NickHolt Posted May 29, 2005 Report Share Posted May 29, 2005 I don't car what anyone says, that Danica Patrick is a race car driver. Nick Holt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legacy47 Posted May 29, 2005 Report Share Posted May 29, 2005 Agreed ! I thought she was going to win. I even got my mom to watch, Danica is going to be good for the sport. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KISS_Racing Posted May 29, 2005 Report Share Posted May 29, 2005 Ok, but wait.. And don't pull out your guns till you read my whole point... I wish she had won, she was 6/10's off pace at 18 or so laps left due to the fact that they were conserving fuel. Now here's my point. When the second to the last yellow came out, why in the He!! didn't they pull her in? They could have put on 4 news tires and added at least enough fuel to put her to the end of the race. If I figured correctly she would have started back in 10th place and could have gone full on rich and made it back to the front... I'm happy for 4th, but somebody $crewed up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAPA Posted May 29, 2005 Report Share Posted May 29, 2005 I agree KISS but thats racing. She made history today and thats a good thing. Auto racing just took another giant step forward. I can hear Gordon now....Boo Hoo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Levi Posted May 29, 2005 Report Share Posted May 29, 2005 i was hopping she was gonna win today! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChuckLicata Posted May 29, 2005 Report Share Posted May 29, 2005 Now here's my point. When the second to the last yellow came out, why in the He!! didn't they pull her in? They could have put on 4 news tires and added at least enough fuel to put her to the end of the race. If I figured correctly she would have started back in 10th place and could have gone full on rich and made it back to the front... I'm happy for 4th, but somebody $crewed up! Mark, I don't think so... If she pits, then comes out 10th...the 2ND TO LAST re-start came, if I remember correctly, with 28 laps to go.. If she comes out of the pits and re-starts 10th, there's no way she gets to the front in 28 laps...it took Wheldon 16 laps to pass her on the 2nd-to-last yellow..then, after Danica passed him on the last re-start, it took him 3 laps to pass her again.. I say that there's no way Danica get past the field that finished in the Top 10 - which included Tony Kanaan, Dario Franchitti, Scott Sharp, Buddy Lazier, Bryan Herta - in 28 laps AND challenge for the win... Still, a most memorable performance by both Danica and her crew, despite the rookie mistakes she made.. Oh--and like most of you, I'm going to enjoy "sticking it" this week to ALL those ball-and-stick guys (mostly, the KVET-AM morning show) who said Danica was NOT a legitimate threat and legitimate driver.. How nice, too, that Danica's next trip around a race track will be at TMS.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KISS_Racing Posted May 30, 2005 Report Share Posted May 30, 2005 " Mark, I don't think so..." Chuck, I do... Yet we'll never know... Did you really watch the race? On the restart she flew by Wheldon unlike when she had the lead on her restart and left everyone behind...( Oh wait you did see that part) She had the fastest car out there and the only reason they were able to catch her was cause she was conserving fuel. Her crew rolled the dice on the yellow to keep her out and give her the lead. I say good move... But to say it was a good move to keep her out when they knew fuel was low and old tires, I still question... Should of, could of, would of... Oh well!!!! Find someone who has Tivo and watch the race again... I know you wont change your mind, but maybe have a different view. Think about four fresh tires and fuel... Again we'll never know, she finished fourth and set some records in the process... I aplaud her and her team... On edit: Who ran out of fuel taking victory laps? If she would have been leaning(putting pressure on him), may have been a different story... Again so,co,wo... We'll never know... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arts22 Posted May 30, 2005 Report Share Posted May 30, 2005 She ran a good race, and its good for the IRL. The TV crews were talking more about her than Dan Weldon who has won 5 of the 6 races. She would not have been in contention for the win if she would have pitted that late in the race. It took Weldon half the race to move into 6th place from 16th. At the end of the race all the drivers are fighting to keep there spot, theres no way she'd make it back to the front. She will win a race, but its going to be hard to beat Weldon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
REBELRACER Posted May 30, 2005 Report Share Posted May 30, 2005 i would have liked her to win just to hear robby gordon cry some more....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pacecar Posted May 30, 2005 Report Share Posted May 30, 2005 Seems strange that she apologized to her crew when she spun sideways coming to the green flag. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted May 30, 2005 Report Share Posted May 30, 2005 Just input the key words "danica patrick" into Yahoo! Saw some pretty incredible photo spreads she has alread done. Sky's the limit now. She's now going to be a multi-multi- million dollar marketing commodity. Even if she never sets foot in another race car. Incredible! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tqj3 Posted May 30, 2005 Report Share Posted May 30, 2005 She apologized to the crew for making work for them, and for maybe blowing a chance to win the 500. As for everything else, when was the last time Joe Lunchbox paid any attention to the Indy 500? The ratings were up 40 percent, higher than any year since 1997, and in the last 15 minutes when Patrick was leading or running up front, they spiked to something like an 8.8 rating and a 21 share. It's about people, people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted May 30, 2005 Report Share Posted May 30, 2005 Absolutely TQ, But when are they ever going to figure out that America wants to see Americans racing at Indy. Not some guy from who knows where that no one's ever heard of? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Definitive Posted May 30, 2005 Report Share Posted May 30, 2005 All I can say is...it was too cool.Is she running at TMS? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazyhorse Posted May 30, 2005 Report Share Posted May 30, 2005 everybody has heard of weldon-but i did'nt care for the flag he wrapped himself in at this of all races(on this weekend of all weekends)....if you want to carry the union jack-carry it over to formula one.... when is she coming to nascar? i'm probably (besides craftsman) a bigger open wheel fan,but this is definetly what nascar needs...you want 43 drivers to act like orchestrated robots? try conforming her-on certain weeks more than others.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Definitive Posted May 30, 2005 Report Share Posted May 30, 2005 Trick is...to get her set up in a good ride...all the other women have had crap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazyhorse Posted May 30, 2005 Report Share Posted May 30, 2005 sarah fisher was pretty damn good -had really prime rides? this girl is a whole nother caliber...(if she don't let the media interfere with her focus)...from an outsider looking in,she's more of a racer than 20 of the guys she competed against yesterday combined.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tqj3 Posted May 30, 2005 Report Share Posted May 30, 2005 Budman- They probably know they need American drivers. The problem is, as jumbled as it is, there is a path of sorts to stock car racing's top echelons, but the open-wheel guys and gals don't have that kind of path. The Sports Car Club of America is a dead loss when it comes to training drivers with the kind of skill and aggression to race and win on road courses, but they're the only game in town. Which means, to get the kind of training and experience you need to race at the top level in open wheel, you have to go overseas. And, if you think it's tough to get sponsors here, imagine what it's like trying to get an American company to sponsor a driver in the lower formula series in England or Europe. And forget trying to get an English or European company to sponsor an American over there. American companies wait until a Brazilian or Central American or European company has paid the way for a driver through the European training ground, and then they grab him. Much cheaper that way. Makes smart business sense; but only in the short term. Danica isn't a product of the American system: she equaled the highest finish for an American driver in the Brands Hatch Formula Ford Festival, the most important small-formula tournament in the world, by finishing second. No American has ever won it, though Danny Sullivan and Jimmy Vasser, among others, tried. Danica ran in England, then came back to run Barber Dodge and Toyota Atlantic. Katherine Legge, who won the Toyota Atlantic race at Long Beach, is English, and a product of the European system. Her win is arguably the highest finish ever for a woman in an American open-wheel series. The plain fact is that American drivers aren't well thought of outside the United States, except for the NASCAR drivers (which Europeans don't consider real racing), and we haven't had a world champion since Mario Andretti in 1978. Tony George wants American drivers in the IRL; he always has. But someone has to step up to the mark and be willing to fund young drivers in Europe. There are a couple over there right now, but they're struggling, both to find sponsorship (though Red Bull is heavily involved) and on the track. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted May 31, 2005 Report Share Posted May 31, 2005 Thanks for the insight TQ. No easy answers on this one I guess. It's ashame. I never bothered to turn the thing on yesterday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racerx Posted May 31, 2005 Report Share Posted May 31, 2005 Stewart, Gordon, Newman, Kahne...they were all open wheelers first...Love him or hate him, Gordo could have been a top F1 driver...Gordon is probably the Mario Andretti of our generation, but all his time is sucked up by the Cup schedule...Mario won the indy 500, daytona 500, F1 World Championship, and Indy Car Championships...the world will never know that JG is one of the top 10 drivers of all time...Stewart has more AJ Foyt in him than either of the two sorry ass Foyt's in yesterday's race...Stewart won an IRL title before switching to Cup... NASCAR's popularity, Tony George, and the idiots that run Champ Car are the ones who have killed our off open wheelers...not sure it will ever come back like it was...open wheel has become America's racing version of soccer...leave it to the other countries... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Definitive Posted May 31, 2005 Report Share Posted May 31, 2005 Not so...it's us...the fans...what do we watch?...look it up...if you start every Cup race...you are a millionaire...some how or another.F1 drivers are on a salary...but they cannot freelance themselves in the promotional world.Junior can make as many commercials as time allows....oh wait...is that effecting him on track? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Definitive Posted May 31, 2005 Report Share Posted May 31, 2005 How many Jimmy Vasser adds have you seen lately?...say...during a Spurs game?...now count the Junior Gordon duo...lol...I think it makes them all want metal skin around their race cars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racerx Posted May 31, 2005 Report Share Posted May 31, 2005 The highest paid athlete in the world including endorsements is Michael Schumacher...F1 champion...highest paid by a lot every year...more than tiger woods, more than MJordon, Shaq, Arod, DE #3, etc. No doubt NASCAR rules here...but all these commercials are a relatively new phenomenon...wasn't that way 10 years ago... PS - and to the topic of this thread, yea the girl can drive...she doesn't give a crap about being a girl and thinks finishing 4th sucks...she only wants to win... We all know she has a big weight advantage...I was not surprised that they won't change the rules to make the weight even...you can tell the guys know Danica's for real...they never bitched about the weight issue with Sarah Fisher and she only weighs about 100 lbs too...didn't matter... And from Juan Montoya: As for the 500 back in the States, Montoya was the sensation at Indianapolis five years ago. This year, Danica Patrick has taken the Speedway by storm. Montoya is impressed because at first he wasn't fully convinced about her abilities. "I saw her in a couple of races and she was doing a decent job but nothing great," he said. "Then I saw in a couple of practice days at Indy that she was up there, and I was kind of shocked. It's good to see. They [Rahal Letterman] have a really good car around Indy." http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/news/story?s...s=f1&id=2071053 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arts22 Posted May 31, 2005 Report Share Posted May 31, 2005 The highest paid athlete in the world including endorsements is Michael Schumacher...F1 champion...highest paid by a lot every year...more than tiger woods, more than MJordon, Shaq, Arod, DE #3, etc. No doubt NASCAR rules here...but all these commercials are a relatively new phenomenon...wasn't that way 10 years ago... LL, Schumacher made $80 million dollars last year and Tiger Woods also made $80 million, so its a tie............... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tqj3 Posted May 31, 2005 Report Share Posted May 31, 2005 Larry- Tony George didn't kill off open wheel racing, they did it to themselves, and I'd blame Champ Car and their egos more than anyone else. George tried to get a series going that would open up things for open wheel racers, but couldn't get any support from manufacturers and sponsors. Look at it from his viewpoint: he has the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and the family fortune rested on that and on the one race a year it hosted. Suddenly he looks around and realizes almost all the drivers with the skill and experience to run fast at Indy are foreigners, that American companies will "save money" by waiting until a driver has proven himself, then hiring him. The fact that all the drivers who had the opportunity to go to Europe and learn were either Europeans or South Americans with backing from their companies (and, you better believe it, their COUNTRIES) was just too bad for U. S. drivers. But George has to be wondering what will happen to the crowds at Indy if all the drivers are foreigners. So he tried to get Champ Car to make some changes, but Penske and Carl Haas and the rest, who own Champ Car, were just fine with the way things were. George tried setting up the IRL, and Penske and company said, "Fine. We'll be glad to come cherry-pick your big race, but spend the rest of our time trying to destroy your series." At that point, George, not unreasonably, blocked out most of the spots at the Indy 500 for drivers in his series. Then he got on the horn to Bill France, Jr. and to Bernie Ecclestone and booked a couple more races at the venerable speedway. Now all his eggs aren't in one basket, and he even has one race a year that has almost nothing but American drivers in it. But then he discovers another painful truth: the guys with the real ability to drive his kind of cars are either European trained, or they are being hired away by NASCAR. So he's got no backing from sponsors for driver training, and he's got people so dumb they'll let Sarah Fisher, the perennial most popular driver in the IRL (regardless of talent, or lack thereof), go unsponsored and thus lose their most valuable property. (Oh, yeah? Name two other IRL drivers.) (I don't think she'd do as well as Patrick (she's not European trained), but Fisher would love to have had, just once in her life, the car Bobby Rahal put Patrick in yesterday.) Blame Champ Car, blame NASCAR. But save most of the blame for people who have yet to back homegrown talent in those racing series they need to be in to be successful, or to make heroes out of their drivers the way the sponsors in NASCAR make heroes out of NASCAR drivers. And, whether they are foreign drivers or Americans, no heroes, no fans. Real simple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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