[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

[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.....

[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.

[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.

[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....

[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.

[The Champ]

Originally Posted by David Holmberg

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

I wasn't much of a Carson guy, so I didn't catch it.

But Kyle actually is pretty a pretty decent singer. I've got a CD called "NASCAR - Runnin' Wide Open" with this song performed by Kyle:

Oh King Richard you run rummer's dream
The swiftest of outlaw that I've ever seen
Your checkered flag waving so high in the esteem
And no one can catch you at all.

So what can you say 'bout the man built for speed?
The master mechanic gave you what you need
survival on instinct and heart that don't bleed
The winning tradition of a vanishing breed

When I think about a lesser man much like myself
Alive in a vacuum alone on a shelve
To never go no place 'till all I got left
Is stareing at these lonely walls

Oh King Richard just keep up the pace
Your boot in your gas tank the smile on your face
And you'll set the standard that time can't erase
And God only knows how you feel

If there's life in the fast lane
than you wrote the book
But it don't come as easy as you make it look
'Cause a man in his sunshades can't never slow down
with out someone sneaking round stealing your crown

From a dirt track in Charlotte to the Daytona line
Your life flying by & you don't even mind
The world loves a winner & you've shown them all
How easy the King gets it done.

Oh King Richard just look out below
Some punk on your bumper your running to slow
Than one day you're older the next thing you know
Your races are already run.

Oh King Richard man they're tryin' get ya
Yeah, but they never can catch you
'Cause you know how to drive like a fiend

Oh King Richard yeah they're trying to catch ya
but they never can catch ya
'cause ya know how to drive like a fiend

Oh King Richard, Oh King Richard
I wanna live my life through your eyes
I'm going spend my life watching you drive

Oh King Richard, Oh King Richard
Oh their never gonna take you their never gonna catch you
Their never gonna

Oh King Richard, Oh King Richard
You gotta have nerve to live this way
yeah you gotta hang on everyday

Their never gonna stop you
They're never gonna top you
Oh King Richard, Oh King Richard
Burnin' it, rockin' it

Oh King Richard, Oh King Richard

Watch/Listen here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bp_UcU-GY0

Richard turns 76 on Tuesday. Happy Birthday "King"!

[The Champ]

Touring Princess update...

Qualifying speed/time at Kentucky - 178.944 MPH/30.177 - good for 29th.

Dale Jr. on the pole - 183.636MPH/29.406 - new track record.

Like Kyle said - she can drive fast (a 179 MPH average is fast), but when the competition is nearly 5 MPH faster, it ain't racin'...

I fully realize that qualifying ain't racin' either. Some guys aren't always good at qualifying, but can race their way to the front.

Kevin Harvick is a good example of that. Some recent examples - at Michigan he started 21st and finished 2nd, at Charlotte he started 15th and won and at Richmond he started 17th and won.

[65WJ]

Originally Posted by The Champ

Touring Princess update...

Qualifying speed/time at Kentucky - 178.944 MPH/30.177 - good for 29th.

Dale Jr. on the pole - 183.636MPH/29.406 - new track record.

Like Kyle said - she can drive fast (a 179 MPH average is fast), but when the competition is nearly 5 MPH faster, it ain't racin'...

I fully realize that qualifying ain't racin' either. Some guys aren't always good at qualifying, but can race their way to the front.

Kevin Harvick is a good example of that. Some recent examples - at Michigan he started 21st and finished 2nd, at Charlotte he started 15th and won and at Richmond he started 17th and won.

Not so much the mph as it is the time. .08 back Not so good.
Personaly I would like to know the time and not the mph.

patrick

[Jack Peters]

Normally do not say much when things come to 'opinions' and there is no such thing as a 'imho'. The letter 'h' needs to be taken out.
Now, I find it interesting that Jr. is defending her. Read this. I really don't care, one way or the other except to say I am not a DE (Sr. or Jr) fan.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports...ments/2472307/

[The Champ]

^ You have to remember that Danica drove for Jr. for three years. He hired her and collected all the sponsorship dollars from godaddy.com. Jr. is also currently doing Nationwide Insurance commercials with Danica - he has a vested interest in her ongoing viability.

"I have to disagree with Kyle," Dale Earnhardt Jr. said Friday at Kentucky Speedway. "I think she's a tough competitor. She works really hard at what she does and she has run some really good races. On every occasion, she's outrunning several guys on the circuit."

I don't argue that she "tough", but I don't think I could classify her as a "tough competitor".

As to "outrunning several guys on the circuit", that might have some basis except for the fact that the "guys" she's "outrunning" are racing part time, in marginal equipment and many of them are "start and park" cars.

She sits 27th in the points. Of the drivers that have made all 17 races, these are the only drivers that she is ahead of:

1. David Gilliland
2. David Ragan
3. David Reutimann
4. JJ Yeley
5. Travis Kvapil

There are two drivers who have only had 13 (4 fewer) races that are ahead of her in the points.

[arbys]

Originally Posted by The Champ

She sits 27th in the points. Of the drivers that have made all 17 races, these are the only drivers that she is ahead of:

1. David Gilliland
2. David Ragan
3. David Reutimann
4. JJ Yeley
5. Travis Kvapil

I would bet that most of those would 5 positions ahead of Danica in her equipment.

[Sirrotica]

Change the color of the car and she may be able to be a consistent 22 place car,.................

[David Holmberg]

Dale JR is a very humble person, its very rare that he will even say something bad about someone who just wrecked him, let alone a woman.

Did you catch DW picking the winner for Kyle Petty today on Speed? Taking Kyle's best friend, "The first lady of NASCAR, Danica"... Please Darrell, she's not going to blow you no matter how much you suck up.

Michael Waltrip lived with the Petty's when he first moved to NC to race. He and Darrell didn't talk for years until their Mother forced them to make up. Darrell and the Petty's don't like each other.

[theamcguy]

Danica Patrick is a marketing machine, she is not a race driver. When Bernie Eccelstone says she needs to be in F1 racing it is all about marketing. Kyle Bush is a race car driver, don't like him but he can wheel a car. When he gets in trouble keeps both hands on the wheel and keeps driving. Danica gets in trouble she takes both hands off the wheel and cocoons up for the coming impact. Kyle Petty is right she is a person that drives a car fast but she is not a race car driver, she is a marketing machine.