Not usually a fan, but I watched it because I had a 22 hour layover in El Paso with an 0330 wake up Monday, so I could NOT fall asleep or I'd be screwed. Turned out to be tougher than I thought. It reminds me of the last time I watched a NASCAR race, good race up until the last 20 laps which then took 2 hours. I don't get the hate on Danica, she's hot, and she has a lot of experience and good stuff to say. That tire flying off was nuts, I actually thought the announcers weren't talking about it until they knew where it went.
You just lost a lot of credibility with me. Danica is a self-absorbed, no-talent driver (relative to her peers). She only gets rides and sponsorships because she is a non-male in the sport, and her ability to take off most (or all) of her clothes comes easily to her. I avoided the Miami F1 race on TV as soon as I saw her as part of the show. Ugh! For Vegas, I'll have to avoid the pre-show, and hit mute during the race (if needed).
I'd kill to be as terrible of a driver as she is. Do you honesty think zero talent could hold off a former F1 champ on a road course in a 3000lbs car with three pedals and a stick? I don't like Danica per se, but the hate on her is so far off base it's stupid. I'm going to argue the exact opposite and say a lot of shitty dudes fly under the radar and keep rides because they don't have the microscope of being a woman.
I agree. She has won an IndyCar race and sat on the pole in a NASCAR race… how many have done that…pretty rare. I’ve heard from numerous people that Sarah Fisher was a better racer, and wicked fast in a kart.
She was good early in her career . Always supported her until she {as a proclaimed Chicago Bears fan } started dating the douchebag from Greenbay .
I never said she was the best, but she's good enough to hang in the pro paddock- and I think she did pretty well as a color commentator- adding technical details and spoke well, not stumbling on her words, etc. Life is unfair, there are plenty of people who get to do things they didn't earn or deserve in someone's mind because of their gender (like become a pilot at a major airline) Connections / celebrity / financial status (full time Porsche cup car ride), etc. I've just learned to live with it and say good for them- I would be doing it too if I was in their shoes. But I reserve the right to laugh when they bust a check ride, spin out on pit road or ride through the grass at the pit entrance.
I have some insights on Danica's driving from when she raced the pro Atlantic series for the Rahal team. In 2004 I rented a pro Atlantic Swift 014 for the SCCA amateur championship race at Mid Ohio. My team "obtained" the on board data at Mid Ohio from a pro test day a month earlier for Danica, series champ Jon Fogarty and top pro Ryan Dalziel. Jon and Ryan were faster on their best laps than Danica by about .50 seconds but Danica was far more consistent, you could see the boys were taking many more risks but often blowing their laps with mistakes. I think this is the main difference in male vs female racers. Mind you I was about 1.5 seconds slower than them so I was impressed! Also, years earlier I almost got in a fist fight with Danica's mom Bev when she shoved me off the track in a kart race, but that's another long story.
Danica not being equal or capable ... seriously? What reality are some dudes living in?.. She almost won the Indy 500..ONLY fuel prevented that from happening, and she even crashed in that race too..lol. She's led Indy car and Nascar races. Including the Indy 500 Daytona 500 She won the Japanese Grand prix. 3 Pole positions in Indy cars 14 podiums in Nascar 7 podiums in Indy car + likley about a dozen or more top 10 finishes. She's was plenty qualified to be there, much more so than many males. Car and motorcycle racing, There's NO reason a woman can't compete at the same level. Jeeeez Most bike champions are shrimpy lil dudes that weigh from 135 -150 lbs... soaking wet... lol And one thing I've noticed in bike/ car racing is a whole lotta a "lil man syndrome"... It's beyond true it's pure fact... lol So I totally understand her tenacity..from all the hate & pushback she received She's competing vs dudes her same size. She proved herself 6 ways till next Sunday. I personally think the only reason we haven't seen a top level female is just simply due to women just not interested in it in enough numbers to show results.....I'm convinced of that....that's a no brainer. And regarding the sex symbol ideology ..Danica, is no prettier/sexier than any average American woman on any street in America You take "any" woman and glamor her up ..she's on par. That's what makes a woman. And her attitude? Really...Hell show me a single competitive woman ..that's not the same way .. lol Bitches,Witches, Stitches & Kisses Gotta Luv Em
If you know that she would lap you on the racetrack and wouldn't give me the time of the day if you ran into her in a bar, what's left for you to do but to call her a no-talent driver on the Internet? That's Inadequate Man Law.
I think Danica is just cringy for whatever reason. The fact that she did use her looks to garner attention definitely took away from her talent. Her late NASCAR career really covered up the fact that she was a hell of a open wheel racer. Not sure why she ever went stock car racing.
I definitely wanted another woman to carry the torch as an example - I was in the Simona de Silvestro camp in that regard, but things didn't ever work out for her back when she seemed competitive. Her NASCAR move was for big time $$$ and like most road racers, she probably thought it'd be easier.
Did make her driving worse? There's nothing about her I like, but "no talent?" The crack pipe isn't smoking itself.
Blah blah blah, she still absolutely sucks in the booth. Dress for "Look at Me"... Go make me a damn sammich.
I don't know her history, but I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that she was racing (karts, at least) as a child well before anyone knew what she was going to look like as a grown woman. Point being, she was probably fast and talented FIRST and got hot later on. Something that's completely out of her control. Asking a racer not to use every advantage at their disposal is plain silly.
Yes she raced carts . Danica Patrick, born in 1982 in Wisconsin, is an accomplished race car driver and the first woman to win an IndyCar championship event. She began her career racing go-karts in her hometown of Beloit, Wisconsin. At just 16, after achieving national success in go-kart racing, she left high school to race Formula Fords and Vauxhalls in the United Kingdom.
