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 ...
I'll concede your first point (about this last incident), but I think she has a great car. She drives for one of the best teams that compile information from two of the better drivers in the sport. Tony Kanaan has won at least 6 times (5 times more than Danica) with at least that many top threes driving the same car (to the extent that the cars can be the same)during the exact same time period.
If the car's not performing better, she only has herself to blame. As I said in an earlier post, Kanaan (and all the great drivers) knows how the car works. He can tell the chief engineer precisely what's wrong with the car making it much easier for the engineer and the technicians to set-up up the car for maximum speed at optimal handling. If Danica's car isn't performing as well as her teammate's, she only has herself to blame. But with her ego, you'll never hear her say that.
In fact, I can't ever remember he saying anything, but especially her performance, was her fault. It's always somebody else problem or mistake. That's my problem with Patrick.
Didn't she hit some guy and kill him in a practice incident in Nashville early in her career? I'm not a racing fan, but seem to recall this happening.
I'm guessing you're kidding. Kenny Schrader, Jeff Gordon, Ryan Newman, JJ Yeley, and Kasey Kahne all came up through USAC.
And that’s just current drivers off the top of my head.
But, I was speaking of the major open wheel circuits, like F1 IRL and Champ. Can you think of any of those drivers that have had real success in NASCAR?
That's pretty weak. USAC is THE open wheel sanctioning body in the United States. There's only one reason drivers leave open wheel to come to NASCAR, and it's not the racing: it's the money. If NASCAR runs short of money, these guys are going back to open wheel.
If you want to look back a little further, to when the different series allowed more switching, there are quite a few open wheel drivers that had success in NASCAR. Foyt and Andretti come immediately to mind.
Also, I think you'd lose this bet. I'd say it's closer to 50/50 between guys coming up through USAC on one hand and NASCAR or ASA on the other. 50/50 might even be high.
What? To be clear, you don't think that most of these drivers were carting LONG, LONG before they ever sat in a late-model or NASCAR track?
I don't think that's a bet I'd lose.
They might have sat in go-karts at sometime, but as far as organized racing goes, I'm saying that it's 50/50 at best between USAC and NASCAR/ASA.
The cars have gotten too complex to not know something.
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