The Danica Patrick Show
Here's my column in Monday's Star. Enjoy, and take time today to consider the reason for Memorial Day...
I’ve never been much of an Indy car fan. I don’t know if it’s the wimpy, mosquito-like whine of the engines or the lack of compelling personalities behind the wheel, but usually, IRL races fall somewhere behind curling and just ahead of synchronized swimming.
The Indianapolis 500 is a different story. A true sports fan is required to watch at least some of the world’s most famous auto race (sorry, Daytona). So what if you can’t pronounce any of the guys’ names, right?
So in the weeks leading up to the 89th running of the Indy 500, I started paying my annual two weeks of attention to the Indy Racing League.
As it turns out, a 23-year-old rookie, Danica Patrick, was planning on becoming the fourth woman to start a race at the Brickyard. And this wasn’t a token ride, given as a publicity stunt. This was a talented driver that qualified near the front in a good car with a good team behind it.
It is the greatest possible storyline at the greatest possible time for the IRL, an institution that nearly rivals the NHL for dysfunction.
Here’s a pretty woman trying to win the most important race on the circuit with the chance to grab the mainstream sports fan’s attention in the process.
Of course, such hype and build up tends to draw naysayers. Robby Gordon, a NASCAR regular and part-time racer at Indianapolis, said earlier this week that he wouldn’t race against Patrick, because, as a 100-pound woman, she had a lighter car — and an unfair advantage — over drivers that out-weigh her by as many as 100 pounds.
OK, the laws of Physics state that a lighter car could be faster and possibly be more fuel-efficient. Hmm, better on gas? Keep reading…
She may not have won Sunday, but she broke almost every other barrier along the way — including leading the first lap by a woman and recording a female’s best finish with her fourth-place effort.
She was still in front with six laps to go before a hard-charging Englishman, Dan Wheldon, became the first Brit to win at Indy in 40 years — another pretty good storyline.
Here’s the rub. Wheldon sped by Patrick in the final laps because, after pitting out of sequence, she was trying to save fuel. How’s that for irony? The car that’s supposedly better on gas than everyone else’s didn’t win because it was running on fumes at the finish line.
I don’t know if she has an unfair advantage. Yeah, she’s lighter, but racing as a woman in a male-dominated sport where no quarter is ever asked for, or given, surely nullifies whatever weight difference there might be.
I do, however, know this. Robby Gordon is not a very popular driver with his NASCAR brethren. He’s been known to drive recklessly, and he’s wrecked many more cars than he’s ever driven to victory lane. I guess what I’m asking is this: Isn’t it enough to be a malcontent in one series, without crossing over to another one?
There’s one more thing I know. I may never be an IRL fan, but I was cheering for Danica Patrick on Sunday.
And I doubt I was alone.
I’ve never been much of an Indy car fan. I don’t know if it’s the wimpy, mosquito-like whine of the engines or the lack of compelling personalities behind the wheel, but usually, IRL races fall somewhere behind curling and just ahead of synchronized swimming.
The Indianapolis 500 is a different story. A true sports fan is required to watch at least some of the world’s most famous auto race (sorry, Daytona). So what if you can’t pronounce any of the guys’ names, right?
So in the weeks leading up to the 89th running of the Indy 500, I started paying my annual two weeks of attention to the Indy Racing League.
As it turns out, a 23-year-old rookie, Danica Patrick, was planning on becoming the fourth woman to start a race at the Brickyard. And this wasn’t a token ride, given as a publicity stunt. This was a talented driver that qualified near the front in a good car with a good team behind it.
It is the greatest possible storyline at the greatest possible time for the IRL, an institution that nearly rivals the NHL for dysfunction.
Here’s a pretty woman trying to win the most important race on the circuit with the chance to grab the mainstream sports fan’s attention in the process.
Of course, such hype and build up tends to draw naysayers. Robby Gordon, a NASCAR regular and part-time racer at Indianapolis, said earlier this week that he wouldn’t race against Patrick, because, as a 100-pound woman, she had a lighter car — and an unfair advantage — over drivers that out-weigh her by as many as 100 pounds.
OK, the laws of Physics state that a lighter car could be faster and possibly be more fuel-efficient. Hmm, better on gas? Keep reading…
She may not have won Sunday, but she broke almost every other barrier along the way — including leading the first lap by a woman and recording a female’s best finish with her fourth-place effort.
She was still in front with six laps to go before a hard-charging Englishman, Dan Wheldon, became the first Brit to win at Indy in 40 years — another pretty good storyline.
Here’s the rub. Wheldon sped by Patrick in the final laps because, after pitting out of sequence, she was trying to save fuel. How’s that for irony? The car that’s supposedly better on gas than everyone else’s didn’t win because it was running on fumes at the finish line.
I don’t know if she has an unfair advantage. Yeah, she’s lighter, but racing as a woman in a male-dominated sport where no quarter is ever asked for, or given, surely nullifies whatever weight difference there might be.
I do, however, know this. Robby Gordon is not a very popular driver with his NASCAR brethren. He’s been known to drive recklessly, and he’s wrecked many more cars than he’s ever driven to victory lane. I guess what I’m asking is this: Isn’t it enough to be a malcontent in one series, without crossing over to another one?
There’s one more thing I know. I may never be an IRL fan, but I was cheering for Danica Patrick on Sunday.
And I doubt I was alone.
posted by Randy Capps at 11:15 PM
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