And what magazine was the first to note her as a possible future success? Grassroots Motorsports, October 2000, page 44, when she was racing Formula Fords in England. GRM also picked Sarah Fisher and 11 others in this women in racing issue.
And what magazine was the first to note her as a possible future success? Grassroots Motorsports, October 2000, page 44, when she was racing Formula Fords in England. GRM also picked Sarah Fisher and 11 others in this women in racing issue.
gamby wrote: Not that I'm an expert on her, but I don't think she's an Anna Kournukova situation. I mean, she's had a long A-list pro racing career--much too long for it to have rested solely on her looks. She'd out-drive anyone on this board...
Pretty sure Anna could beat any of us at tennis too. 
I don't fault Danica for flaunting her sexuality.
I fault her for pretending to be a competitive driver. She did a really good job of bad mouthing her Indy team for what was her lack of skill. Watched her cause numerous near misses that should have never been. In general just being a grade A shiny happy person. Let's bite the hand that gave you a shot for your 2nd place finish in Europe. Has anyone here followed Anthony Davidson's career? That is the guy whom got first at the event that got Danica noticed.
I think she is getting better and maybe Nascar is a place she will shine. Her record shows open wheel wasn't her thing, maybe beating fenders with the boys will be.
Maybe she needs Harry Hodge to win some races.
Harry Hogge: Oh she can drive. She can drive beyond the limits of the tires, the engine, the car or anything else. If the sum' bitch listened to me we wouldn't hardly ever lose a race!
AngryCorvair wrote:Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:would you wear that revealing swimsuit on howard stern's show and let him throw mayonnaise-covered slices of bologna at your ass in exchange for a shot at a Pro-Am Showdown?Lesley wrote: In reply to gamby: Agreed.I'll put on a revealing swimsuit if I can get a shot at Pro-Am showdown.
It probably speaks poorly of me... some character flaw... but probably.
<c wrote: I'm sorry, I can't say I'm overly impressed. Qualifying at Daytona is 99% about the car you're in, not your driving. I'm not a Danica expert either, but I don't think she's won much wherever she has raced. As stated, she seems to be taking advantage of her good looks and figure. Not that I'm complaining, mind you, but to me she hasn't proven anything yet.
she was pretty darn good in FF before moving on to Atlantic and Indy ... what she seems to lack is the confidence to race "close" and be ready to take advantage of the driver in front screwing up ...
as for qualifying at Daytona ... it's a lot car ( but whole bunches of them have great cars ) but for that last couple of thousandths it's all about being able to keep the car from scrubbing off speed in the corners... something she brings from Indy Car ... tiny inputs = good results ... notice that her lines seemed to be a bit more tidy than others ...
gamby wrote: I'm sure you're a great driver...
That would make one of you :)
I just want to whore my way into rubbing elbows with pros and get some seat time in a car I didn't have to build.
Ok, she may not be great, but she is good enough to be out there.
Maybe her gender has helper her advance more than she deserves, but no more so than other drivers have used a family name to get a break or two.
If any of us are thinking that professional racing is about winning, we are deluding ourselves. Sure, for us, we would like to win, but also recognize, sometimes we are just outgunned and genuinely have fun losing.
But ion the professional level, winning has almost nothing to do with racing. Its about sponsorship. It's about being able to generate enough of a buzz to get someone to write you a check.
Patrick Demsey is a very talented racer, but no more than most of the drivers in that series. But he can generate a buzz, finish a race and get some attention for his sponsors.
Craig T Nelson did Macco commercials not becuase he needed the money, but to get them to sponsor his race effort.
Juan Pablo Montoya has only won 2 races in 8 years of races (I'll resist my urge to go into my conspiracy theory about "debris cautions" and keeping the "feriner" an' his japanese car out of victory lane) but he is still there, still getting paid and still generating enough buzz to make his departure from Formula 1 finiancially viable.
Dick Trickle anyone? Sure, he was good, but if ESPN had not started talking abut him, he would have been finished years prior.
So to that end, Danica has done very well. Her job is to get peaple to pay attention to her sponsers, how she does so is limited by her values and personal limits, not by talent.
Having said that, all of them could outrun me on my best da,y driving a 911 if they drove a rented Camry and had the stomach flu. There is still a basic level of talent required.
Seems much like the Ken Bloch hate. Two individuals who have the ability to market themselves incredibly well and are using that to do what we all wish we could. They are not the best in their chosen venues, but they are good enough to be competitive.
NASCAR....yawn.... zzzzzzzz
Beer Baron wrote: Seems much like the Ken Bloch hate. Two individuals who have the ability to market themselves incredibly well and are using that to do what we all wish we could. They are not the best in their chosen venues, but they are good enough to be competitive.
The Ken Block hate is all just the spiteful little keyboard jockeys who wish they were in his shoes. They need to naysay everything, just like it is on every clip on youtube. He lives life PERFECTLY. I don't care if he wins or loses races--he played the game brilliantly.
If I were in any position to bag bukoo sponsorship money I'd gladly take it, smile for the cameras and say thank you sirs... then drive the wheels off their E36 M3.
Aeromoto wrote: NASCAR....yawn.... zzzzzzzz
i feel the exact same way- except for me it's Formula 1, Indy Car, and anything with the word "prototype" in the name..
but i don't step into (most of) the threads about those things to point out how boring i find them..
regarding Danica: it's not too hard to believe that she's on the pole.. she is probably the most well funded driver out there, which puts her in the best equipment with the best crew.. and she is also probably the smallest driver out there, which gives that team the ability to put the weight necessary to get up to minimum weight in the places where it will do the most good... also, as someone pointed out, she's a smooth driver that doesn't try to force the car to do something that it can't do. i think she'll be an actual threat to at least run out front most of the day as long as she can get a good jump on the start and restarts and avoid trouble with lapped cars.
one thing that hasn't been mentioned yet, which will get mentioned every time her #10 GoDaddy Chevrolet is on the same section of track as the #17 Best Buy Ford- is that she is racing against her boyfriend for not only the race, but also for rookie of the year..
Now Ken Block is a whole different deal. As Bill Caswell once pionted out - more Americans have walked on the moon than have scored points in the World Rally Championship. Ken Block is awesome.
Where are the pictures of women fishing? I am confused.
gamby wrote: The Ken Block hate is all just the spiteful little keyboard jockeys who wish they were in his shoes.
I think his shoes are a little silly and not to my liking. Heck with his shows, I'd like to be in his car. 
novaderrik wrote:Aeromoto wrote: NASCAR....yawn.... zzzzzzzzbut i don't step into (most of) the threads about those things to point out how boring i find them..
But when you are a typical F1/TopGearUK fanboy you have to let it be known that you like real racing.
It's just as annoying as willful ignorance of pop culture for Internet cool points and soccer fans that bomb NFL threads.
But on topic, as far as Danica goes, I am not necessarily a fan of hers but I think it's good that she has accomplished a pole at any race. Her career needs it. I watch all three of the top NASCAR series and sometimes ARCA. She gets involved in accidents quite a bit and it's more times than not caused by another driver.
As wjones said, it's more about the car in qualifying but the driver is what will put it at the top. She beat her own boss and teammate with the same gear.
Fueled by Caffeine wrote: Where are the pictures of women fishing? I am confused.
novaderrik wrote: one thing that hasn't been mentioned yet, which will get mentioned every time her #10 GoDaddy Chevrolet is on the same section of track as the #17 Best Buy Ford- is that she is racing against her boyfriend for not only the race, but also for rookie of the year..
I thought she was married to some guy that wasn't in racing.
moparman76_69 wrote:novaderrik wrote: one thing that hasn't been mentioned yet, which will get mentioned every time her #10 GoDaddy Chevrolet is on the same section of track as the #17 Best Buy Ford- is that she is racing against her boyfriend for not only the race, but also for rookie of the year..I thought she was married to some guy that wasn't in racing.
Google says she is available as of this past Saturday. http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/danica-patrick-files-for-divorce-from-husband-paul-hospenthal-2013151
With all that said, I believe in NASCAR conspiracies. A little bigger holes is some team's restrictor plates wouldnt surprise me.
Lap One: 
I don't have a lot of patience with NA$CAR's WWE mentality and really stupid rules which put on a show for the mouth breathers at the risk of a bunch of bent equipment and possible injury. So I don't really follow it.
Having said that, I sort of follow her progress out of curiosity. I think a lot of her caution and non- aggressiveness in traffic comes from her open wheel Indy background, where aeros are MUCH smaller since they don't use the whole body of the car. That means getting too close means 1) losing air on a small part of the aeros that is still a larger percentage of the total aero package compared to NA$CAR and 2) those same aeros are more fragile.
She's already shown that she knows how to drive, let her get over that overly cautious habit and the good ol' boys will just have to accept that she beat their guys fair and square.
Javelin wrote:BARNCA wrote: Courtney Force qualified number one this weekend in a car that is about 8 thousand times harder to drive....A-berking-men!!!!
This. And a black guy won the Top Fuel championship last year. Not only that, he's a classy guy who shuts down anyone who wants to talk about his color. He's an amazing guy and a world class champion.
As far as girls, Shirley paved the way DECADES ago in the NHRA and not only had to wrestle ill handling dangerous machines, but also fight tooth and nail to get any respect. NASCAR has a girl who enters the race and it's all over everything. She qualifies #1 and it's back all over everything. Just wait until she farts or something.
Your media, missing the forest for the trees for decades...
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