Posted on 07/26/2005 8:34:44 AM PDT by gopwinsin04
Apparently everyone has not fallen head over heels for Danica Patrick.
According to a report in the Indianapolis Star, four Andretti Team racing drivers-Indy 500 winner Dan Wheldon, defending IRL champion Tony Kanaan, Dario Franchitti and Bryan Herta-boycotted a mandatory autograph session Saturday night at Wisconsin State Fair Park because organizers at the fan-friendly event created a different line for Patrick.
According to the report, the drivers haven't been pleased with the way the IRL has promoted Patrick over the other drivers.'Its a serious issue, and one we need to talk with league officals about,' AGR co-owner Kevin Savoree told the Star.
The drivers will be likely fined for the protest, and maybe lose championship points, although IRL president Brian Barnhart told the Star that the scenario was unlikely.
AGR drivers have grown tired of all the media attention that Patrick has recieved since the Indy 500 in May, where she became the first woman to lead the race while finishing fourth overall.
Kanaan and Herta, who have taken shots at Patrick after recent races, chose not to comment about the boycott after Sundays Milwaukee Mile 225.
Savoree, however, says the issue is something the Indy Racing League has to deal with. 'We don't have an issue with Danica at all, She's a great young talent and she's proven it every weekend. But we've got some things to talk to the IRL about.'
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.foxsports.com ...
I agree with the drivers. Imagine you spend your whole life racing and working to be among the best and then somebody comes along and gets all the attention in a sport because of their sex. Heck she hasn't won a race, yes she is a very talented driver. But unlike some of the attention paid to Tiger Woods in Golf, Tiger won tournaments. In the recent Indy 500 most people couldn't tell you who won the race, but could tell you all about Danica. Because 98% of the coverage was about her and not the race. That is the kind of thing that will make your nerves raw, add on top it the race folks themselves start creating special conditions for her; then I would be pissed off also.
""He enunciates! And there ain't no place for that in NASCAR..."
- Jeff Foxworthy
If they can.
Ms. Patrick is the best thing to happen to the IRL since the invention of the wheel. The bottom line is that she's not just another pretty face - she's a pretty face who can just flat drive the H*LL out of an IRL car. You don't do as well as she has done this season without real talent.
The only interesting argument that I've heard from the drivers is that as she weighs 50 to 100 lbs less than most of the men, and since the cars are weighed without the driver, this gives her an advantage.
However, even if this were a valid complaint- and I'm not sure it is- if I were the IRL, I'd wait a season or two to change the rules.
IMO, Erin Crocker is much prettier than Dannica Patrick. The latter has a hard, high-mileage look about her that I find unpleasant....
I am Hoosier. The race used to be a big thing for everybody when I was growing up. We spent the day listening to it on the radio while picknicking. The drivers were huge personalities. We watched the awards banquet on TV.
I bet it's been over 20 years since I cared about the 500.
My husband and I came home this year on race day, and turned on the TV. The channel just happened to be on the race. There were maybe 20 laps left. They announced that a woman was leading it. My husband and I got really excited. We watched the remainder. We were both pulling for her.
After she lost, it was disappointing. But then they interviewed, and she was classy and smart. I looked at my husband and said, 'And on top of all this, she's a beauty.'
And she is. She has got it all. I can understand why anybody would want her autograph. I can understand why event planners would give her a different line because it's going to be longer than the line for the others, so. . .
The event is FOR THE FANS.
I agree, it isn't really how good you are it is all about who you know in racing. Or in some peoples case how nice of a set of headlights you have. I don't really care for racing but I did watch one IRL race. And I couldn't believe how the commentators were falling all over themselves to prop up a person that has never won a race and wasn't even close to winning the race she was in.
"The only interesting argument that I've heard from the drivers is that as she weighs 50 to 100 lbs less than most oHowever, even if this were a valid complaint- and I'm not sure it is- "
It is a valid argument, just basic science will tell you that an object that weighs 60-70 pounds less than another object and both are pushed by the same amount of force (generally speaking) the lighter weight object will be faster. Heck racing teams over the years have cheated their asses over to find ways to shave just a few pounds off a car. NASCAR teams would put lead strips in the cars they could take out before a race, or happen to leave a box of racing gloves in the seat, but the box would have lead inside. I wouldn't change the rules because of it, but it is a very real advantage.
Couldn't have said it better myself.
Who would YOU form a line for?
Tony Kanaan?
Or Danica Patrick?
Excuse me, you four idiots, but if I was the promoter, I think I would have a separate line for Danica myself. If you want to go take a whiff of Tony Kanaan and those other three sweaty morons, just move on over...it will make room for another person in the Danica line.
She's got a degree in industrial engineering as well? Evernham will probably plug her into a Nextel Cup ride soon.
Isn't one of them married to Ashley Judd as well?
Maybe all the other drivers can go back to driving their little cars around in circles. [And I used to live within walking distance of the Indy 500 track.]
Personally, I find it a little disheartening that AGR is being taken to task for telling the truth.
I'm an IRL fan. I'm an AGR fan. I'm a Target Chip Ganassi fan. I'm sick of my drivers literally being classified as "other drivers" to Danica (as they were at the Milwaukee signing). I'm sick of my drivers being grilled about Danica every time they are in a press room. I'm tired of Danica-cam, the most useless camera angle ever. There is an in-car camera in her vehicle that shows... nothing but her helmeted head.
Why should her, and by osmosis, her fans be given a convenience that isn't afforded the other drivers or fans? At the Milwaukee signing, if you didn't stand in the DANICA line, you stood in the ALL OTHER DRIVER LINE. Why should I, as a fan of Darren Manning, be made to stand in line with the fans of other drivers when I don't want to see the other drivers? Am I not as worthy as the Danica fans are to have a seperate line for MY convenience?
What many are missing is the fact that AGR had their own, free autograph session at their merchandise hauler. Anyone that wanted to meet them could do so.
So what is the big deal?
The IRL and the tracks could solve this problem easily by treating everyone equally but they have shown that they will alienate anyone and everyone that they can so long as they can continue to pimp Danica for all she is worth.
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