Posted on 04/19/2008 9:10:58 PM PDT by John W
Danica Patrick used a fuel gamble to take a historic victory in the delayed Motegi round of the IRL IndyCar Series.
The Andretti Green Racing driver took the lead with just two laps to go as the rest of the front-runners had to pit for fuel and became the first woman to win a major American open-wheel race.
Patrick had run towards the foot of the top ten for most of the race, as Ganassi's Scott Dixon and Penske's Helio Castroneves dominated the event.
But AGR's decision to bring Patrick in for an additional fuel top-up at the end of the final full course yellow paid off spectacularly, allowing her to take a remarkable last gasp victory.
Castroneves led the first half of the race, before being jumped by Dixon during the mid-race pitstops. The Ganassi driver then pulled away from the field - leading by as much as six seconds - and looked set for victory until having to pit from the lead with six laps to go.
Fellow leaders Dan Wheldon, Tony Kanaan and Castroneves then had to follow suit, allowing Patrick to come through and snatch the win. Castroneves and Dixon completed the podium.
The race is being replayed right now on ESPN2. The listing says Drag Racing, but no, their show the Motegi race from yesterday.
I’m surprised Hillary Clinton hasn’t already used Danica’s victory in a speech.
Uhhh...first you are wrong-see post 12's pic. Second, even if your statement were true, what's your point?
So this woman plays with the boys and wins and it's a social cause? How about she has shown an aptitude to first get a chance, then to show promise, and then to actually win.
Even if she was first given a chance because of her gender she has shown a steady, rising ability that has finally paid off.
I'm no car racing afficionado (sic?) but indy racing is way too expensive of a sport to allow novelty to be the primary reason to hire a driver.
I have no doubt that Patrick's finishes drew comments while other drivers that placed higher got less attention. I doubt that the true emphasis was to the extent that the actual winner got ultimately less attention.
At the same time Patrick doesn't dictate how ESPN and their commentators do their coverage. And like it or not there is an interest in following the steady rise of Patrick in the ranks because she is a woman. And lucky for alot of male race fans she's, as the saying goes, "Easy on the eyes."
Bottomline: Patrick won playing with the boys and abiding by the same rules. No knee push-ups or closer tees or one-set less tennis wins.
Plus these articles are written by guys who obviously do not follow racing and have no idea what they are talking about. Its like when a liberal MSM reporter tries to write about the economy and clearly does not know what a bull/bear is from their assets.
Plus, you know that IRL should be promoting her over Dan Weldon. Not guilty indeed!
It was just an observation, don't get all uppity because you think you proved somebody wrong.
No you said that she wasn't smiling on her victory lap (whoopdee-doo-as you said she was probably tired) AND you said she wasn't smiling on the awards platform. To be honest I'll need to watch the footage of the victory lap before I take your word for it.
Your post had no rationale except to be some kind of expression of sour grapes. The victory lap is irrelevant since she just finished a grueling race (did she pump her fists maybe?) and in this last post you claim some kind of victory when you were proven wrong. She smiled on the podium, another posted the pic and you just ignore it.
It was just an observation, don't get all uppity because you think you proved somebody wrong.
Uppity? Your observation had no point but to imply she was ungrateful, bitchy or what not. She smiled on the podium where there is no helmet, camera angle etc. to obscure her face and she was jubilant. You were wrong.
Get bent guy
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