Let's See Danica Patrick Do This !

[ratcatcher55]

Danica has one major hurdle to overcome ... her sex!  I don't mean that a woman can't drive, because she has proven that she can.  However, she is like that undefeated team that everyone wants to knock off, or the team with no wins that no one wants to lose to.  No matter how good she is or how well she does, everyone else will turn it up a notch to get her.

Now back to my true maturity level ... Nothing like Danica climbing out of her driving suit at the end of a long and hot race 

It’s also her biggest asset because it draws sponsors. Ask anybody who is trying to start a race team, getting sponsor money is the prime directive.
Is she ever going to be a great racing driver?  I doubt it (see Janet Guthrie) but you would be stupid not to want her driving on your team because she will bring in millions of dollars and tens of thousands of fans.

 

[tt11758]

It’s also her biggest asset because it draws sponsors. Ask anybody who is trying to start a race team, getting sponsor money is the prime directive.
Is she ever going to be a great racing driver?  I doubt it (see Janet Guthrie) but you would be stupid not to want her driving on your team because she will bring in millions of dollars and tens of thousands of fans.

 

And she looks great in a bikini.   

[Pathfinder]

If I were to attempt racing like Alain, I would have to have Jockey as a sponsor.  I would, without a doubt, be required to change my underwear more often than my tires.   

Swoop

Actually, the racing part is kinda cool. I grew up in the heyday of hill climbs, small local events with folks running MGAs, TR-3s, Tigers and the like. With trees right at the edge of the pavement. That's where I cut my driving teeth. So I was reliving some cool days from my misspent youth watching these videos. Of course, growing up on old iron (4s through 8s) hearing these modern engines whine and scream is a little unnerving.

I was watching Alain and noting his line through the course. Notice he doesn't follow the road so much as find the straightest possible line through the curves. On the S-curves, he barely moved the wheel, but let the car take a single line from one side of the track to the other and back to the first.

The great Stirling Moss was involved in a horrible accident in one race, took six months to get to the point where he could walk with crutches. He took a Jag out on the course at Brookstone IIRC, ran speeds over 150mph, and when he brought the car in announced he was retiring. As a kid I could not understand that, but my Dad explained that - between the accident itself and the enforced time off - it was about his reflexes being gone.

I always promised myself I would attend the Bondurant School of High Performance Driving for one of my birthdays, but life kinda intervened and I never made it. But I never lost the taste for the maneuvers at speed. All my cars until recently have been manual trannies, and I rejected buying a Mazda 626 in the 90s because the differentially sized drive shafts off the transverse engine made the car skittish at speed through a corner. Scared the crap out of the sales guy tho. And that was in town. 

So now I get my grand-daughter to go "Whee!!" as I slalom at high speed through the S-curve at the entrance to the development. Her Mom and Grandma want to bail out the doors, but my baby girl and I are having a ball!!!     

[seeker_two]

I don't mean that a woman can't drive, because she has proven that she can. 

When?....did I miss that race?.... 

[billt]

When?....did I miss that race?.... 

Are you speaking of the race she won because Helio Castroneves ran out of gas?     Bill T.

[Sponsor]

[MikeBjerum]

When?....did I miss that race?.... 

She's there!

You don't just show up, or just get hired to drive.   You have to prove yourself to have the right to run with the big dogs.  She paid dues to get to this point, and now she is paying her dues to cement a respectable legacy.

[billt]

I think the biggest objection most have is her whining, temperamental attitude. It's always the other guys fault with her. That gets real old, real fast. Her temper tantrums and constant bitching detract from any real talent she possess. Guys like her because she's hot, and some women like her simply because she's a woman. And there it pretty much ends.

I grew sick of her after her first Indy qualifying attempt when she bobbled a bit, and missed getting the pole. She still had an excellent run all things considered, but she acted like a spoiled child who didn't get the birthday present she wanted. And that time she was walking back to the pits literally stomping her feet ! Give me a break. She needs to grow up, fast. I can't imagine what her poor husband has to go through with her, being Mr. Danica Patrick. Sometimes the fruit isn't worth the effort of the pick, if you know what I mean.  Bill T.

[Solus]

I always promised myself I would attend the Bondurant School of High Performance Driving for one of my birthdays, but life kinda intervened and I never made it. But I never lost the taste for the maneuvers at speed. All my cars until recently have been manual trannies, and I rejected buying a Mazda 626 in the 90s because the differentially sized drive shafts off the transverse engine made the car skittish at speed through a corner. Scared the crap out of the sales guy tho. And that was in town. 

Gosh, Path, same thing with me and Bondurant's school.  I really wanted to practice doing a 180 at speed, tooling along backwards and then doing another 180 to get going forward in the direction I started...and all in my lane on the road.

I did do half of that maneuver when I hit a flood of water from a ruptured water truck on the other side of the I71.  Hit it doing near 80 and the car, a 84 300ZX Turbo spun.  I got it under control and sent it down an exit ramp backwards..very gently working the brakes.  The woman I was with said she was scared to death before I started telling her every move and observation I was making...and guided the car backwards into the hill at the side of the ramp doing 10mph....no damage to anyone or anything.


Sigh...still have a 2000 Z28 I drive...but not with the verve of 20 years ago...

[ericire12]

I think the biggest objection most have is her whining, temperamental attitude. It's always the other guys fault with her. That gets real old, real fast. Her temper tantrums and constant bitching detract from any real talent she possess. Guys like her because she's hot, and some women like her simply because she's a woman. And there it pretty much ends.

I grew sick of her after her first Indy qualifying attempt when she bobbled a bit, and missed getting the pole. She still had an excellent run all things considered, but she acted like a spoiled child who didn't get the birthday present she wanted. And that time she was walking back to the pits literally stomping her feet ! Give me a break. She needs to grow up, fast. I can't imagine what her poor husband has to go through with her, being Mr. Danica Patrick. Sometimes the fruit isn't worth the effort of the pick, if you know what I mean.  Bill T.

OK, the line to spank Danica Patrick forms right behind me.

[billt]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LXDEPrIr9I&feature=related


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZolVMIelrGw&feature=related

Typical Patrick.