to their sponsors, something like this was bound to happen.
It's going to happen so just lay back and enjoy it.
Her Husband is her Father? That is odd.
The second she entered racing it officially became a gimick ala wrestling.
She is a spokes model pretty face.
If NACAR is dying and needs some form of PR stunt then perhaps they could use her help.
I slightly touched on this in another post in the thread, but if you haven't heard, Juan Pablo Montoya, who won the Indy 500 for Penske and has won I think six F1 races, is moving to NASCAR full-time next year and will be driving for Chip Ganassi. What's the opinion on that? My .02, again, is that while he'll certainly have to make some adjustments and face some growing pains, and I'd be stunned if he was competitive right out of the box, he actually has a track record of winning at top-level competition and IMHO will have a better chance of at best, ultimate success, and at worst, not embarrassing himself, in NASCAR than Danica would.
The only reaons she (her handlers?)) did this is because JPM made his annoncement.
They effectively destroyed his entrance...not surprising...she's a media WHORE.
She is tiring...not a good driver, IMO, as well as her entourage being tin-eared.
She's ready made for F1...
Like Wie, she will one day pull out of a contest because she's "tired" or not "feeling well" and us men will be forced by CNN and SI and ESPN to feel sorry for her.
What a frickin crock.
PC infects motor sport, of course, unti. someone gets killed...go JPM, a man's man in a man's sport.
Danica's accomplishments???
Any?