Robbie Gordon of NASCAR Will Not Drive IRL Races Against Danica Patrick, Citing Weight Advantage

National Review Magazine: The Corner ^ | 6/1/05 | KJ Lopez

[gopwinsin04]

Robbie Gordon of NASCAR started the discussion, saying that he wouldn't drive in the Indy Car Racing League series until they do something about Danica Patrick's weight 'advantage.'

'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 cars are at least 100 pounds heavier.'

'I wont race against her until the IRL does something to take that advantage away.'

I glanced at the weight of the weight of the drivers in the Indy Car Series. They are pretty much smallish guys --between 140 and 155 lbs.

He seems to be willing to race against guys who are about 60 pounds less and had no problem with it before.

[Kokojmudd]

"Well, I have a couple of daughters, and that colors my opinion on this issue. I'd like to think they can grow up in a country where their success doesn't lead to the expectation that they'll automatically shake their ass for the general public. Because the more women who do that, the more it will be expected, even insisted upon. And those aren't values I associate with the USA, but some medieval Arab potentate."


Well said. How many fathers would want their daughter to pose the way the race car driver did in some of the photos?
Popular American culture does encourage women to do that but doesn't permit men to react accordingly. Hopefully there aren't any red blooded American males working for Rahal-Letterman who view the slutty-publicity shots and do or say something that will get them sued or arrested for sexual harassment.

KJM
Legal Advisor
Prude Ranch



From the interviews on the boob tube she seems like a nice kid. My guess is she will probably not do any more pictures like those.

[gopwinsin04]

NASCAR was probably smart to get out front on this and make a clarification. Gordon still looks like a baby thought.

[Diva Betsy Ross]

Well as one who defends her right to do the photos,(not that I personally want to look at them-mind you), I will say that I don't have to wait for "one day" to find out where I stand with God.

But that is the relationship I have with God. Thank you very much.

She isn't breaking any laws here. I even wish she had not had them taken. But I am not God and I do not get to decide. So it is none of my business.

I still say "race on Danica"!

[ET(end tyranny)]

Because the more women who do that, the more it will be expected, even insisted upon. And those aren't values I associate with the USA, but some medieval Arab potentate.

I think you have that backwards. The Arab potentate would be wanting to stone or kill her for her behavior, just as some act like they would like to do in the USA. You're in strange company now!

[Search4Truth]

I find it sad that so many women's self esteem is dependent on how they measure up to men. The fact that it is a competition women can never win, only makes them more neurotic. Fortunately, feminists don't propagate well.

It's a man's world. Feminists can sabotage it, but they can not replace it. Men will just build another world, minus feminists.

[discostu]

I didn't say anything about laws of physics being damned, just pointing out that the way race cars go through fuel the difference in fuel consumption with a 200 pound driver and a 150 pound driver isn't going to be significant. We're not talking about the difference between a 3000 pound chasis and a 1500 pound chasis, that's a big weight difference, we're talking about a weight difference here that's right around the range you get comparing a set of new tires and a set of tires that have gone their full design distance. If a few pounds of driver made that drastic a difference then NASCAR and IRL would have started stealing jockeys from horse racing a long time ago.

[pnz1]

Penske racing figured her advantage to be about 0.8 of a mile an hour.

[ET(end tyranny)]

I still say "race on Danica"!

You bet! One of the best comments came from her mother. Something about how the race car can t tell if the driver is male or female.

I can't wait for next year! :)

[Modernman]

Exactly. More then a few of these names are missing from the photo album. (In case the newbies don't know, yes, there is a FR photo album.)

I've been on 2 years and I didn't know there was a photo album. Do you have a link?

[SamAdams76]

I see Gordon's point but he is going about it the wrong way. For example, no two men weigh the same either. So a 170lb male drive will have an advantage over a 200lb male driver.

If Gordon truly wants to level the playing field, then we should settle on a uniform driver's weight. Let's say that we standardize the driver's weight at 225 pounds. So a 200lb driver would have to carry a 25 pound weight in the shotgun seat while a 170lb driver would need to carry 55 pounds of weight. If the driver should weigh in at say 250 pounds, then just cut off part of his/her arm to get to that 225 pound standard.

[housewife101]

The rules for Indy are that the car is weighed WITHOUT the driver. Thus giving a bigger advantage to those who weigh less. Especially in fuel mileage.

[Diva Betsy Ross]

Ha! Penske is one to talk about advantages. Now that is the pot calling the kettle black.He has done some cool things for racing- but making sure the playing field is level is not his strong suit.

[housewife101]

I don't think a female sports celebrity should be posing like a table dancer.

Agreed on this. Like I said she should be a driver.period.I don't like it when female athletes get involved in the whole "sex sells" arena. Just prove your stuff in your are of sport-in this instance-JUST RACE!!

[ET(end tyranny)]

If the driver should weigh in at say 250 pounds, then just cut off part of his/her arm to get to that 225 pound standard.

Liposuction!

Where would they put the weights? On the passenger side? How would they be secured? I'm just thinking in the event ofa bad crash I would hate for the added weights to harm the driver.

[ET(end tyranny)]

Is it possible that Indy deliberately had things set up this way so that selecting a lighter driver would become part of the strategy? This isn't a new problem, it's always been there.

[discostu]

Where'd they whip up that math? That's a pretty small difference given racing speeds in the upper hundreds, but still sounds a bit much. With that kind of "advantage" all the drivers need to go on crash diets.

[Steve_Seattle]

"The Arab potentate would be wanting to stone or kill her for her behavior, just as some act like they would like to do in the USA."

I haven't heard anyone come even close to saying that Danica should be harmed, much less stoned or killed. Can't you grasp the difference between a mild criticism of someone and a desire to stone them to death? You sound like a liberal comparing Bush to Hitler. My comparison to Arab potentates was based on the fact that in a harem environment, the women exist only to provide sexual gratification for the male, and I think that some trends in the USA are moving back in that direction. But maybe it wasn't a good analogy, I'll concede that.

[ET(end tyranny)]

The Arab potentate would use Allah against her, just as some are using God against her.

[Dont_Tread_On_Me_888]

Personally, I could care less about boob size. My wife happens to be very attractive, a lot younger than me and is DD, all natural. She is very attractive, very pretty face and her hair is a medium brown.

My hot button (other than my wife) would be a dark haired, dark eyed brunette with a very pretty face. Big boobs are not at the top of my list. If I had to choose traits, a fun woman, great personality with dark hair and eyes and in shape all rate ahead of big boobs. Dark hair is a total turn-on to me.

[Diva Betsy Ross]

I have no idea what the IRL can do about it- without setting a weight requirement for the driver. So the IRL is going to say you can only have a driver who weighs between 150 and 155???

Of course I am sure that all of these people who think this is a good idea are familiar with how small and almost fragile an Indy car is in real life.

If they demand a weight requirement- are they willing to put a 50 block somewhere at the risk of causing death and injury to the drivers? How foolish. If weight were such an advantage then only women and very small men would be in the winners circle. And Dan weldon weighs how much???