[Dick Boneske]

Good comments! I agree she'll never be better than mediocre--no matter how good a car she is given to drive. I can't think of one NASCAR driver (man or woman) who ran for as long as she has and as poorly as she has and suddenly became a contender for the championship. Guys like Jeff Gordon, Jimmy Johnson, Kyle Larson, Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch, Richard Petty were possible winners the first seasons they raced!

Can any of you name drivers that have taken as long as Danica to prove themselves a champion?

[The Champ]

Originally Posted by Dick Boneske

Can any of you name drivers that have taken as long as Danica to prove themselves a champion?

By "champion" - do you mean winning a Cup race? Or being someone that can compete for a "championship"?

In Cup racing, the guy that comes to mind is Michael Waltrip.

Michael ran from 1985 - 2001 without winning a Cup race. The difference is that although it took Michael 16 year to win a Cup race, he had won 8 Busch/Nationwide races.

He never was a "Champion" (meaning winning a championship), but he was pretty consistent in finishing somewhere between 10th and 20th in the points while running the full Cup schedule.

Michael wasn't a "great" racer - but he was a good one.

Danica has been racing cars for over 16 years. She's never won an automobile race in the United States. Her lone win was in Japan, and it was one because of fuel mileage, not driving skill.

I know, other drivers have won races due to mileage. But is that win their only one in their career?