Astroman

Yeah I agree with VR. I'm sorry but the best club racers we know will get beaten badly by a Scott Dixon or Dario Franchitti in equal cars on any track. And I'll go out on a limb and say that the best club racers would also get beaten badly by Danica, too.

mglobe

The NASCAR guys look like they are struggling on the road courses because of the cars they are driving. Those things are just not built for road courses. Put those drivers in a Cup and you will see something completely different.

FredC

Jack: I'd offer my limbs to science for a chance to get Danica to beat me with them :-)

Seriously, Danica would embarrass the best of us nine times out of ten. No question about it in my book.

Gary R.

Which appendage are you referring to Fred?

Plyman438

Not to be a smart *** , but in pro golf tournaments amateur golfers will sometimes enter top flight PGA tournaments and be a handful for the pros. I remember early in pro tennis, the amateurs would regularly give the pros all they could handle. At Wimbeldon, a teenager almost beat the number one tennis player in world and gave him the most trouble in the tournament. So as they say in sports anything can happen, especially if the amateur is gifted and has passion for the sport. I know on this forum there are lots of good racers with lots of experience. If some of you own class lap records, I do wonder how much more speed pros could get out of the car you race regularly and know well. Again, I'm not talking about racing Indy and Formula 1 race car drivers in their type cars. They are used to paddle shifters, aircraft like brakes, no clutch, tremendous down force, and 3 g's lateral acceleration. Put them into a 911 like many of you drive and I would pay to see them race the best of the club racers who have been at it for years with a real passion. No pro crews with them and operate on shoe string like most club racers do with just enough sets of tires to make it through a weekend.

Krokodil

We have pro-level racers (Safronas, Roush, Wagner, Stanton) who regularly run with our club (POC) and yes, they are that much faster. Maybe not on one hot lap, but over a race distance? No contest.

Danica is a pro - as a driver and as an entertainer. Just enjoy her or don't, your choice, but please stop the predictable hatred.

Cheers,

blake

No doubt it is Malcolm Gladwell's 10,000 hour rule... I see it in all kids sports right now... When I was a child, we all played the seasonal sports (football/basketball/baseball/soccer). Today, kids are specialists... LTC's boy has been go kart racing since he could walk. My son has been ski racing since he could walk. The competition is intense - by age 7!

And I am okay with that model. Athletes will become better, and the sport will be elevated. I just want to judge the athletes/drivers by their abilities - not by their looks or the size of their dad's wallet. Sure Danica has talent, but is she keeping a BETTER pure driver away from a ride? Most definitely.

So has racing evolved into a PT Barnum circus event? Well, Nascar seems to be that way... And it makes sense - it optimizes revenue. But the purity of the sport is sacrificed. That's why baseball is so appealing. The statistics don't lie, and are the CORE of the sport... Funny that racing enthusiasts don't think that way.

My $0.02

multi21

I would put my money on a pro driver to beat any club racer 10 out of 10 times in any car. The guys with POC like Stanton, etc. are not what I consider club racers. They get paid for their services and then play with POC or whatever club they're running with.

Someone on this board (90% sure it was VR, 10% ltc) quoted something where Danica was in sometype of saloon car that she had never driven before on a track she had never driven before and within a few laps had the track record.

We're not talking about a Milka here. DP has lead in many races including the Indy 500 going somewhere close to 220 MPH for 500 miles!

Consider for a moment what you do for a living. Could someone who doesn't get paid to do what you do for a living come in and beat you at what you do?

multi21

Starts and finishing positions in one of the biggest races in the world. Note that in every year with the exception of 2008, she's always equaled or bettered her finishing position. She also led in at least 2 of the 7 Indy 500 races.



Indianapolis 500 resultsYear Chassis Engine Start Finish Team
2005 Panoz Honda 4 4 Rahal Letterman
2006 Panoz Honda 10 8 Rahal Letterman
2007 Dallara Honda 8 8 Andretti Green Racing
2008 Dallara Honda 5 22 Andretti Green Racing
2009 Dallara Honda 10 3 Andretti Green Racing
2010 Dallara Honda 23 6 Andretti Autosport
2011 Dallara Honda 25 10 Andretti Autosport

BlueRiver86

Motorsport is so much more dependent on equipment though, and money is always going to win out. Take an all-time great like Senna, for example, and stick him in an HRT. Never gonna win. How about a decent runner like Mark Webber? The guy never saw a top 5 finish in a Jaguar. Statistics in motorsport will never be relevant the way they are to baseball and the like, because only in motorsport is there a column for chassis/engine/tire.

What this means at the end of the day, is that sponsor dollars are sometimes more appealing than driver ability. I think that's what most people (myself included, if i'm honest) don't like about Danica. She's not driving a race car because she's particularly good at driving a race car. She's also certainly not alone in this regard, but i'm sure this combined with her gender and attitude draws more ire from certain elements of the fanbase than a funded driver like Narain Karthikeyan.

I remember several members of this board lashing on Seth Neiman when he qualified behind all of the GTC cars, sure the performance disparity isn't the same when compared to Danica, but the sentiment is the same, and I could understand someone who felt as though it was a detriment to the soul of the sport in the same way.

TexasRider

Wow.

She is a good racer and super talented with expereince now. But she is not any all time anything. But she gets treated like she is. She gets "air time" like she won this week and last and next too.

If you say the least thing about her you are "hating." Cripes get over it.

And another , she is having a tough time out there fighting these men. Men who are racing for a living . So what. She chose to compete here. She knew she wasnt racing against the Wranglerettes when she signed up !

The issue is Performance. And the attention heaped on her for what level of performance.

It must be systemic problem out here in the world. This is entertainment huh? It sure has changed.

When I turn on the TV I regularly see some guy getting a lot of attention for poor performance. He is black guy and it seems he is occupying a WHite House somewhere up in Washington DC. His perfromance aint much but he sure gets a lot of attention. Do we have to have the same thing here in sports? In racing? Not fair you know. It damn sure is fair.

The issue is how they get her in the deal and on the race. If she wins, great lets all hear it. Or even third. Or how about the top five. But you qualify 20 th , run back in the pack, and finsih back there too. First thing a camera and mic guy has to do is have Danica tell us about it. "Danica - great race out there today. Too bad about you being in 20th. How about that battle for the lead. Oh you couldnt see it? Whats wrong with your car? Uhh... you dont know. Yep you would have been up there if they had not been blocking you. What do you say - I bet you'll be winning next week huh and we will see you smiling from the winners circle." We know you cant wait to get over to NASCAR and start handing those red necks their butts every week. You just go on to the Cup Series because you are certainly the best driver and racer there too. Fill those stands up. " On and On....

I mean not too long ago in basket ball a guy, a 6th man, from up in Dallas poured in 30 points from about half court range and beat some dudes from down Florida. Yep, had to hear from the Dudes. Yep, bet you can win it next year. On and On..

You know a cat named Tiger carried the PGA for about a decade. Ok now he aint playing so good. But he was number 1 in the world for about 10 years or something. So it is OK to get his take. But it seems they dont hang on him much anymore. Except to say " Your ex-wife called and was on her way to the bank to look for some checks."

Sure, none of them, Obama, King James, Tiger, or Danica can control the media. But they sure are accountable for going along with letting the media pump them up. Why do they do it? It pays baby!

How about the rookie who ran up front for about 30 or 40 laps last week. There is an interesting story right. Dixon played it smart too. The kid was going too fast to go by, and he had to pit, so Dix stayed in #2 and did not risk the rook taking him out. Nope. It was ' Danica how about that lead. Did you think you could hold it. Must have been a problem when all those cars went right by. Ooops. You dont really know what happened there."

A driver goes out and wins with a busted ankle and foot. Hey Ok. Did this guy bitch out his team. And if he did, did they bust him in his mouth? Of course Danica could do all that. And more. Good. Now begin.

As I said in the other post. I dont care how much money she makes. Or that she can run faster than me, or win the bikini contest. I could bench 325 - what does she do. I can ding plates pretty well at 700 yards with my rifle. What does all that mean. Nothing.

The point is years and years of Danica, with one win, who is not that entertaining, at least not when she is not running good, is getting un-entertaining.

Now she is going over to NASCAR, where they really dont take a lot of crap and it is news. I hope she signs a lot of autographs. And fills the stands. I dont care if she gets $20 million. I dont care if she dances for her sponsors in the motorhome. Now go out and win baby, as Al would have said.

OK now you can call me a racist . And a redneck . Or sexist or whatever. I like cutie gals. Racer ones too. Interesting enough. I just hate excuses. Racing is not the place for that.

I do hope if Serena is #1 in highest paid females that Danica overtakes that spot though.

Krokodil

Pete,

That was my point. These guys are pros and are much, much faster than our regular club members. The fact that they occasionally run with the POC allows us to make a very clear comparison.

Cheers,

TexasRider

Sounds fun too.

9.5 Degrees

Couldnt we just as easily put Earnhart Jr. Name in this tread and it would fit? The only difference is that junior has a top car in a top team but can't keep up with his shadow on a race track:-)

mongrelcat

Danica, to me she epitomizes the failure of American Open Wheel racing. FTG