Posted on 05/28/2005 8:03:38 PM PDT by freepatriot32
Robby Gordon accused Danica Patrick of having an unfair advantage in the Indianapolis 500 and said Saturday he will not compete in the race again unless the field is equalized.
Gordon, a former open-wheel driver now in NASCAR, contends that Patrick is at an advantage over the rest of the competitors because she only weighs 100 pounds. Because all the cars weigh the same, Patrick's is lighter on the race track.
"The lighter the car, the faster it goes," Gordon said. "Do the math. Put her in the car at her weight, then put me or Tony Stewart in the car at 200 pounds and our car is at least 100 pounds heavier.
"I won't race against her until the IRL does something to take that advantage away."
The Indy Racing League does not consider the weight of the driver in its race specifications. The car has to weigh at least 1,525 pounds before the fuel and driver are added, and teams in Indy have estimated that Patrick will gain close to 1 mph in speed because of her small stature.
Although her rivals in Sunday's race have said she doesn't have a huge advantage, pole-sitter Tony Kanaan told reporters he would like the Indy Racing League to look into the issue.
"Right off the bat, a guy my size is spotting her 105 pounds," Gordon said. "That's the reason she's so much faster."
Patrick has been among the quickest drivers since rookie orientation began on the famed 2 1/2-mile oval on May 5. Only a bobble on the first lap of her qualifying effort kept her from winning the pole, and she will take the green flag from fourth on Sunday, the best starting position for a woman at Indy.
Patrick was fastest with a lap of 225.997 mph to lead the one-hour "Carb Day" practice on Friday, the only time the cars got on the track during the week between the end of time trials and the start of the race.
She follows Janet Guthrie, Lyn St. James and Sarah Fisher to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, needing only to finish eighth or better to improve on the best previous finish by a female - ninth by Guthrie in 1978.
Patrick, however, is not focused on simply finishing in the top 10 or just staying out of trouble.
"I think I have a great chance of winning this race," the confident Patrick said.
Driving the 650-horsepower IndyCars for the first time this year, Patrick has improved in each of the first four IRL races, culminating in an impressive fourth place last month in Japan.
At Indy, she has been nothing less than a phenomenon.
Patrick would not be the first rookie to win here, although certainly among the least experienced.
Juan Montoya was the defending champion of the rival CART series when he won here in 2000, and Helio Castroneves was a two-year regular in CART and winner of three races before he took the checkered flag as an Indy rookie in 2001.
Still, Castroneves, who also won the next year, said he has no doubt Patrick could win on Sunday, particularly since she is driving a Honda-powered Panoz for the powerful Rahal Letterman Racing team that won here last year with Buddy Rice.
"She is driving for a great team and she has been fast every day since she got here," Castroneves said. "If she can keep her nose clean, she'll be OK. The only thing that might be a problem is you have to have patience and, sometimes, rookies don't have much patience."
Castroneves, starting fifth, and Marlboro Team Penske teammate Sam Hornish Jr., a two-time IRL champion and starting in the middle of the first row, also will be among the favorites Sunday as they try to give Roger Penske a record 14th Indy win.
Others to watch include all four members of Andretti Green Racing, including Kanaan, current IRL points leader Dan Wheldon, Dario Franchitti and Bryan Herta.
If one of them can manage to get to Victory Lane, it would be a very big day indeed for team co-owner Michael Andretti, who led more laps than any other nonwinner at Indy. His father, Mario, won the race in 1969, then spent 25 frustrating years trying and failing to win it again.
The two had so many things go wrong here that the term "Andretti Luck" became part of the Indy lexicon. "We've done everything in our power to put ourselves in a good position," Michael said. "Of course, this feeling doesn't mean anything. I've been here before in this position. We'll see what fate has in store."
And don't forget perhaps the most heartwarming story of the month: Kenny Brack. The 1999 Indy winner, nearly killed in a devastating crash at Texas Motor Speedway in October 2003, was called upon just last week to replace Rice, injured in a crash here on May 10.
Brack responded by posting the fastest qualifying speed of the month, 227.598 mph. Since it came on the second week of time trials, though, he will start 23rd. Nobody has won from that far back since Johnny Rutherford started 25th in 1974 and charged to the second of his three victories.
Still, Brack is confident he can be competitive in basically the same Honda-powered Panoz in which Rice won last year.
"Maybe I'll be a little rusty in traffic, but it's a long race," said Brack, who hasn't raced an IndyCar since his crash. "I think we'll be just fine after the first pit stop."
The third Rahal Letterman entry, Vitor Meira, making his fourth Indy start - from seventh - could be the dark horse in the race.
"Vitor also has great equipment and he's been flying all month," Kanaan said. "I think maybe he's a little under the radar."
Hornish has been perhaps the IRL's biggest star since winning his first series title in 2001, but he has struggled mightily at Indy. In five starts here, he has yet to finish better than 14th or even complete all 200 laps.
"The big thing is to make it to the end, which I have not done yet," Hornish said. "But we have a great team and two great cars and we've got as good a shot as anybody.
"If I do win here, it would be my 14th (career) win and it would be Roger's 14th at Indy," he added. "I think that would be very nice."
The big question going into Sunday, though, remains: What will Danica do?
Castroneves was asked if it bothers him that most of the questions he and other veterans have fielded this month have been about Patrick.
"It's good for the series, it's good for the sport," he replied. "When I came here they gave me the nickname 'Spider Man.' Maybe they should call her 'Wonder Woman."
Yes, his point is valid.
But rules are rules. As conservatives, we think they should abide by them. There is no rule about the drivers weight. End of story. If they want to make rules like that for next season, so be it.
But you cannot change the rules in midstream. We didn't want it in Florida elections, and this is no different in principle.
Bet he's looking for a drive.
I could be wrong, but didn't Graham Hill win the race as a rookie?
One of the problems with IRL is that nobody knows who the drivers are. NASCAR fans are devoted to a particular driver, be it Jeff Gordon, Dale Jr., or Dale Jarret. That's smart marketing by the corporate brass.
Meanwhile, since IRL splintered off, all of the name drivers who used to race at Indy are gone. Now it's just a bunch of Joses and Gunthers that nobody will remember the day after the race. While it's nice to see Ms. Patrick getting all this attention, the Indy 500 will probably never again see the likes of the glory days when AJ Foyt and Mario Andretti were racing. Heck the only reason I ever watched it was to see if Mario could break his curse. ;^)
I give her much credit for having the guts to go out and do this.
Clark and Mansell, on the other hand, came in kicking tail from the second they hit the track. Clark especially.
I was only making the point that 100 pounds is a very significant amount of weight over a 500 mile race, when the total car weight is about 1400 lbs. Race teams literally spend millions of dollars trying to squeeze just a few pounds out of a car's weight.
You know your racing history!
Alex Zanardi.
The guys in the Fox booth always spot the debris and show it on camera. Sometimes I wonder why they would slow the race for some of that stuff. Your comment makes me think there might be another reason besides safety. I'll watch those debris yellows with a closer eye from now on!
Nope.
1. She's starting out in 4th.
2. Her car is faster than everyone else's. So at Turn #1, she'll only be looking at one or two cars still ahead of her in the race (at most)...all of the other losers will be breathing her exhaust fumes, if they even qualified for the race, and if they are still in it.
I've looked at all the photos of her on this post, and I'm surprised that guys are calling her a "beauty" and a "babe". She's a young girl, average looking and showing off her legs and smile to professional photogs. What's up with this generation of males, is everything with a skirt and pair of legs a "beauty"?
Now that I've got that out of my system, I agree with the folks who worry about her weight advantage. But the worst part of it all is that she's just another feminist trying to break into a man's world and many of the racers are upset. I don't blame them.... there are too many people and organizations who are intent on blurring the distinction between men and women. It's getting really old now, and I personally liked it better when there was a clear distinction.
These are the very same types who think we should alter the definition of traditional marriage, make our borders invisible, and let Spanish become one of two official American languages. Just blurr the traditional definition and boundaries of everything until the world becomes a chaotic, inverted mockery of nature and common sense.
I don't disagree with you. But rules are rules, right? That's the way I see it.
Unless she crashes out on the pace laps.
Alex Zanardi. Believe it or not, but the man actually has been racing competitively in the last couple of years since recovering from that horrific accident. Its really an unbelievable story and its great to see that he's managed to have a good life since.
Disagreement with the Danica-worshipers will not be tolerated!
Then again, I don't know what people see in Natalie Portman either.
Richard Petty
Races: 155
Wins: 30
Top 5: 90
Top 10: 110
Poles: 26
Dale Earnhardt
Races: 676
Wins: 76
Top 5: 281
Top 10: 428
Poles: 22
I think Mr. Earnhardt's stats speak for themselves.
Its unfair to dismiss her as just some feminist trying to make a statement. 10 top 5 finishes in 12 races in '04 in the Toyota Atlantic series and a 3rd place finish in the season points isn't exactly bad. She's had a successful career as a young driver to this point and is deserving of the opportunity.
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