Danica Patrick First Woman to Win IRL race

Oh Puh-leeeze! Has there ever been a driver who has been more coddled and promoted than Danica Patrick? The media wants her to win! The fans want her to win! Her sponsors want her to win! The IRL wants her to win just as surely as NASCAR wants Jr to win! Even members on the BaptistBoard want her to win! If only those other race car drivers would get out of her way! Poor Danica!

 

That's probably how she won...you know women drivers and all "get out of the way!!" :laugh:

 

Hey, now, stay on topic!!!
:laugh:

 

Har,Har,Har, Oink..........(oops)...excuse me! Har Hardy Har Har!

 

I thought that was the topic...how a woman could be a good driver

 

You may be correct, but those who might be opposed to a woman in racing have utterly failed in keeping her from winning. From what I know of IRL, the male drivers have cut her more than enough slack on the track.

My comments have been about Danica Patrick and Danica Patrick only. It is as wrong for you to attribute an incorrect view about women on me based on direct comments about her as it would be for me to attribute her shortcomings as a driver (in my perception) on all women.

 

If I have to get in a car and drive really fast around a track with bunches of other cars all trying to knock me out of the way to be a "good driver", then I guess I'll "pass" (hah! pun intended!)....but, oh WAIT, that sounds like Atlanta rush-hour traffic anyway!
:laugh:

 

Sorry. I misunderstood.

 

Fair enough.

 

I think it's a good story, a big one. IRL is a major part of auto racing. That said, if she does compete in NASCAR and wins there, it will be momentous.

I felt Danica would in fact win sometime. I think she'll win at Indy if she stays in that series long enough. She darn near won it her first time out.

 

Just curious - not a big race follower.

Why are women drivers so long in coming to the forefront of this sport? Do men have some kind of natural, physical advantage like in other sports?

 

Historically, yes. Men have the strength to wrestle a 3400 lb racecar around the track, especially if it's not handling well. I don't remember hearing about such things in recent years, but as late as the early to mid 90s, we would hear drivers get out of the car after a race and have blisters on both hands from having to drive an ill-handling car around the track.

With the advent of having more downforce on the car, I think they've become easier to drive and I don't think the kind of brute strength required now is the same as it was in years past. Drivers like Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin can be successful even if they look like skinny little twerps.

As I said earlier, I don't think Danica is strong enough, right now, to drive a 3400 lb stock car around the track for 3 hours, but I do think a woman with similar skills, and is bigger and stronger than her, could definitely do it. And, given enough time, I guess there's no real reason that Danica couldn't do it either.

 

But, part of the reason that Danica is where she is (at the top tier of drivers in the IRL) is because she is marketable. If a girl is big and strong, will she be marketable? I think there may be a double standard here that will prevent a capable female of reaching the top tier of NASCAR as Danica has done in the IRL.

 

First, winning 1 race in the IRL doesn't vault you to the top tier of drivers. The top tier of IRL drivers is a short list that includes Helio Castroneves, Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan and Dan Wheldon. Before her win, I would have called her a 2nd tier driver and her win hasn't really changed that.

Second, marketability will help you get a ride, but it doesn't do anything to help you keep your ride.

Third, maybe I'm naive, but I think that a driver who makes a car owner money will get and keep their ride regardless of gender. If Shawna Robinson had made BAM Racing money, is there any chance that they would have let her go? I say no.