[63Banshee]

Panica running 3 seconds off the pace in practice, last I saw.

[The Champ]

Originally Posted by David Holmberg

This week at Sonoma its more about the driver than the car, good luck to all.

First practice - and Danica is 31st - nearly 2 seconds off the pace...

We already know that her equipment is some of the best available - so if the driver is more important than the car - why is she so far behind?

It was posted earlier on this thread that Indy Car/F1 drivers are better prepared to drive on road courses - and that is why the "ringers" are brought in.

Well, a few of the "ringers" did do better than Danica...

Ron Fellows in the 33 car, Jason Bowles in the 55 and Jacques Villeneuve (Danica's best friend) in the 51 all finished practice ahead of the touring princess (26th, 28th and 30th respectively).

The rest of the "ringers" did even worse than Danica - with 5 of them placing between 34th and 43rd in practice.

There was a time when several of the "ringers" were very competitive. That day is long gone as the NASCAR regulars take the road courses very seriously now.

[cuz68]

Boris Said is starting 24 in car #32.

[The Champ]

Originally Posted by cuz68

Boris Said is starting 24 in car #32.

Jacques Villeneuve is starting 2 spots ahead of him - for the best starting position of all the "ringers".

I could swear it was posted on here that IndyCar/F1 drivers were vastly superior to NASCAR regulars on road courses. But if I'm doing my math correctly, there isn't a single "ringer" that cracked the top half in qualifying.

Oh, and the touring princess.... She's starting 31st...

[David Holmberg]

Not defending the Indy car guys, but throwing a 3400lb car around corners when you're use to a go-cart is like driving a dump truck.

There are only a few true drivers that can drive about anything and have a good shot at winning.

[The Champ]

Dave

Those 3400 pound Cup cars are very fast dump trucks...

It had been posted that IndyCar and F1 drivers were better qualified to run these cars on a road course because they had "superior driving skills". It was even posted that the princess, because of her IndyCar experience, would show her superior skills at the Sonoma.

Of course, the road courses that she exhibited "some" skills at previously were in NASCAR's Nationwide Series against lower level talent.

Today, she started 31st and spent virtually the whole day in the back half of the field.

She did manage to finish the race on the lead lap in 29th place, but once again, that was due more to attrition than to any driving skills.

[ho428]

Sponsored by Whoa Daddy...

[The Champ]

^ Too funny...

Qualifying at Kentucky Speedway this Friday. Looks like a 40% chance of rain. The Princess might be doing a rain dance because it might improve her starting position...

With her outstanding road racing abilities, as displayed at Sonoma on Sunday, she actually managed to stay in 27th place in the points. Strong 29th place finishes go a long way to keeping you higher up in the points...

[65WJ]

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar...010709102.html

Not a race car driver and too late to learn how to race. hmmmm

patrick

[The Champ]

Interesting article - and refreshing to see a member of the media (Kyle Petty) speak truthfully about her and her abilities.

You can see where the writer of the article is leaning towards the established media in trying to hype the Princess, but I think his attempt is an epic failure.

"While Petty is certainly entitled to think what he wants about Patrick as a race car driver, using her qualifying position relative to her racing position isn't necessarily the best argument. Through 26 races in the Sprint Cup Series, Patrick's average finish of 26.8 is 6.8 positions better than her average starting position."

The problem with this attempt to counter Petty's opinion that Danica is not a race car driver is that an average finish of 26.8 only means that she's been driving around the track and finishing the race.

Making laps isn't racing. For the most part, the cars/drivers that she has been finishing in front of are "start and park" cars and other drivers that were actually racing that succumbed to either a mechanical failure or were involved in an accident.

She has advanced from her starting postion through attrition, not by racing.

[Sirrotica]

Petty has pretty much said mirrored what I have maintained all along, not a race car driver and actually she won't learn to be without some God given talent, which she doesn't have.

The racing community already knows she isn't ever going to be a star in NASCAR, her loyal fan base and the media just need to come to the same conclusion. In race car driving you either have it or you don't. The touring Queen does not have it, and in my opinion never will.

As Petty says, driving a car fast does not make you a race car driver, there is so much more that enters into the equation than driving fast. She is about 50% of what she needs to be competitive in Sprint cup and no place to draw from to get the other 50%.

The touring Queen hype is dying down and the commentators aren't giving her air time like they did in the beginning of the season. Tony Stewart has publicly said if she doesn't stop cutting off lead cars when they're lapping her he could pull her out of the ride. Best thing that could happen to the #10 team.


Even the posting on this thread has slowed because the fans that supported her in the beginning have no stats to fall back on to support their heroine. PR and media can only hype something so long when there is no results, and there are no results, except a constant 30th place driver, car, and team.........................

[arbys]

A couple of years ago Ricky Stenhouse was pulled from ride for a while. When he returned he was much better than when he was pulled. I think that he some time to watch what was successful with other drivers and what wasn't. I think that she needs to sit out 8-10 races to observe other drivers. I also don't think that she knows how to relay to her crew chief what's wrong with her car. Comments like "it's junk" or "it won't handle" can only be interpreted by a fortune teller.

[Region Warrior]

Not that he's wrong, but Kyle Petty say'n someone else is not a driver.....

[Rob B]

Originally Posted by Region Warrior

Not that he's wrong, but Kyle Petty say'n someone else is not a driver.....

He also admits he wasn't much of one either and was more of a "journeyman" but at least he had 8 cup wins. Danica will be lucky to have 8 cup top 5's if not top 10's.

[zephyrracer]

I agree with two statements.
1. Driving isn't racing.
2. She doesn't know how to relate to her crew chief whats wrong.


She has said before that no one will help her, my thoughts are the other racers are afraid to help not knowing how she will handle it.

Gregg

[David Jones]

I do find it interesting in the article that after Kyle spoke his mind about Ms. Patrick that the esteemed writer spoke his about Kyle. I think Kyle has a valid opinion, though he might have been a little off track on his details. He also has credentials...and has mixed it up with some of the best......most better than him. The esteemed writer, Nick Bromberg, attempts to down Kyle. I looked around some and quite frankly I don't find Mr. Bromberg's name at the top of any sanctioning body's running order. Kyle Petty knows what he's good at and he doesn't need somebody with NO seat time talking down about him. Kyle can drive, he did win, he is a decent broadcaster and beyond all that he has the amazing gift of wanting to help people.

[Region Warrior]

Originally Posted by Rob B

He also admits he wasn't much of one either and was more of a "journeyman" but at least he had 8 cup wins. Danica will be lucky to have 8 cup top 5's if not top 10's.

Didn't know you where a KP fan.
I'm disappointed he didn't do better.
For the record, not a Danica fan. Don't even check where she's at during the race.

[67GTONUT]

I am a big Kyle Petty fan.... mostly for his honesty. He will poke fun at himself all the time, He knows what his abilities are. I enjoy his broadcasts...... as much as I enjoy listening to Dale Jarret now also....

Someone needs to Shut the Waltrip boys up..... or just take away their mics....

Danica will not make the season..... Tony will pull her out.... Unless GoDaddy writes that BIG of a check....

[The Champ]

Originally Posted by zephyrracer

She has said before that no one will help her....

She's been "helped" her entire career. Blaming her lack of knowledge and talent on other people is just an excuse.

Originally Posted by David Jones

I do find it interesting in the article that after Kyle spoke his mind about Ms. Patrick that the esteemed writer spoke his about Kyle. I think Kyle has a valid opinion, though he might have been a little off track on his details. He also has credentials...and has mixed it up with some of the best......most better than him. The esteemed writer, Nick Bromberg, attempts to down Kyle. I looked around some and quite frankly I don't find Mr. Bromberg's name at the top of any sanctioning body's running order. Kyle Petty knows what he's good at and he doesn't need somebody with NO seat time talking down about him. Kyle can drive, he did win, he is a decent broadcaster and beyond all that he has the amazing gift of wanting to help people.

I couldn't agree with you more. Kyle may not have had the talent that his father did (Kyle has said many times that racing talent skipped a generation and his son Adam (RIP) was more talented than he was behind the wheel), but Kyle did show a lot more talent than Danica has displayed.

In Kyle's first ever stock car race, driving a moth balled 1978 Dodge Magnum of his Dad's, Petty drove to a win at the 1979 ARCA 200 at Daytona. How many years has Danica been driving stock cars without getting close to a win?

Most people think of Kyle as ever having been a "contender" - but he actually performed much better than he is given credit for. First full season in Cup, he netted a 12th place finish in the points. Danica will be LUCKY to finish in the top 25.

Kyle also had 4 Top 10 point finishes at the Cup level - with 2 of those being Top 5's (back to back in 1992 and '93).

KP is an incredible individual. I met him while visiting his Victory Junction Gang Camp. What an amazing facility. This is a place where you'd love to send your kid or grandkid, except for the fact that the campers have to trerminally ill or chronically ill to go there.

[David Holmberg]

Kyle, like JR, had BIG shoes to fill and that's a mountain that most people can't climb.

Kyle nailed it, holds the wheel just not well enough to justify the amount of press.

I suspect that NASCAR saw the writing on the (net) wall and wanted to build some drama with Kyle's story. Kyle wouldn't have said it without NASCAR's approval in advance. IF he didn't have it, he will make a formal apology on Saturday night, and we might not see him again.

Who remembers when Kyle was on Johnny Carson with a guitar and sang a song? That was cool.