Sports are built on personalities, Patrick is the first seriously marketable IRL driver since before the fight that created CART, they should be happy. If her star keep rising the sport will gain in popularity, sponsors will pay more, prize purses will get bigger, and their fame will increase on the rising sea effect, in the end meaning more money for them too.
Honestly, if I were them. I might just keep my mouth shut.
Patrick is bringing alot of money and attention to the IRL. She is making all of these guys wallets fatter, re: larger purses/prizes and more sponsorship dollars.
I wouldn't be complaining about her if I were them.
Surprise, surprise.
/not
You know...as a woman who absolutely loves Nascar...well any auto racing for that matter, I was really excited that finally a woman was able to hold her own in this sport. Unfortunately, the hype and publicity and apparent "segregation" is becoming tiring. I think that if women truly want equality in the field, then maybe we all better start acting equal!! The sport is about driving not about what gender you are!!!
Sounds like sour grapes to me. It is all about being able to promote a product and too may race car drivers sound like they have a 6th grade education. No slam on Southerners, I am one myself, but if you want to be successful in promoting yourself, you have to lose the accent and speak well.
Protests are for wimps. If you don't like her just drive her into a wall like they do in Nascar. BTW, who in their right mind would want an autograph from these gear monkeys when you can get one from a hot babe?
if it wasn't for the media attention Danica has brought to the IRL it is questionable if there would be an IRL season this year. Even with Danica next season is looking very questionable. Anything that brings exposure to the sport is a good thing. The NASCAR drivers aren't crying because Jr. is still getting all the headlines even though he is running like crap.
I agree with the AGR drivers ~ in the long run, the IRL and Tony George suck ~ they/he were wrong for breaking up CART.
Honda will not stick stick around after Toyota leaves and Chevy (built by Cosworth) engines are through ~ what will they be using for engines. :):)
I wouldn't even have known the Indy 500 was still being run if not for the Danica Patrick coverage this year. I guess these guys will be happy to sink their own ship.
I'm betting that Dan Wheldon doesn't look nearly as good in a bikini.
Get with the program guys. Life isn't always 100% fair.
She is promoting the sport and making the pie bigger.
Of course if these guys are smart, maybe a little he vs she might draw even more publicity?
This falls into the "No Brainer" category.
Waaaaaa! We don't want to make our fans happy! Screw the fans, its all about us!
I'd say it's about time some of these little boys grew up.
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.
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.
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.
Let them look like her then! LOL