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."
"At the moment, there is one black driver in NASCAR's top
three tiers, Craftsman Truck Series driver Bill Lester.
He has an electrical engineering degree, but left a project
manager's job with Hewlett Packard to pursue a dream that
started when he saw a race at age 8 and got hooked."
Dang! If I was younger, I'd give it a shot, too!
I was born wanting to "go faster".
He's very smart.
He's got the desire.
He's young.
I hope he sees the checkered flag first.
Isn't that how most racers get started? They were very young in the sport. Also, not that I know but racing doesn't strike me as a cheap persuit.
It's not cheap.
In fact, to be competitive, it is dang expensive.
I hope he does very well so that he can get the very best and most supportive sponsors.
Yeah...it gets into your blood when you're young, IMO.
Heck...I was born with it.
It's too bad I'm as old as I am. ;o)
Is that an American flag? Yeah, I know, what flag, right? Go Danica!
http://www.indymotorspeedway.com/05pics/danica109.jpg
When the flag drops, the bull**** stops.
Robbie Gordon; crybaby of the week.
Isn't the woman driver handicapped enough by having to drive with an automatic transmission?:)
Nope, then he'd weigh even more.
True, but you have to deduct 1.3 laps for the time she takes for fixing her make-up while going through the turns.
If Gordon French or something? What a wuss.
Damn it I saw that pic after viewing this thread and came back to post it. Drats!
Even though Danica Patrick might have a weight advantage there's something he's overlooking - women can't park.
Once she pulls in for her first pit stop she's through. It'll take her 15 minutes to get the car in 'the box'.
Unfair is in the eye of the beholder.
http://www.danicaracing.com/highlights.shtml
Finished third in the 2004 Toyota Atlantic
Championship, the highest finish by a female driver in the series history. Posted ten top-five results and three podium finishes in 12 starts. She finished second in Round 4 at Portland and claimed third place results in Round 2 at Monterrey, Mexico and Round 6 at Cleveland.
Became the first female driver to lead an
open-wheel championship when she took the points lead of the Toyota Atlantic Championship after Round 4 of the 2004 season.
Captured the pole position for Round 5 of the 2004 Atlantic Championship. She is the first female to capture the pole position for an Atlantic race.
She became the first female to claim a podium finish in the 30-year history of the Atlantic Series with her third place finish in the 2003 season opener at Monterrey, Mexico.
Finished second at the Formula Ford Festival in England, the highest ever finish for an American in the event.
Won the 2002 Long Beach Grand Prix Pro/
Celebrity event in the pro division, topping
four-time Trans Am champion Tommy Kendall and IRL driver Sarah Fisher.
Three time national karting champion and ten time Great Lakes/Midwest regional karting champion.
Hey, Robbie Gordon. JUST SHUT UP!
Michael Waltrip is 6' - 5" / 220 lbs
There is a 3,400-pound minimum vehicle weight. The minimum is 1,600 pounds on the right side for oval tracks or a minimum of 1,600 pounds on either side at road courses. Add a 200-pound base driver weight, essentialy creating a minimum weight for vehicle and driver of 3,600 pounds. Adding the drivers' weight to the minimum means that the car must still weigh a minimum of 3,400 pounds, making the lighter drivers carry additional weight to reach the 3,600-pound minimum for car and driver. If a driver weighs 155 pounds, he will have to carry 50 pounds of additional weight.
source
It's an equal playing field for all Nascar drivers in the bigger heavy stock cars. Perhaps IRL, where they run much lighter cars, ought to address the issue . Then again, IRL isn't Nascar, and rules is rules.
Robbie Gordon got mouthy in front of the press. Bad juju.
you guys need to see this mornings' NY Post.
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