Danica Patrick: Men Vs. Women in Nascar - The Orange Mane

Sassy · 05-24-2005, 04:00 AM

...Has qualified for the Indy 500.
Does she have a chance against the men?

http://www.danicaracing.com/
Patrick out to be first female Indy winner
Mon May 23, 2005 09:17 PM ET
Printer Friendly | Email Article | Reprints | RSS (Page 1 of 2)

By Lewis Franck
INDIANAPOLIS (Reuters) - But for a split-second wobble in practice, Danica Patrick would most likely have become the first woman to take pole position at the Indy 500.

As it is, the 23-year-old rookie will start Sunday's race in fourth position on the grid -- the best starting position by a woman in the classic American event's 89-edition history.

She is only the fourth woman to qualify for the Indy 500 and her predecessors, among many other admirers, believe she can become the first woman to win, despite a lack of experience.

"All the ingredients are in place," said Janet Guthrie, the first female driver to break the all-male barrier at Indianapolis in 1977.

"Danica is the first woman to arrive at the Speedway with top-notch equipment and the full backing of a winning team. And she has the talent and determination to make the most of her opportunity.

"Despite her inexperience at Indianapolis, there's no reason Danica can't win if she gets the right breaks on race day."

Patrick drives a Rahal Letterman Racing Panoz/Honda. The team won the Indy last year with Buddy Rice, who will miss this year's race because of a back injury.

Her car is identical to that of team mate Kenny Brack of Sweden, the 1999 champion who will start 23rd on the grid.

LONGEST RACE

Sunday will be the longest race of Patrick's career and only the fourth time she has raced her car on an oval.

She posted the fastest lap of any driver this month when she touched 229.880 mph (369.956 kph) in unofficial practice. Continued ...
Patrick had already attracted attention when she was the fastest driver in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's rookie orientation program.
By the end of her qualifying run, on May 15, the media attention had grown to a frenzy.

Patrick made a basic error in the first turn of her four-lap, 10-mile run, calmed down and scorched through the next three laps in her 650-horsepower, open-wheel racer to qualify fourth with 227.004 mph, the best placing for a woman since Lyn St James qualified sixth in 1994.

Without that first-lap bobble, Patrick could have been the first woman on pole in the race.

"I feel like I wasted a pole car," Patrick said with steely cold eyes staring at the cameras and tape recorders of the media. "But then again, maybe I saved it."

Brazil's Tony Kanaan, in a Dallara-Honda, took pole position with 227.566 mph.

ENGLISH EXPERIENCE

Patrick left home in Roscoe, Illinois, at 16 to race Formula Fords in England. There she was spotted by Bobby Rahal, the 1986 Indy 500 winner and now co-owner of the Rahal Letterman team, during his short tenure as Jaguar's Formula One CEO and team principal.

Racing in England toughened her. "I came back every six months from England to the States. My parents kept telling me I was different every time, I'd matured or I'd changed," she said in a teleconference.

Since her stunning qualifying run American television networks have been vying for airtime with her, schoolchildren crowd outside her garage and newspapers, which cover almost exclusively NASCAR racing, have been devoting pages to the young driver.

Patrick accepts the attention with aplomb. "Going fastest and 'could have, should have, would have,' having a pole, is big news. It should be big news for any driver," she said.

She also has no regrets about appearing scantily clad in a photographic spread in a men's magazine.

"I was comfortable with it," she said. "But people are still talking about it, and that's the point of media and doing things -- you want to create a buzz and try to make people aware."

© Reuters 2005. All Rights Reserved.

Sassy · 05-24-2005, 04:06 AM

Just for you guys...
(because I'm feeling generous this am)

watermock · 05-24-2005, 04:12 AM

Just Great. Why do I feel the "big one" is on the horizon?

Watching her stomp up and down because she didn't win the pole was scary.

A rookie female driver ranting about not having the pole. Nothing to worry about here.

Garcia Bronco · 05-24-2005, 04:43 AM

Since the machine does all the work....yes she can beat anyone.

watermock · 05-24-2005, 04:57 AM

That is an illusion. Open wheel is racing on the edge. I'm not saying she can't race, but simply qualifying is different than racing. I hope she makes it, but history isn't on her side.

broncogary · 05-24-2005, 05:26 AM

Does she talk on the cell phone while she's driving?

Spider · 05-24-2005, 05:56 AM

Women can be Rednecks also ....

Slap in a CD of Hick Hop like Big and rich and gas the motor .......

Spider · 05-24-2005, 05:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sassy

Just for you guys...
(because I'm feeling generous this am)

Damn she is fine .......

Atlas · 05-24-2005, 06:00 AM

I don't care for racing but I would watch her play beach volleyball.

Sassy · 05-24-2005, 06:10 AM

There...I turned it into a "girly" thread just for you guys....

NaptownChief · 05-24-2005, 06:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by watermock

A rookie female driver ranting about not having the pole. Nothing to worry about here.

Well the good news about that is she is the first women to race at Indy that actually desires the "pole" if you know what I mean.

Arkie · 05-24-2005, 07:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Garcia Bronco

Since the machine does all the work....yes she can beat anyone.

Are you just trying to stir the pot?

I don't expect somebody like you to be so ignorant because I respect your takes in most of the other subjects on this board.

She will have to accurately adjust the speed of the car when it needs to go faster or slower and steer through the corners. As you know, a race can be decided in 1/1000th of a second. That's why it's a huge mistake if she steps on the brakes one second too early or too late. These "machines doing all the work" take corners at very high speeds, she will have to take 10 times the turning force of a normal car. Imagine having to go around a track that is several miles long, many times at these high speeds. As you can imagine, that would be pretty tough on your body. That's why she has to be super strong and fit and be able to concentrate really well to finish the race. She will have to have superb vision. It is a little different from the eye tests that we do when getting a checkup. She has to be able to see everything around her at speeds of several hundred miles per hour. For example, she has to be able to see what is displayed on the pit signs in a split second, and read any changes in the race conditions very quickly. Most of us don't have this "dynamic vision." Speed by itself, does not win races. It is a combination of speed, skill, awareness, and knowing what needs to be done to win the race that separates the best from the rest. And all of this is just from her point of view. The pit crew is just as important to the team. I know you and me both would jump in the driver's seat to make millions of dollars if "the machine did all the work for us." In reality, she would kick our asses. We would both come in dead last everytime in one of these races.

Spider · 05-24-2005, 07:33 AM

Non
Athletic
Sport
Centered
Around
Rednecks

bendog · 05-24-2005, 07:42 AM

Don't like nascar cause that is really all about the wrecks and a guy like 'the terminator' is admired. Formula cars ..... that's something else. I saw her take a qualifiying lap in Japan on espn while I stairmastered. She looked like she could drive.

Spider · 05-24-2005, 07:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bendog

Don't like nascar cause that is really all about the wrecks and a guy like 'the terminator' is admired. Formula cars ..... that's something else. I saw her take a qualifiying lap in Japan on espn while I stairmastered. She looked like she could drive.

Rubbin is Racin , Rubbin is Racin ,Rubbin is Racin .......

or so I am told

bendog · 05-24-2005, 07:52 AM

I think it's more frowned upon in formula to use your nose to spin out the guy in front of you. Frankly Nascar has made it unsafe to drive on the damn highways out here. It used to be you could just avoid the circa 1970 chevrolets with jacked up suspensions and thousand dollar wheel rims, but now you get yahoo republican rednecks driving Suburbans thinking their Ernhardt Jr.

Spider · 05-24-2005, 08:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bendog

I think it's more frowned upon in formula to use your nose to spin out the guy in front of you. Frankly Nascar has made it unsafe to drive on the damn highways out here. It used to be you could just avoid the circa 1970 chevrolets with jacked up suspensions and thousand dollar wheel rims, but now you get yahoo republican rednecks driving Suburbans thinking their Ernhardt Jr.

.....

FADERPROOF · 05-24-2005, 08:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Atlas

I don't care for racing but I would watch her play beach volleyball.

Looks like a potential avatar for you

As far as her winning the Indy 500, she placed 3rd in qualifying so I don't see a reason why she couldn't move up a mere 2 spots to win it.

watermock · 05-24-2005, 08:25 AM

she isn't the first female to try it. Jill St.James had several attempts. She wiped out consistently and is retired.

Spider · 05-24-2005, 09:15 AM

Atlas · 05-24-2005, 09:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bendog

Don't like nascar cause that is really all about the wrecks and a guy like 'the terminator' is admired. Formula cars ..... that's something else. I saw her take a qualifiying lap in Japan on espn while I stairmastered. She looked like she could drive.

The Terminator was terminated

ozomulsion · 05-24-2005, 09:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FADERPROOF

Looks like a potential avatar for you

As far as her winning the Indy 500, she placed 3rd in qualifying so I don't see a reason why she couldn't move up a mere 2 spots to win it.

It doesn't really work like that. It's all about being able to tell your crew what adjusments to make as the race goes on. It takes experience to get this down. Very often the fastest car at the end of the day was not one of the fastest to start the day.

ozomulsion · 05-24-2005, 09:46 AM

Hey Sassy, what does this thread have to do with Nascar?

FADERPROOF · 05-24-2005, 10:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ozomulsion

It doesn't really work like that. It's all about being able to tell your crew what adjusments to make as the race goes on. It takes experience to get this down. Very often the fastest car at the end of the day was not one of the fastest to start the day.

Well, it's at least obvious she has a fast car and can drive the thing, its all a matter of luck and picking the right spots, but if she's starting 3rd then I say she has a chance at winning it.

FADERPROOF · 05-24-2005, 10:14 AM

and holy crap! she's only a year older than I am...

05-24-2005, 04:00 AM	#1
Sassy Ring of Famer Join Date: May 2001 Location: ND Posts: 37,952 Adopt-a-Bronco: Eddie Royal	Danica Patrick: Men Vs. Women in Nascar ...Has qualified for the Indy 500. Does she have a chance against the men? http://www.danicaracing.com/ Patrick out to be first female Indy winner Mon May 23, 2005 09:17 PM ET Printer Friendly \| Email Article \| Reprints \| RSS (Page 1 of 2) By Lewis Franck INDIANAPOLIS (Reuters) - But for a split-second wobble in practice, Danica Patrick would most likely have become the first woman to take pole position at the Indy 500. As it is, the 23-year-old rookie will start Sunday's race in fourth position on the grid -- the best starting position by a woman in the classic American event's 89-edition history. She is only the fourth woman to qualify for the Indy 500 and her predecessors, among many other admirers, believe she can become the first woman to win, despite a lack of experience. "All the ingredients are in place," said Janet Guthrie, the first female driver to break the all-male barrier at Indianapolis in 1977. "Danica is the first woman to arrive at the Speedway with top-notch equipment and the full backing of a winning team. And she has the talent and determination to make the most of her opportunity. "Despite her inexperience at Indianapolis, there's no reason Danica can't win if she gets the right breaks on race day." Patrick drives a Rahal Letterman Racing Panoz/Honda. The team won the Indy last year with Buddy Rice, who will miss this year's race because of a back injury. Her car is identical to that of team mate Kenny Brack of Sweden, the 1999 champion who will start 23rd on the grid. LONGEST RACE Sunday will be the longest race of Patrick's career and only the fourth time she has raced her car on an oval. She posted the fastest lap of any driver this month when she touched 229.880 mph (369.956 kph) in unofficial practice. Continued ... Patrick had already attracted attention when she was the fastest driver in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's rookie orientation program. By the end of her qualifying run, on May 15, the media attention had grown to a frenzy. Patrick made a basic error in the first turn of her four-lap, 10-mile run, calmed down and scorched through the next three laps in her 650-horsepower, open-wheel racer to qualify fourth with 227.004 mph, the best placing for a woman since Lyn St James qualified sixth in 1994. Without that first-lap bobble, Patrick could have been the first woman on pole in the race. "I feel like I wasted a pole car," Patrick said with steely cold eyes staring at the cameras and tape recorders of the media. "But then again, maybe I saved it." Brazil's Tony Kanaan, in a Dallara-Honda, took pole position with 227.566 mph. ENGLISH EXPERIENCE Patrick left home in Roscoe, Illinois, at 16 to race Formula Fords in England. There she was spotted by Bobby Rahal, the 1986 Indy 500 winner and now co-owner of the Rahal Letterman team, during his short tenure as Jaguar's Formula One CEO and team principal. Racing in England toughened her. "I came back every six months from England to the States. My parents kept telling me I was different every time, I'd matured or I'd changed," she said in a teleconference. Since her stunning qualifying run American television networks have been vying for airtime with her, schoolchildren crowd outside her garage and newspapers, which cover almost exclusively NASCAR racing, have been devoting pages to the young driver. Patrick accepts the attention with aplomb. "Going fastest and 'could have, should have, would have,' having a pole, is big news. It should be big news for any driver," she said. She also has no regrets about appearing scantily clad in a photographic spread in a men's magazine. "I was comfortable with it," she said. "But people are still talking about it, and that's the point of media and doing things -- you want to create a buzz and try to make people aware." © Reuters 2005. All Rights Reserved. Last edited by Sassy; 05-24-2005 at 04:20 AM..

05-24-2005, 09:15 AM	#20
Spider Mr Diplomacy I survived Tebow Mania at the Mane Join Date: May 2001 Location: Elway was just an arm =MacGruder Posts: 84,438 Adopt-a-Bronco: Von Miller	Attached Images

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05-24-2005, 04:06 AM	#2
Sassy Ring of Famer Join Date: May 2001 Location: ND Posts: 37,952 Adopt-a-Bronco: Eddie Royal	Just for you guys... (because I'm feeling generous this am)

05-24-2005, 04:12 AM	#3
watermock "Hoodie Jr" "Hug me!" Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Hot Springs, Ouachitah Posts: 77,090	Just Great. Why do I feel the "big one" is on the horizon? Watching her stomp up and down because she didn't win the pole was scary. A rookie female driver ranting about not having the pole. Nothing to worry about here.

05-24-2005, 04:43 AM	#4
Garcia Bronco Hokie since 1993 Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Denver, CO Posts: 45,991 Adopt-a-Bronco: Tom Jackson	Since the machine does all the work....yes she can beat anyone.

05-24-2005, 04:57 AM	#5
watermock "Hoodie Jr" "Hug me!" Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Hot Springs, Ouachitah Posts: 77,090	That is an illusion. Open wheel is racing on the edge. I'm not saying she can't race, but simply qualifying is different than racing. I hope she makes it, but history isn't on her side.

05-24-2005, 05:26 AM	#6
broncogary Horse Player and Dimwit Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 5,746	Does she talk on the cell phone while she's driving?

05-24-2005, 05:56 AM	#7
Spider Mr Diplomacy I survived Tebow Mania at the Mane Join Date: May 2001 Location: Elway was just an arm =MacGruder Posts: 84,438 Adopt-a-Bronco: Von Miller	Women can be Rednecks also .... Slap in a CD of Hick Hop like Big and rich and gas the motor .......

05-24-2005, 06:00 AM	#9
Atlas Draft Defense Early&Often Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 18,526	I don't care for racing but I would watch her play beach volleyball.

05-24-2005, 06:10 AM	#10
Sassy Ring of Famer Join Date: May 2001 Location: ND Posts: 37,952 Adopt-a-Bronco: Eddie Royal	There...I turned it into a "girly" thread just for you guys....

05-24-2005, 07:33 AM	#13
Spider Mr Diplomacy I survived Tebow Mania at the Mane Join Date: May 2001 Location: Elway was just an arm =MacGruder Posts: 84,438 Adopt-a-Bronco: Von Miller	Non Athletic Sport Centered Around Rednecks

05-24-2005, 07:42 AM	#14
bendog Marginally Continent David Bowens, he'd be an upgrade Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Folsom Prison Posts: 19,935 Adopt-a-Bronco: David Bowens	Don't like nascar cause that is really all about the wrecks and a guy like 'the terminator' is admired. Formula cars ..... that's something else. I saw her take a qualifiying lap in Japan on espn while I stairmastered. She looked like she could drive.

05-24-2005, 07:52 AM	#16
bendog Marginally Continent David Bowens, he'd be an upgrade Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Folsom Prison Posts: 19,935 Adopt-a-Bronco: David Bowens	I think it's more frowned upon in formula to use your nose to spin out the guy in front of you. Frankly Nascar has made it unsafe to drive on the damn highways out here. It used to be you could just avoid the circa 1970 chevrolets with jacked up suspensions and thousand dollar wheel rims, but now you get yahoo republican rednecks driving Suburbans thinking their Ernhardt Jr.

05-24-2005, 08:25 AM	#19
watermock "Hoodie Jr" "Hug me!" Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Hot Springs, Ouachitah Posts: 77,090	she isn't the first female to try it. Jill St.James had several attempts. She wiped out consistently and is retired.

05-24-2005, 09:46 AM	#23
ozomulsion Ring of Famer Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 3,597 Adopt-a-Bronco: The ladies man.	Hey Sassy, what does this thread have to do with Nascar?

05-24-2005, 10:14 AM	#25
FADERPROOF Bucknuts Colossus Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Eastlake OH Posts: 17,338	and holy crap! she's only a year older than I am...