addict, two wins should make her a crack whore;)

I admire anyone who slides into any vehicle and can mix it up at 150mph. Heroine, no...driver, yes.

Guess she's no Anna Kournikova.

I said if she won 4 or 5 everyone would have to STFU and admit they were wrong.

That's positive.

Sounds like an opinion.

Jeez, man, you and others here are hard liners. There's a bunch that have not won in many races, now and over the years. Yet, just to qualify one of these things is a huge accomplishment. Heretofore, they have simply let Milka Duno race. When the 2 leagues come together next race, we'll see who has the apples.

I say Danica wins a few more.

Meh, to me it's about winning. I wouldn't call any driver who has never won, or who has only won once, "successful."

Win a title or at least a handful of races, and it's another story. I really don't care, the sport is totally irrelevant to me. I'm just tossing out my $.02

http://www.indycar.com/stats/driver_stats.php?year=2008&driver_id=259&showCaree r=1

Here is a link to her IRL stats. Not bad for a woman or a man.

What do you drive at the track? Me, I've raced most of my life since age 14. Never had any money, no backing, no interested parents, yet I ran. I only have about 3 trophies for over 30 years of racing, so I guess I'm a total failure in your eyes.

I don't care, I had the fun, paid the entry fees to support the costs, met a hell of a lot of great folks and some racing stars of the future. In fact, I finished in the later half of the field most of the time. I never cheated, but that's fairly prevalent in the front row. Do I feel like the also ran that you think I am? Absolutely not. I was 5 MPH off the pace at Willow in a laydown kart every lap. That means I only did turn 9 at 90 when the leaders could do 95. I only went down the back straight at 101 when they could do 106.

I'm happy with that, frankly, as opposed to never having raced. No one watched me, only the leaders. Do I give a crap? Nope.

Danica is in the big leagues where some of the younger ones I raced against lasted a couple of seasons. Alex Barron, Ritchie Hearn and PJ Jones are three I can think of off hand. Danica has better stats than all 3 in open wheel. She's already a champion in my eyes.

Did you know that when the IRL broke off that they redefined "close" racing? The CART drivers on the ovals never ran like the IRL does. I suppose it's the cars that allow for this, but they have put on one hell of a show in the last few years. The Champ car guys are going to get their heads handed to them, at least at first, and Danica will be one of the ones leading the charge.

Hey Milt,
What do you think? :)

+1

I look at the Top Gear episode where Hammond tries to drive Alonso's F1 Renault and basically gives up. He's not a racer, but he's no slouch either. Champ Car/IRL is a notch down from F1, but it still takes some balls and lots of skill/talent to do it competitively. How many can drive 200 mph wheel-to-wheel and not ball it up? Let's give her as well as anyone who wins a pro race due credit.

Sherwood

Congrats to Ms. Patrick. She put a lot of pressure on herself when she left Rahal/Letterman saying the equipment was the reason she didn't win. So now with the right equipment she has her victory. That being said, IMO she comes across as an arrogant crybaby when things don't go her way. I really liked her and wanted her to do well. When she just about won Indy I was thrilled. But her 'tude' is too much for me.
Dan Weldon was in a no win situation when she pushed him last year. Smack the little b#@ch back like he would have had it been another man and his career is over. Take it like he did and he looks like a wimp. She went after him knowing full well he wouldn't/couldn't retaliate. Good thing she didn't pull that on AJ or one of his drivers :eek:.
But her win was good for Indy car racing and they need all the help they can get.

Wow, she won ONE race. After 50 tries. With the best teams supporting her and more often than not with one of the best cars out there. If you took an average male driver in that series and set him up with the same equipment and support he would have a whole lot more than one win under his belt.

Now if she can just win about 200 more it will justify all the publicity she gets.
She is famous (and rich) because of what is between her legs, not because of her driving skills.

Damn Sam you sound like me, I was trying to be gentle!

50 starts, 1 win, 9 top 5's, 29 top 10's and 3 poles. She has placed in the five
18% of her races. She has done pretty well in my book.
Dave

Yes she has, numbers don't lie. But as Sammy stated 'she' would be a middle of the road driver if it wasn't for her looks, ( being gentle again Sammy :D ).

I watched Danica race a few years ago in Atlantics. She qualified up towards the pointy end of the field. Somehow, she either spun herself, or got turned around in the first corner of the first lap (Festival Curves at PIR). She rejoined the race (obviously at the back of the field by quite a ways), and in that short sprint race managed to claw her way back up to an 8th or 9th place finish. On paper, it was an unspectacular weekend. Qualify P4 or so. Finish P8 or P9. But to see her slice her way back through the field was a lot of fun. She clearly passed (both for position and not) more people than anyone else that race.

Does she have what it takes to win a championship? Who knows. But I wouldn't say that she doesn't belong racing at the IndyCar level, either. Her $0.02 are worth a lot more than any of ours, at the track.

Danica drives an Indy car for a living. The guys putting her down are sitting in their house on a Sunday afternoon, typing on a keyboard, sayin how much she sucks. :confused:

Good for her. she has reached a level in the sport, most of us only dream about.

Well said. Danica is racer. :)

Like Marco Andretti?

Anyway you slice it , the chick has game.. I really like her, and she could have sold out for the big bucks and picked up a Nastycar ride, but preffers to turn right once in a while..
I think she's earned a little respect
T

I can't believe you wrote that. Sam, you've lost any respect I might have had for you. Not specifically for the Danica content, but the "between the legs" part is just not right. Would you have said that about Shirley Muldowney early in her career? Oh, I forget, you're too young for Shirley, Janet and Denise.

Yes, Denise, a Porsche driver before the likes of many icons like Moss, Stewart and dare I say Hill? (I'm not saying any drove Porsches, just that McCluggage was out there winning in the 1950's)