FanNation | The Republic of Sport

Community

Cassidy's House: Smoke>Fire won the Throwdown.

thehemogoblin: home again

Throwndowns: 197
Record: 132 - 56 - 9
Whatsittoya, NO
All Throwdowns

Votes

Throwndowns: 111
Record: 82 - 23 - 6
Nimrod, OR
All Throwdowns

Votes

Danica Patrick is not a "menace" driver or anything else less than an equal to the drivers she races against every week.

Cassidy's House: Smoke>Fire said 06/27, 04:05 PM
In case you missed it, here is the 2 page story:

http://www.crash.net/motorsport/indycar/news/165466-0/danica_defends_against_menace_claims.html

Danica Patrick is an Indy driver who most recently won in Japan, proving she isnt just taking up space from other more qualified drivers on the track.

She says in the article that there is a fine line between being passive and agreesive in open-wheel driving.

The points leader Scott Dixon is 8beatching that Danica blocks him when he tries to pass her. Cry me a river dude!

Danica is one of the only reasons there has been a resurgence in Indy racing and for Dixon to criticize her because she doesnt meekly let him pass her by in a race is pathetic for a points leader to say.

People that are reluctant to giving up track position in Indy racing are actually the best drivers. If you pull over like an old lady when someone is on your tail you surely wont be successful in this sport.

Danica freely admits she hasnt been aggressive enough on restarts where drivers tend to bully their way forward at the expense of their competitors. If anything, she is saying she should have driven the car nose down even more than B4.

thehemogoblin: home again said 06/27, 04:33 PM
Danica Patrick, while a good driver, is there more because of her advertising power than her driving skills.

Patrick's win in Motegi, Japan was due to a weakened field, as it was the last IRL race that was made with the split field before the Champ Car World Series reunified.

Blocking is illegal in the IRL, as the drivers are required to run one line coming out of the corner and stay on the same line for the rest of the straightaway.

Patrick still makes bullheaded and stupid moves, as evidenced by her challenging Dan Wheldon physically last season and running into Ryan Briscoe at the Indy 500 in the pit lane under caution.

If Danica's so good, why have her teammates won nine races since she joined Andretti-Green racing, while she's only won one? It's not as if the crew she took over was inept, either, as that same team had won 2 races in the four years previous.

Media darling? Yes.

Good for the sport? Yes.

Great driver? No.

Cassidy's House: Smoke>Fire said 06/27, 04:54 PM
"Danica Patrick, while a good driver, is there more because of her advertising power than her driving skills."

That is what you said hemo, however this would be noteworthy to counter your statement:

Danica was named Rookie of the Year for the 2005 Indy 500 AND the ENTIRE 2005 Indy car season! Somebody with meager driving skills wouldnt have won these honors.

To say her win in Japan was due to a weakened field, says that a woman with more advertising skills than driving skills can still beat a field of men in her sport. Thanks for pointing that out.

If Patrick is a blocking expert, why hasnt she been sanctioned by the IRL? Patrick finished sixth at Iowa, two spots behind Dixon, and said she was particularly perplexed by his remarks since she was only aware of him being behind her on the last restart, "and he flew by me," she said.

According to this article, Briscoe is the one who tapped Danica:

http://www.latimes.com/classified/automotive/news/la-sp-dwyre26-2008may26,0,938391.column

How many people have only won one race or less since Danica joined Andretti-Green? Well look at her fellow females on the circut: Milka Duno and Sara Fisher=0.

thehemogoblin: home again said 06/27, 08:32 PM
"Danica was named Rookie of the Year for the 2005 Indy 500 AND the ENTIRE 2005 Indy car season! Somebody with meager driving skills wouldnt have won these honors. "

Look at how many rookies there are in 2005, her rookie year:

Two others. One being Patrick Carpentier, and the other being Ryan Briscoe, who only ran 15 of the 17 races.

That's some intense competition. The former driver washed up so bad that he ended up out of work in 2006 and 2007, the latter a driver that took three more years before he got a full-time ride.

Comparing her to her teammates-

2005- Meira 7th, Patrick 12th, Rice 15th (missed one race due to injury)

2006- Patrick 9th, Rice 15th, Simmons 16th, and Rice and Simmons missed multiple races

2007- Franchitti 1st, Kanaan 3rd, Patrick 7th, Andretti 11th

2008 (so far)- Kanaan 4th, Mutoh 5th, Patrick 7th, Andretti 8th

So in 2008, she's getting torched by a Japanese rookie nobody heard of, in 2007 her team placed two cars in the top three and as many positions away from the latter as the first two have together, 2006 her teammates both miss races and are within striking distance, and in 2005 she's behind one teammate and the other missed a race.

Hmm.

Cassidy's House: Smoke>Fire said 06/27, 09:26 PM

Report Offensive Throwdown

Comments (253)

Most Recent Comment Add Comment RSS

Good luck, Cassidy.

Can we please do this without wars in the comments?

An SI.com and CNN Digital Network Site

Search

Already a member?

Danica Patrick is not a "menace" driver or anything else less than an equal to the drivers she races against every week.

Cassidy's House: Smoke>Fire forfeited, thehemogoblin: home again wins

Add a comment