Does Danica Patrick’s lighter weight give her an advantage at Daytona?

[martinfan5]

who?

[Dirt Demon]

who.........you say...lol!......you know who, the one that trys to knock down the walls at every track

[hgbben]

I have a smashed up one.....be perfect in a display case

[Bill J]

Oh, you meant Danican't, yeah I know her. She should invest in a wall repair company. Just kidding, I'd actually like to see her do well. Not sure that's going to happen though.

[Dirt Demon]

yeah building one of her cars would be simple..... my cat knocked one of my cars off the shelf.....its junk now........paint it green and there ya go!

[Old Coyote]

_{No thanks}

Edited March 15, 2014 by Old Coyote

[Psychographic]

What are you guys waiting for?

I just got my kit and I'm ready to dive into it!

[sonictherevenge]

LOL I agree just take any Nascar model you have paint it green and smash it up..

[mrindy77]

I wonder if any of these guys ever took as much grief about not winning a race as Danica...

Dick Trickle...10+ years of never winning...and probably one of the greatest short track careers in history.

Dave Blaney...still active driver...great in a sprint car...but come on 466 starts and no wins...what is he still racing for...and someone keeps hiring him.

...and JD McDuffie...god rest his soul...never finished a race on the lead lap in 653 races.

All Time Races run but never had a win
Driver, Races Run
1) JD McDuffie, 653 [never finished a race on the lead lap]
2) Buddy Arrington, 563 [some have 560]
3) Neil Castles, 498 [some have 501]
4) Dave Blaney 466*
5) Jimmy Means, 455
6) Cecil Gordon, 449
7) G.C. Spencer, 416
8) Frank Warren, 398
9) Henley Gray, 374
10) Rick Mast, 364
11) Kenny Wallace, 344
12) Ed Negre, 337
13) Hut Stricklin, 328
14) Jabe Thomas 322
15) John Sears 318
16) Roy Tyner 311
17) Ted Musgrave 305
18) Dick Trickle 303
19) Bill Champion 289
20) Mike Skinner 286
21) Richard Childress 285

Edited March 17, 2014 by mrindy77

[Psychographic]

And how many of those races was Blaney stuck with a start and park team? I do wish he would go back to running sprints full time, he's still got it as he has a win down in Fla. this year.

Also out of those drivers, how many of them got as much air time as Danica? That's where the hate comes from.

[jjsipes]

I don't see what the big deal with her is. Everyone talks about how good looking driver she is but barf!!! I don't get? There have been other female drivers but none of them have had the push like she has gotten. I just don't get it. Every time they start talking about her if I even I try to watch the race, I tune it out, mute it or change channel for a few minutes. If I choose to watch the racing, I want to watch it for the racing not Nascar pushing a female driver.

Edited March 17, 2014 by jjsipes

[Dirt Demon]

Yeah but in her 110 or so starts..... Shes wrecked something like 49 or 50 cars........thats just ridiculous to even think about. Look at the money shes costing her owners...... At the rate shes going ..... She will put them in the poor house. If it was anybody else, they would have been fired a long time ago and out of Nascar. She must be doing Tony some favors on the side..lol!

[Dirt Demon]

The point is..... She sucks as a driver and will never win a race in Nascar.

[Psychographic]

The point is..... She sucks as a driver and will never win a race in Nascar.

I wouldn't say she sucks, she just doesn't deserve the attention the media gives her.

At least she seems much more humble in Nascar than she was in IRL.

[Deano]

I wouldn't say she sucks, she just doesn't deserve the attention the media gives her.

But that's exactly why she's there! Media attention! She generated more attention for NASCAR than any other single driver and that's where she earns her keep.

[Psychographic]

But that's exactly why she's there! Media attention! She generated more attention for NASCAR than any other single driver and that's where she earns her keep.

There is no way she's gained more attention the Dale Earnhardt or Jr., but I understand your point and agree100% that's where she's earned her keep.

[DirtModeler]

Plus, remember. Danica is 28th in points after Bristol, which means there are ~20 drivers who have done WORSE then her so far this year.

If Danica is THAT bad, what does that say for the 20 other drivers?

[Psychographic]

Plus, remember. Danica is 28th in points after Bristol, which means there are ~20 drivers who have done WORSE then her so far this year.

If Danica is THAT bad, what does that say for the 20 other drivers?

Well for one thing, most of them have not run all 4 races so far.

Now I'm sure some just didn't run well enough to even qualify, but you also have to realize most of those behind her are not using top tier equipment and are on much more limited funds. I would also bet a lot of them are running limited schedules. So if you take that into consideration,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[Lunajammer]

I wouldn't say she sucks, she just doesn't deserve the attention the media gives her.

NASCAR has become, well, bland. Otherwise NASCAR wouldn't keep tweaking things to add interest. Danica is interesting. Though the media plays a part, they didn't invent her. I don't think they dwell on her but they keep fans like me informed.

Now I'm sure some just didn't run well enough to even qualify, but you also have to realize most of those behind her are not using top tier equipment and are on much more limited funds.,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

It's kind of telling though, that in Las Vegas, it was reported Kevin Harvick offered her some tips on working the track and she gained ten positions. Yes, she's still learning, but some of that knowledge would maybe be intuitive to a top ten driver. You have to wonder what her cars would do in the hands of others.

[mrindy77]

Most DNF's (could be equipment failure as well as crashes) Danica...seems reasonable 16% in comparison to others. I hear a lot of blah blah blah but no one else has actually posted any facts.

Name Races DNF Joe Nemechek 653 196 30.02% Dave Blaney 466 126 27.04% Michael McDowell 150 113 75.33% J.J. Yeley 202 77 38.12% Bobby Labonte 719 70 9.74% Michael Waltrip 775 67 8.65% Jeff Gordon 729 59 8.09% Ryan Newman 444 57 12.84% Casey Mears 384 54 14.06% Kurt Busch 475 53 11.16% Dale Earnhardt Jr. 509 52 10.22% Kasey Kahne 364 49 13.46% Josh Wise 72 48 66.67% David Gilliland 262 46 17.56% Reed Sorenson 193 45 23.32% Jamie McMurray 406 44 10.84% Terry Labonte 887 43 4.85% Travis Kvapil 249 42 16.87% Jeff Burton 692 41 5.92% Matt Kenseth 512 40 7.81% Jimmie Johnson 439 39 8.88% Tony Stewart 525 39 7.43% Martin Truex Jr. 301 38 12.62% Brian Vickers 284 38 13.38% Derrike Cope 409 37 9.05% David Reutimann 232 35 15.09% Kyle Busch 333 35 10.51% Greg Biffle 406 34 8.37% Morgan Shepherd 512 34 6.64% Landon Cassill 119 33 27.73% David Ragan 258 29 11.24% Denny Hamlin 295 25 8.47% Kevin Harvick 470 22 4.68% Carl Edwards 341 21 6.16% Clint Bowyer 293 21 7.17% Marcos Ambrose 195 19 9.74% Aric Almirola 111 18 16.22% Paul Menard 259 17 6.56% A J Allmendinger 195 17 8.72% Joey Logano 187 16 8.56% Boris Said 47 11 23.40% Brad Keselowski 165 10 6.06% Cole Whitt 18 9 50.00% Trevor Bayne 48 8 16.67% Danica Patrick 50 8 16.00% Timmy Hill 26 7 26.92% Kyle Larson 8 3 37.50% Brian Keselowski 3 3 100.00% Parker Kligerman 6 2 33.33% Justin Allgaier 8 2 25.00% Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 45 2 4.44% Ryan Truex 6 2 33.33% Alex Bowman 4 1 25.00% Michael Annett 4 1 25.00% Eric McClure 3 1 33.33% Austin Dillon 17 1 5.88%

[Thatswhatshesaid]

Sure there are drivers who have never won a race and have way more starts. Dave Blaney was an example given earlier. But Dave Blaney isn't plastered all over the tv every Sunday and the announcers don't go on and on over Blaney. Danica is at best an average driver. She is always quick to track down another driver who she feels did her wrong. She did it in IRL and Nascar.

As for modeling one of her cars, its real easy. Take a piece of tin foil, paint it green and wad it up.

[Thatswhatshesaid]

[quote name="Lunajammer" post="1140885" timestamp=

It's kind of telling though, that in Las Vegas, it was reported Kevin Harvick offered her some tips on working the track and she gained ten positions. Yes, she's still learning, but some of that knowledge would maybe be intuitive to a top ten driver. You have to wonder what her cars would do in the hands of others.

[Ju Ju]

Happy Birthday to Danica Patrick today !!

[Merkur XR4Ti]

It's kind of telling though, that in Las Vegas, it was reported Kevin Harvick offered her some tips on working the track and she gained ten positions. Yes, she's still learning, but some of that knowledge would maybe be intuitive

to a top ten driver. You have to wonder what her cars would do in the hands of others.

She's at least improving this year. 40th, 36th, 21st, 18th, 14th so far.

Why is it a point against her that she took some advice from a seasoned racer and improved her position? It's pretty obvious she doesn't have the amount of experience some of her fellow racers do. If she can take advice from Harvick and do better, doesn't that point to an ability to learn, process, and provide results?

I have nothing agaisnt Danica and wish her well. I think she does herself a disservice with all the crass commercials, but it's her career and her choices and she has every right to put money in her bank account in the way she sees fit. I do think at some point she'll regret selling herself as an attractive woman (IMO) instead of a race car driver, but she's young and if she's going to make money on her looks now's the time to do it. That's capitalism for ya.

Count me in as hoping one day she wins a race and drives her haters absolutely bonkers.

Edited March 25, 2014 by Merkur XR4Ti

[Merkur XR4Ti]

Well for one thing, most of them have not run all 4 races so far.

Now I'm sure some just didn't run well enough to even qualify, but you also have to realize most of those behind her are not using top tier equipment and are on much more limited funds. I would also bet a lot of them are running limited schedules. So if you take that into consideration,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

After 5 races she's 27th. There are 9 drivers behind her in the standings that have run all 5 races so far.