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When was the last time NASCAR made an engine change in mid-season? NASCAR opens the Pandora Box of racing with this change to the Toyotas in the Nationwide Series. (Read More)
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2 months ago
Yes, she is walking a fine line between being an athlete that men take seriously, while also trying to cash in on her looks. Personally, I think that she would make more money if she did not try to be a sex symbol, and instead focused entirely on racing. She would be very marketable even without doing these stupid photoshoots and Super Bowl commercials where she is acting like a dumb ditz. I'm sure she got paid a million dollars by GoDaddy.com to pretend that she was undressing on TV, but perhaps this has turned off a lot of much richer sponsors who will now see her as a wannabe Anna Kornikova instead of a worldclass athlete.
2 months ago
Great points, all, Bryan! And that is the point of this article; not to single out her accomplishment as a once-in-a-lifetime deal. As I pointed out, she's been racing since she was 10, or maybe even earlier, and she's been getting sponsors and a few podium finishes, so she's got some talent. But, can we take her seriously? What would happen if she got behind the wheel of a NASCAR ride and raced against the big boys? I know of several NASCAR drivers who have taken the wheel of Formula, IRL, Baja, and other rides and have transitioned very well, behind the wheel. Heck, some have even won races, like Casey Mears, at the Daytona 24. But, IRL drivers have not faired well in NASCAR. Juan Pablo Montoya is the only one, of late, who has had success, but the rest have had a rough go of it. My guess is that Danica would probably be doing more photo shoots rather very quickly to compensate for all the race cars she'd be wrecking.
from 2 months ago
I think its funny how you pump NASCAR up as the elite race series. And talk as if everyone else couldnt compete with them. You do realize there are other race cars out out there that not only go much..much faster but turn left and RIGHT and do all of this while not hitting the car next to them. As for Danica she can drive a race car, which has proven time and time again. To bash her for being able to race since she was young due to her parents money is petty, givin that 90% of the drivers in NASCAR had the same opportunity. Jeff Gordan was racing cart since he could walk and moved up threw thw classes until he reached NASCAR, all made possible threw daddy's money. How many NASCAR drivers are under 20 years old? your telling me that they just fell into the teams there with without years of experienc and were given multi million daollar salarys based on one test session? I dont mean to be rude to you its just bothers me that people view NASCAR as some sort of super car. Its a heavy slow ill-engineered brick. For instance it takes 2 laps at Daytona for them to reach a speed of 185mph. The DP cars in the Grand Am series use less then half of the oval during the Rolex 24 hour and hit the same speed on it before negotiating a 90 degree corner and DP cars are slow compared to LMP cars in the ALMS series. Or how about the introduction of a rear wing..they talk about it like its a modern marvel of race car technology..its been on race cars for over 50 years!! Now dont get me wrong NASCAR is impressive in its own way but give credit where its due. There are way more impressive race cars out there then a stock car. I am the Crew chief and Engineer for a Formula Atlantic team in the SCCA and my 1.6 liter 240hp Toyota driven car would make a joke out of a stock car on a road course. Much like the IRL does on an oval. You talk of NASCAR drivers transitioning into other series and winning races..when? and the 24 hours is a tem of 4 driver working together and an even bigger testiment to the crew for building a car that can finish such a grulling race... and a NASCAR driver has never moved into a F1 team and for those drivers transitioning into NASCAR like Montoya..they are their because they were no longer competetive in their former series and had to move on to less technical one. Nothing against them but everyone gets old. Any way thats my outlook on the subject take it for what its worth and no hard feelings.
from 2 months ago
No harm, Steve, and no offense taken. You are entitled to your opinion, just as anybody else is. And, I am not knocking Danica's accomplishment, but rather just calling it what it is, or was, rather....a fluke. It won't happen again.
Especially if she keeps talking smack like she did today at Kansas Speedway. Did you see the race and her her comments, after she almost took herself out of the race and then had her car break? Sheesh, give the girl one win and she wants to knock all the other drivers into the wall! She bashed this other driver as a "newbie" and said he didn't know what he was doing because he almost put her in the fence. And then she comes out and pretty much says that the newcomers better watch out or she'll put them all into the wall. Now, what kind of talk is that? This is why I am trying to shed a different light on Danica. She is not what the press makes her out to be, but rather thinks that everyone should step aside on Sunday, while she does her photo shoots during the rest of the week.
As far as NASCAR being the most major sport in all of auto racing, how can you argue with dollar signs? And as you said yourself,
" I dont mean to be rude to you its just bothers me that people view NASCAR as some sort of super car. Its a heavy slow ill-engineered brick."
Exactly! That's what makes it so great. Otherwise, everybody would do it. I'll tell you what. Let's get Danica to race at Eldora in June and then see what she can do. You think she's a world class driver? Then let Smoke invite her to Eldora and see!
2 months ago
Great points in deed. The thing is here she knows how to keep herself in the news. She won a race which her fuel management team won, however she did her part, drove the car without wrecking it. She is a flash in the pan however when it comes to talent behind the wheel. I give her credit only in doing her best, but her best will seldom be good enough. She has talent enough in the Indy IRL to make money, but NASCAR would eat her alive. She needs to ask herself however, does she want to be a racecar driver or a roady. My guess is she will take what she can get, because good looks are just as fleeting as her talent for being number 1.
2 months ago
I think credit where credit is due. She has done well in a man's world but every girl wants to feel like a girl at times and these shoots will have something to do with that.
She is making money while she is in her prime, I don't see what is wrong with that. She's not the best and never will be, but that's not a crime.
As for the whole NASCAR thing....we will see if it ever happens.
2 months ago
No har, Steve, and no offense taken. You are entitled to your opinion, just as anybody else is. And, I am not knocking Danica's accomplishment, but rather just calling it what it is, or was, rather....a fluke. It won't happen again.
Especially if she keeps talking smack like she did today at Kansas Speedway. Did you see the race and her her comments, after she almost took herself out of the race and then had her car break? Sheesh, give the girl one win and she wants to knock all the other drivers into the wall! She bashed this other driver as a "newbie" and said he didn't know what he was doing because he almost put her in the fence. And then she comes out and pretty much says that the newcomers better watch out or she'll put them all into the wall. Now, what kind of talk is that? This is why I am trying to shed a different light on Danica. She is not what the press makes her out to be, but rather thinks that everyone should step aside on Sunday, while she does her photo shoots during the rest of the week.
As far as NASCAR being the most major sport in all of auto racing, how can you argue with dollar signs? And as you said yourself,
" I dont mean to be rude to you its just bothers me that people view NASCAR as some sort of super car. Its a heavy slow ill-engineered brick."
Exactly! That's what makes it so great. Otherwise, everybody would do it. I'll tell you what. Let's get Danica to race at Eldora in June and then see what she can do. You think she's a world class driver? Then let Smoke invite her to Eldora and see!
2 months ago
my friends work at the gym/spa that she goes to when she is in town, in Scottsdale AZ and they say she is one of the bitchiest people that they have to deal with, they say she just has this huge attitude when she comes in.
from 2 months ago
around Kent County they say that about me too. every time I walk in the gym, a bar, another restaurant or the classroom everybody slinks away and i can hear them whispering ... that arrogant Chef is back. sometimes it's tough being under the gun 24/7/365.
2 months ago
I look at all the magazine adverts showing a nearly naked soccer star , David Beckham. I look at the commercials on TV showing the current favorite athletes in the locker room selling deodorant. Then I read the complaints about Danica Patrick cashing in on her looks, or not being demure enough for her sport, and all I can say is that the world is full of hypocrites. If these folks want to complain about her, then they should also be up in arms about every other sports figure that ever took there clothes off to hock a product.
from 2 months ago
Good point!
2 months ago
First of all, every modern-era racer starts in karts and moves up. Not unlike Baseball's farm system, you have to move through the ranks to get "there," wherever that is. The NASCAR to Indy Car comparisons are ill-informed and are no stronger an argument than saying "my dad's better than your dad." Different race cars require different skills on different tracks in different series. Comparing or saying any ONE is better in different leagues is a red herring. Likewise, calling ANY race car driver a has-been or never-were shows further ignorance. Many of those you're name-calling are professionals, Indy 500 winners and series Champions. Anyone behind the wheel in a paid-to-drive position has more skills than you or me combined, and we should respect and honor that.
Seems the argument you really wanted to make is that Nascar is better than the IRL. Granted Tony Stewart and some of the "transfers" have run it, but I've yet to see Gordon, either Earnhardt or any Busch race at Indy, let alone lead the event. Do you realize how hard tha tis to do? How much effort, skill, energy and determination that requires? When Nascar drivers do that - and yes Danica, Helio and Dan should run at Daytona - we should forget the apples-to-oranges comparisons and why don't we give credit where credit is due.
Lastly, any and every athlete in the post-Michael Jordan world seeks endorsements publicity, exposure and cash. Given she's in a position to do that in ways that other players and drivers can't doesn't make it wrong, it makes her opportunistic and entrepreneurial. Good for her; driving and business.
from 2 months ago
Great points all, and well written, well said. That is all subjective opinion, on your part, but well said nonetheless. In fact, Robby Gordon has raced Indy cars, Rally cars, and Baja cars, before; Tony Stewart has race pretty much everything out there; Jeff Gordon has raced open-wheel, World of Outlaw, Sprint Cars, and a JPM's, Williams-BMW FW24 F1 race car and actually turned faster laps in it than JPM! It's available on You Tube. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. has raced Grand Am (remember the fire?), Sprints and a few other types of cars, and there have been several NASCAR drivers who have run the Daytona 24. So, who's comparing apples to oranges? I think if someone is going to post a trilogy of subjection and not do their homework before doing so shows true ignorance. Conversely, I haven't seen Dan Wheldon, Marco Andretti, Danica Patrick, or any of the other IRL drivers come into NASCAR and be successful. The only one who has made a decent transition, thus far, is Juan Pablo Montoya. Oh, and for a true testament to the skills of the NASCAR boys (as well as a reminder to all offended parties), they do slam these ill-engineered bricks around Watkins Glen and Sonoma fairly well, every year, too.
You want a true "my Dad is better than your Dad" scenario? Let's petition every racing league to send their best drivers to Eldora Speedway in Ohio and have a race weekend nobody will ever forget!
2 months ago
She did it ! She did it ! She's a race car driver ... and you're NOT !
from 2 months ago
Such eloquence in your rejoinder, L.J. By the way, will you be writing an articles, soon?
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