Danica has lost the plot!

[rcarr]

Sex sells but sex doesn't make good racing drivers!

But supposedly there are exceptions to the rule, apparently David Coulthard is very attractive, so is Dario, thats what my Sister and her friend said after the SMRC Dinner Dance several years ago!

[indycool]

And, chemhead, it isn't like Danica cold-cocked Dan with a tire iron, either.

[deejay]

Originally Posted by Hepatic

racing incident - i thought the same when i saw it live and i still think the same after watching it a few times. Dan is taking his normal line thru that corner, Danica is trying to stay a little higher as she knows Dario is on the inside, but Dan doesn't know that and if he goes higher he's going to hit the marbles and find the wall. She wasn't along side, so it's up to her to make the move cleanly, not for Dan. All she had to do was feather the throttle a bit more, fall in behind Dan and make the move later. No malice or bad driving on anyone's part, it's all part of oval racing.

I think the mistake was Wheldon's. Danica was actually in front of him on the straight and had track position. Dan should have yielded. Instead he tried to go deep into the corner on the high side but failed to get far enough ahead of her to take the racing line. He seemed to expect her to just jump out of the way.

The issue was confused by Dario. I’m sure Danica got a call from her spotter that he was below her so instead of going down to the bottom of the track she committed to a middle line not knowing that Dario would pull back. There wasn’t much she could do.

Ultimately a racing incident but most of the blame goes to Dan as he was the one who could have avoided it.

[deejay]

Originally Posted by Knowlesy

Watching the incident live I felt nothing extraordinary had happened.

Danica does rather talk and act like a child at times but, hey, that's life. Different people cope in different ways.

To conclude, it is really a storm in a teacup, although I enjoyed Tony's comments in that article!

Why Danica is singled out for moaning about racing incidents and confronting other drivers smells of sexism. It's very run-of-the-mill behaviour for a racing driver isn't it? There aren’t many drivers who take getting taken out well. Is she supposed to be all prim-and-proper about it because she's a girl?

This incident has nothing on Marco’s little fist wave at Eddie Cheever last year. I’m sure Cheever was shaking in his boots.

[rcarr]

Originally Posted by deejay

Ultimately a racing incident but most of the blame goes to Dan as he was the one who could have avoided it.

So what, we all have had racing incidents but there is no need for her to slap Dan! I almost took out a fellow (female) competitor, a good number of times, but she would never slap me after the race.

Like Cheryl Tweedy beating up that women in the toilets a while back, it doesn't matter who you are and how famous you are. Its slightly similar to the old Senna vs Irvine and Senna vs Schumacher..."but I am Senna" kind of mentality!

[JohnSSC]

No offense, but it seems remarkably few grownups have bothered to post in this thread. DownF0rce, deejay, IC remained pretty much above the fray, but the majority of you lot have put on the most sexist, stereotypical, condescending display of comments I have seen for some time. Not to mention the ridiculous double-standard you are setting.

Unfair statement? How about: "Oh, but Dan Wheldon was just so manly and virile! Why, one could just see by the set in his jaw and the steely look in his male-model good looks that he just had to put that girl in her place! He certainly is in his rights to physically beat her and teach her a lesson." Why, Danica should be at home just waiting for one of you lot to call her on the phone so she can swoon in your arms, providing she doesn't find mouth-breathing a turnoff.

At least one of you was highly critical of one AJ Foyt for losing his temper, but it is of course A-OK for Dan to lose his and in fact another of you think that a "punishing haymaker" was in order for her.

Fantastic! So she shows she has enough temerity to stand up to someone and to do so publicly. When she first broke in to the IRL we had to put up with loads of comments about her being too girlish and not aggressive enough. Now that she is showing some aggression y'all start bellyaching about her acting like a spoiled brat. Funny, but PT isn't painted as a a spoiled brat when he slugs it out or gets in a shouting match - but then again none of you here would say that to him directly for fear he would wipe the floor with you. It is ok, though to say that about a woman JUST BECAUSE she is a woman. Are you all that threatened and insecure then? I probably don't have to ask that question as the answer is evident in your posts.

Mods, I apologize for the rant. I also apologize if you take any offense here but I think this pointless bashing has gone on quite enough. It was a racing incident pure and simple. There was a heated exchange of views, pure and simple. For once, the drivers aren't acting like spokesmodels - we should actually be applauding it. In the meantime this thread (imho) should be locked to give some of you the spare time you apparently need to drop by the battered women's shelter and make your catcalls from behind the fence.

Any of you who attempt to defend what you are saying or the thought behind it are being more than disingenuous and should renounce any claim that you are somehow discerning race fans. Or fans of racing at all. I am sure there are plenty of reality shows or wrestling on to help take up the time.

Harumph, etc.

[Hazard]

Originally Posted by deejay

The issue was confused by Dario. I’m sure Danica got a call from her spotter that he was below her so instead of going down to the bottom of the track she committed to a middle line not knowing that Dario would pull back. There wasn’t much she could do.

That's a factor Dan probably wasn't aware of, hence he left Danica enough room to go lower, though she felt she couldn't.

I think in all, it's an out an out racing incident, no question.

As for Danica's assertion in the pitlane on her plight, some may think it's admirable she doesn't hide it away - but should she be in the wrong, I don't think that's going to work in her favour very often.

I expect egos are the only things that will be injured after that race, primarily hers. I think Dan's quip was pretty nasty, if it ever comes down to a war of words, she's not equipped to handle it without coming off the whiny brat.

[kingfloopy]

I'll agree that its common for race drivers to act in a manner similar to what Danica did yesterday. Paul Tracy is an obvious example. However I believe in Danica's case its different. She has been so over-hyped by the media that she believes she is entitled to do whatever she wants and to win races. Week in and week you hear about her constantly during the coverage. Where's Danica at? How's she doing? I have no problem with a woman winning a race. If Milka Duno or Sarah Fisher won I would be happy, but I am so sick of hearing about Danica that I can honestly say I hope she never wins a race.

She was picked by a couple ABC broadcasters to win the Indy 500? Come on, she's hasn't run much better than mid-pack so far in her career. When she actually starts posting results and stops making mistakes then I suppose there's a reason behind it. As it stands right now I cannot see one beyond the fact that she's a woman and someone believes that elevates her beyond everyone else. My opinion is that this all comes down to sexism, but due to the double standards (aka "political correctness") present in our culture its okay. I've never cared much for political correctness...

J.D.

[kingfloopy]

I should also note that you'd have to be a pretty deplorable person to hit a woman (or anyone else for that matter) whether they had it coming or not.

J.D.

[deejay]

Originally Posted by kingfloopy

she believes she is entitled to do whatever she wants and to win races.

I really don't see any evidence of this. I can see that she wants to win races, and believes that she can, but not that she's entitled.

Be fair though, she was having a very good race, she'd charged from the back of the gird, she'd passed Dixon, she'd passed Dario, was going to pass Wheldon (the top 3 in the championship you know). She was on target for her best result ever (on a track considered a drivers track). I can understand her frustration.

And seriously, how about that car-control to keep from spinning!

Looks to me that she's coming to grips with her AGR chasis and will be a threat for the remainder of the season. Certainly doing a lot better than Marco, who is looking less and less F1 bound by the race.

[deejay]

Based on recent performances I can now see a situation where if AGR have a performance edge at a particular track (and TK will probably need to have some kind of problem) that Danica can in fact take a win this year.

[indycool]

Yep, deejay, I agree. And I guess we may talk about this as long as we talked about Foyt knocking Luyendyk into the flower bed in '97 in Victory Lane at Texas.

[kingfloopy]

I will give her credit for the save, it was pretty impressive that she managed to avoid hitting anything else and was able to hold onto the car with the suspension messed up. I guess my basic point from before (and I kinda got sidetracked by politics there) is that she has made a lot of mistakes and in my personal opinion she has not lived up the media attention. If she starts winning races and becoming a regular contender then I might begin to change my mind. I actually think a lot of the attention is counter productive to her actually winning races. It has to be very distracting to be a celebrity in addition to being a race car driver. If she just focused on racing I think she would progress and perform much better.

J.D.

[JohnSSC]

So, y'all know what her feelings are and what is in her mind? What is Marco thinking right now? Dario? Tony? Ed Carpenter? I mean, heck, if it is easy to figure Danica out, than we should be able to figure Scot Dixon or Tomas Sheckter out, no problem!

My point is that we really DON'T know what is in her or anyone else's mind. What we DO know is she is out there with a bunch of Type A personalities who all think THEY should be first across the finish line. That is why they call it a competition. That is why the people doing it are competitve people. They have an inflated confidence in the notion that they are better than everyone else.

I would love for someone to take a 58 second snippet of film from one of my daily interactions and then infer what I am thinking/feeling/believing based only what can be seen/heard at that moment. I probably would find it to be ridiculously funny as well as waaaaay off the mark.

[mountainstar]

Like welldone said, the pressure is getting to mrs. permapout and the results aren't there. She is with the 'best' team in the irl and her teammates are miles ahead.

I don't care what the sex is, people should not be putting their hands on other people. Because she is a female does not give her a pass on slapping people or grabbing them by the neck.

[Hepatic]

John, i think you might be missing the point of some of these replies. No one is having a go at Danica because she is a women, they are having a go because she over reacted to a racing incident. I'd have said just the same had it been any other driver involved - racing incident. No one, and i mean NO ONE, has the right to physically assault (in any manner, from slaps to a roundhouse!) anyone else. Tracy is a fantastic driver, but just like others before him and will come again, he sometimes can't control the aggression and adrenaline that comes with being a racing driver.

Danica seems to be a bit the same on that front. She should be fined for hitting a competitor, just like anyone else would be. You don't see Suzie Stoddard or Katherine Legge doing the same, do you? If someone had mentioned something really sexist like "it's was probably PMT" then i'd support you 100%, but they haven't...

[runshaw]

Originally Posted by Hepatic

John, i think you might be missing the point of some of these replies. No one is having a go at Danica because she is a women, they are having a go because she over reacted to a racing incident. I'd have said just the same had it been any other driver involved - racing incident. No one, and i mean NO ONE, has the right to physically assault (in any manner, from slaps to a roundhouse!) anyone else.

I agree entirely. You can only expect lots of discussion when a great driver like Wheldon is pushed about post-race by a driver who has yet to win a race in their career over a small racing incident. Seems like a silly altercation, and it just happens to be centred around Danica again.

[Rick Mears fan]

Danica slapped Jacque Lazier at Fontana 2005 when she caused the accident. Lazier was a former winner in the IRL.

She doesn't act professional.

Funny she didn't show any remorse when she ended many peoples races at Indy 2005 with her restart mele.

everytime something happens she throughs a hissy fit. She can't accept it and believes she has the right to win all the time.

Dan did the right thing to do to ignore her, it was hissy fit number 20 or something silly like that.

Dan was taking his normal line at Milwaukee, the outside groove was the line. It was a racing incident. If it was anyones fault it was Danica as she was not along side before the corner and tried a move that was never gonna pull off.

And as Dan put it well, her team mates are winning and she isn't. So she is feeling the pressure.

The day she stops blaming everyone else for stuff, is the day she gets much more respect as a racing driver.

She showed ill intent by hitting Dan across the side, it was not a fully fledged punch but a slap to the body, if she was a pro and didn't wanna make it a fuss she would have gone to the motor home after everyone had gone like most people do.

Its unfair that she can go around acting as if she is the best ever and do this to other drivers, Dan is a Indy 500 winner and IRL champ and respected well, if Dan hit her or through a missy fit every time he didn't win he'd be out of the series.

[runshaw]

I have watched the clip about 43,000 times now and I just can't help but think it was a racing incident. It looks to me like Dan was just following the racing line so had to turn into the corner obviously, Danica came from behind and tried a slightly over-optimistic move, she should have waited till the next time round and got in a better position. Good piece of driving to save the slide by her but I can't believe all this fuss over this incident after the race.

[indycool]

We've seen dozens of race drivers do the same thing, from Tracy to Jeff Gordon. Why all the fuss about this one?

[Knowlesy]

Remind me to be more serious when I post on this subject next time, sheesh.

[runshaw]

Originally Posted by JohnSSC

I would love for someone to take a 58 second snippet of film from one of my daily interactions and then infer what I am thinking/feeling/believing based only what can be seen/heard at that moment. I probably would find it to be ridiculously funny as well as waaaaay off the mark.

I think you are inferring slightly too much into people's posts! Blimey.

[Ryan_Briscoe1]

this john bloke has a huge chip on his shoulder. haha he is off his head. If we dare attack Danica's driving ability or post race actions then we are automatically sexist. Maybe this guy is just after a root?

[indycool]

Well, look at the drivers with similar records that those who find fault with Patrick DON'T pick on.

Meira has seven second-place finishes and hasn't won but has led races and is constantly toward the front. Fisher ran up front when she was younger, got a pole. Scheckter hasn't won in awhile, used to crash a lot and doesn't any more, but can't be ignored. Briscoe is lightning fast but crashes a lot.

As for words, Tracy has had 'em for people. So has Foyt. So has Stewart. So has Bourdais. So has Cheever. And that's before you get to the NASCAR list.

IMO, this was no different than any other fuss between race drivers. But it's sure getting a lot of attention for Texas Saturday night.

[Down F0rce]

New video footage here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uB5dLpunf8M

The wider angle shot about 1:20 in reinforces my belief that Dan just held his line and Danica was overly ambotious going into the turn. The audio from Danica to Kim Green (I think?) is also pretty telling.