Posted on 04/06/2009 10:20:58 PM PDT by valkyry1
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Danica Patrick's season got off to a tough start after she crashed out early in the season-opening Honda Grand Prix.
She was running ninth in the 22-car field on Sunday when rookie Raphael Matos tried to pass as the two went into one of the tightest turns on the 1.8-mile, 14-turn temporary street circuit.
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
Not only that, other than the one win last year her finishes were back in the pack IIRC.
So, by your answer, if the driver isn’t finishing number one on a consistent basis, they’re no good?
She remained very competitive all last season, and for some very good drivers, that’s the most any real fan can ask for.
She’s an outstanding marketing tool for auto racing, a bonus for IRL, a sport that’s slowly fading. Why would you fault her? A beautiful woman doing 200+? It’s not like she doesn’t challenge her opponents. She makes lots of top 10’s.
NASCAR is a civilized demolition derby, far slower than IRL. F1? If you’re not one of the top three teams, your chances of winning a race are zilch. BORING! Le Mans is too damned long. I have a bad case of ADD, I can’t do more than 3 hours.
Because she has a prima Donna attitude with an under-study performance record. She really got under my skin when she...
A) Called Eddie Cheever an idiot on national television (Cheever's forgotten more about racing than Patrick knows) and
B)Got in the face of Ryan Briscoe. Had she been a man, she probably, definitely been knocked on her a$$.
She get preferential treatment precisely because she's a woman, and not because she's a great driver. So far, she's a journeyman driver, at best.
And by the way, before you go running down NASCAR - there's been more than a few drivers that have tried to move from IRL (or other open wheel) to NASCAR, and almost all have been a bust.
Tony Stewart is the lone exception. Montoya had a decent rookie season but has been very vanilla since. Sam Hornish, although an IRL phenom has been disappointing in NASCAR - Simply stated, NASCAR is a whole lot harder than it looks.
BIG EFFING DEAL. That’s jealousy talking there.
If you were in her shoes, you mean to tell me you wouldn’t take advantage of it? You’re naiive.
When Michael Jordan won his last championship, they played slo-mo of him CLEARLY getting away with a blatant offensive foul, right in front of the official.
Atheletes do this all the time. Dale Earnhardt jr. Got away with two yellow line encroachment violations last year, and got away with it because of his name.
You win any way you can, and a girl in racing? Those boys don’t want to get beat by a girl! I’ve seen them gang up on her on the track, or haven’t you noticed? Oh, that’s right. You’re a bigger fan than I am.
I like NASCAR. I’m not dogging it, but let’s face it. You’re doing no more than 140 most of the time in a brick.
IRL is faaaaaast. No touching in IRL, at 215mph. NASCAR is, well, NASCAR. It’s not really built for speed.
Ryan Briscoe seized the lead from Justin Wilson on a restart with 14 laps left and held off Ryan Hunter-Reay to capture his third IndyCar victory
It's been a much sharper transition for Hunter-Reay and Wilson, who delivered career-best results for their respective teams despite still learning their crewmembers' names.
NASCAR and Indy were much faster years ago until both have been restricted. If I recall correctly and I think I do, lap speeds of 240 mph were being hit at Daytona and Indy.
The good old boys will never let her win a big one.
NASCAR bodies don’t handle at all above 200mph. IRL does, but drivers start to blackout at 240 on the corners.
That’s what I suspect happened to Paul Dana, Danica’s former teammate. Though IRL wouldn’t talk about it.
I was on your side at the beginning of this thread but now I think you don't know much about racing if you think NASCAR isn't racing.
I never said it wasn’t racing, but you have to admit, those are STOCK CARS, not RACE CARS. They weren’t made to race.
The reason NASCAR is so competitive is that the payout is much higher than IRL. If IRL paid that much, all those NASCAR drivers would be open wheel heroes.
//NASCAR bodies don’t handle at all above 200mph//
I know that, but thats what they were hitting with those Plymouth 440 Superbirds and Dodge Daytonas circa 1970.
They were hitting 240 mph with the Plymouth Superbirds and Dodge Daytona’s back then.
I always thought the census bureau never got an accurate count in Tennesse because of the hillbillies that avoided society.
My solution? Do a census count at the NASCAR Bristol races. It’s the only time them hillbillies come down from the hills! LOL!
Did it work? LOL
I remember reading that Rusty Wallace took an unrestricted NASCAR then-Nextel Cup racer around Daytona a few years ago using a pre-Car of Tomorrow design and promptly hit an amazing 230 mph on a couple of laps around that place! Small wonder why NASCAR instituted the restrictor plate rule for Daytona and Talledega.
The guy ought to be blackflagged for it. She is running consistently in the top ten I think which is very good.
With abetter car, she could improve her finish.
I tried to get into IRL but was bored to tears. Must be the "no touching".
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