You drive like a GIRL...

I think we all know who I'm talking about.

It's no secret that I'm a fan.

I've got a weakness for reasonably atractive (or better) women that are also reasonably intelligent (or better) and effective at what they do.

Kind of hard to argue with a top 10 finish at Daytona, especially on the first try. That should quiet some of the haters.

Nice to see Keselowski in the top 5, especially with a totally different car package.

Also nice to see Mark Martin there, too.

Sure would have liked to see the Dodges in the "more like the production car" styling.

I'm no fan of Patrick. I would love to give her props for her Daytona finish, but my problem is I know NASCAR is making a seriously hard push to become more marketable to women, and they're looking at Patrick as an entree into that market. How often do you see a newcomer making it to the pole of the Daytona 500, riding at number three through most of the race, and finishing in the top ten their first time out? She's either just that good, or she got a TON of support from NASCAR, Hendrick, sponsors, and other drivers to get her there... and given her spotty record of wins in her career, I strongly suspect the later of the two.

I think if Patrick wants to be taken seriously as a driver, fine. Go be a driver. She should dedicate herself to the business of driving and quit trying to play fashion model, or ad queen, or marketing her looks instead of her skills. She needs to show more stuff on the track and less in Maxim or Go Daddy ads.

And I was really hoping, again, for Martin to get that win!

She done did good. Too bad for mark he's a great deserving driver.

Come on, man.

There are drivers out there that routinely don't even finish (Florida's Nemecheck, for one).

Patrick did prety good in Indycar, with several top 10's IIRC.
Not many can claim that.

How many times does anyone acomplish what was described?
Example- remember last year- Trevor Bane?

I AM a fan of Danica Patrick.
I thought she did good.
I would have been nice if she had a "little help" out there.
Yes, Brad did good too!

Bruzilla said:

I'm no fan of Patrick. I would love to give her props for her Daytona finish,............

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Lets give you the benefit of the doubt and say you're right with your big conspiracy. Even so, just like rastlin, the outcome is already known, it's up to the rastlers/drivers to figure out how to make it happen. WIth rastlin, it's a lot easier. Sure, they can throw each other around the ring fakin it. But to fake it and look GOOD doin it, takes practice. I mean, how to do a pile driver WITHOUT breakin somebody's neck takes skill.

Lets transport that to the racetrack. Lets say you're right and it's all a setup. Rollin along at 195+ MPH, them drivers have to fake it just right so it looks like another driver is kickin ***. Yeah, uh huh, like they're really gonna risk THEIR lives so another driver can look good. THey're already riskin their lives to try to WIN for themselves. You see how far fetched your conspiracy sounds?

I ain't a Danica fan, but the girl CAN drive. Like I ain't a Gordon fan. But the guy has to have some talent, or else he wouldn't be where he is. Naw, I think you and your conspiracy theories are wrong this time. I think the girl has some talent. Could YOU swap paint at 195+ MPH? I bet not.

Let's take a look at last year. First off, Patrick ran in that race after qualifying 29th, but got wrecked out in the first few laps. So how in the heck is she considered a rookie or first timer like I was hearing all day yesterday? I haven't heard that term applied to anyone else. Usually if you start in a race, that's your first race and you don't get a mulligan because you wrecked after a couple of laps.

Last year, when Patrick ran her actual first Daytona 500, she was in a Tommy Baldwin Racing car. And who got her into that car? Stewart-Haas Racing... Tony Stewarts's outfit. And when she didn't do very well in qualifying and certainly not in the race, Stewart bumped her up into a Stewart-Haas car. The only thin odd with that is Stewart-Haas isn't known for taking on entry-level drivers. Until they picked up Patrick, it was Stewart and Ryan Newman, so why would Stewart decide to take on someone with extremely limited experience in NASCAR for his team when he could get someone with a lot more experience? But not only does he pick her up, he escalates his support first by entering an agreement with Baldwin, and when that doesn't yield results he picks her up himself. Now why would he be so determined to support someone with as limited experience as Patrick has???

Patrick reminds me a lot of Amelia Earhart. Both women had rather pedestrian careers that were played up because they were women. Earhart set a lot of records, but also was not regarded as a very good pilot. You hear a lot about her successes, but not much about all the aircraft she crashed except for the last one. Same deal with Patrick. Her whole career seems to be more of an exercise to get an eye-catching gal out on the track rather than develop a top flight racer. Yes, she did have a decent Indycar record, but she had a lot of failures that would have washed out most guys.

Let's face it... is she looked like Janet Reno, she never makes it past go-kart racing.

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RustyRatRod said:

Lets give you the benefit of the doubt and say you're right with your big conspiracy. Even so, just like rastlin, the outcome is already known, it's up to the rastlers/drivers to figure out how to make it happen. WIth rastlin, it's a lot easier. Sure, they can throw each other around the ring fakin it. But to fake it and look GOOD doin it, takes practice. I mean, how to do a pile driver WITHOUT breakin somebody's neck takes skill.

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I think conspiracy is the wrong word. This is all about marketing. NASCAR hit a peak in the 90s and has been declining ever since. They made a failed attempt at attracting African-Americans to the sport, then they tried the Hispanic market with that disastrous Juan Montoya push, and now they're after the women market with Patrick. Every time they play one of these schemes, the end result tends to end up the same, and I expect to see Patrick go the same way.

Bruzilla said:

Let's face it... is she looked like Janet Reno, she never makes it past go-kart racing.

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ewwwwww

Brad almost pulled it off in a beat up ford .... the only reason i turned it on...

Ooops. I stand corrected about last year.

Not a Willie T. Ribs fan, either?

Montoya was actually pretty good for a little while.
Lots of F1 sucess, which is FULL of hispanics, and VERY popular in Southa and Cental America, not to mention the rest of the world (and they turn BOTH ways).

The problem with Patrick has nothing to do with her driving.

She is in Nascar...the epitome of bad teeth, rednecks, and alcoholism.

At least that's what the general vision is of it's fans.

Now go and add a woman driver. Ok, not a big deal. Now add a women driver that poses in bikinis and does a lot of "sexy" commercials for godaddy. And we have a problem. Nascar was never meant to be sexy lol.

Bruzilla said:

I'm no fan of Patrick. I would love to give her props for her Daytona finish, but my problem is I know NASCAR is making a seriously hard push to become more marketable to women, and they're looking at Patrick as an entree into that market. How often do you see a newcomer making it to the pole of the Daytona 500, riding at number three through most of the race, and finishing in the top ten their first time out? She's either just that good, or she got a TON of support from NASCAR, Hendrick, sponsors, and other drivers to get her there... and given her spotty record of wins in her career, I strongly suspect the later of the two.

I think if Patrick wants to be taken seriously as a driver, fine. Go be a driver. She should dedicate herself to the business of driving and quit trying to play fashion model, or ad queen, or marketing her looks instead of her skills. She needs to show more stuff on the track and less in Maxim or Go Daddy ads.

And I was really hoping, again, for Martin to get that win!

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Sounds like someone would rather keep all women barefoot and pregnant. My friend, that ship has sailed. Any pro athlete has to make hay while the sun shines. To deride Patrick because she uses her looks to gain fortune and fame, in addition to her driving skill, is goofy unless you're going to do the same for all the other drivers who appear in commercials or have been featured in GQ or Mens Health. Sorry, I for one, don't buy it. Do you actually think that any of those drivers would 'lay down' to promote another driver? Their egos are too big. Jimmie Johnson said it best: "She's another very good driver in a fast car." No more, no less...

I don't have a dog in this fight but I think John Force said it best on Twitter.

"I get that Danica got the pole is a big deal, but it is not like she delivered the baby Jesus"

Hilarious!

Can I ask another question. I can't understand how anybody can even watch Nascar? Its as boring as golf these days. Do you wait for the wrecks of sit around and drink enough beer until it becomes interesting?

Now if this was 1969...I'd be at the races.

arsinist01 said:

The problem with Patrick has nothing to do with her driving.

She is in Nascar...the epitome of bad teeth, rednecks, and alcoholism.

At least that's what the general vision is of it's fans.

Now go and add a woman driver. Ok, not a big deal. Now add a women driver that poses in bikinis and does a lot of "sexy" commercials for godaddy. And we have a problem. Nascar was never meant to be sexy lol.

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I think sex appeal has its role here, but how many girls were turned on to NASCAR by Jeff Gordon? Earnhardt Jr? Granted these guys have the sense not to do photo spreads in girl magazines, but NASCAR has definitely placed the best looking drivers front and center in advertising and media relations. I mean, how often do you see guys like Biffle or Edwards leading the media pack?

With the Cup cars being so equal, a driver can win a race at Daytona or Talledega almost on luck alone. Knowing how to draft helps a lot but being lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time makes a lot of difference. Two years ago Trevor Bayne won mostly because he was lucky enough to be in a good position and have help at the finish. He is a good driver but he has struggled a bit since that win. I can go all the way back to when Derricke Cope passed Dale Earnhardt on the last lap to win the 1990 Daytona 500 when Earnhardt had a tire go down on the last lap. Cope's has struggled to even get a Cup ride ever since.
My point is that the other tracks on the schedule will give you a lot better idea of who the good drivers really are. I think Danica is a good driver with a lot of potential. She needs a lot of seat time and experience at the different tracks to really tell how good of a driver she can be. Just the same as any other of the young drivers.

YY1 said:

Ooops. I stand corrected about last year.

Not a Willie T. Ribs fan, either?

Montoya was actually pretty good for a little while.
Lots of F1 sucess, which is FULL of hispanics, and VERY popular in Southa and Cental America, not to mention the rest of the world (and they turn BOTH ways).

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Montoya got rolled out in 2007 as part of NASCAR's big Hispanic push, which included lots of talk about moving races to Mexico. All you heard was Montoya, Montoya, Montoya during every race that year. And what happened? Nothing. The Hispanic market didn't respond, NASCAR quit pushing him, and he's gradually dwindled away into sprint cars and other racing.

I saw the same think with Patrick yesterday. She was in third place through almost the whole race!!! How often do you see one driver stay in any place that long? Everybody else is moving up and back, but even when she drops back to ninth after a pit, she's quickly back up to third while everyone else is plitzing along. Either she's an incredibly gifted driver, which her past record in NASCAR shows she's not, or the word was out, just as with Montoya, that NASCAR wants her to have a great race so they can market her. They've done this plenty of times before, and now they're doing it again.

that was by far the most boring equal race i have ever seen. just about the only position changes were a result of pitting, engine failures or wrecks. completely lame. they were lined up like they were in a parade. even the evernham days were the **** compared to this GEN 6 garbage. they were actually racing. now its just a show.

coloradodave said:

Sounds like someone would rather keep all women barefoot and pregnant. My friend, that ship has sailed. Any pro athlete has to make hay while the sun shines. To deride Patrick because she uses her looks to gain fortune and fame, in addition to her driving skill, is goofy unless you're going to do the same for all the other drivers who appear in commercials or have been featured in GQ or Mens Health. Sorry, I for one, don't buy it. Do you actually think that any of those drivers would 'lay down' to promote another driver? Their egos are too big. Jimmie Johnson said it best: "She's another very good driver in a fast car." No more, no less...

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First, and I guess everyone who didn't think Montoya was a good fit for NASCAR just wanted to keep Hispanics picking lettuce right? That's such a lame *** point to make. I have no problems with anyone wanting to do anything. I just object when some body tries to jack up and over hype someone's capabilities in order to generate interest and $$$, and I really hate it when history gets re-written, such as scrubbing her failure in the 500 last year off the books to make it seem like this was her first one.

As for other drivers lying down, I don't know how long you've been following NASCAR, but that's been standard practice for decades. Once the team concept was in place, drivers were expected to sacrifice their own standings to help out a teammate. If pushing someone to first place meant you ended up in second, fourth, etc., then that's what you were expected to do. And let us not forget Earnhardt Jr.'s amazing 500 victory the year after his father died. Think he would have won were it not for getting a lot of help from other drivers?

It's not her, it is the press or tv coverage that is enough to make you puke. Everything is Historic now. First this first that. Keep it performance-based. That and the apologiziing...enough.