I've tried very hard to be objective about this. What is the fixation about Danica Patrick, aside from her being a female professional driver? If she were a male, would she be given such a royal pass? I don't have anything against her, but her skills haven't impressed me. Yeah I know her cars aren't the greatest but what makes her special?
What makes her so special?
- Thread starter Drip
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CR19
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Drip said:
If she was a guy, the headlines wouldn't focus on her. With from "Go Daddy" commercials and selling out her pit crew, she really doesn't deserve the attention.
Baron Scicluna
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It's not just that she's a female driver. It's that she's a pretty female driver.
TheSportsPredictor
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What makes Dale Earnhardt Jr. special?
Drip said:
Patrick can hardly claim this excuse. She's been driving virtually her entire career for the Rahal-Letterman and Andretti-Green teams, some of the richest ownership in the sport. She's had the sports money interests bending over backward to make sure she was in good cars with a good chance to win.
As for what makes her so special, the answer starts with the novelty of a race car driver also being a smoking hot babe who comes across great on camera and came along right when open wheel racing was absolutely desperate for a marketable image to sell to mainstream America.
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She's a diva, but pretty good with the media. That helps tremendously.
She's not a bad racer, but she'll never be a title contender in IndyCar with the competition. She could get a second win at some point if the chips fall just right. She's highly unlikely to do anything in NASCAR either, but she'll get a few years grace period in which she won't be expected to do much and she'll make a ton of cash.
She's not a bad racer, but she'll never be a title contender in IndyCar with the competition. She could get a second win at some point if the chips fall just right. She's highly unlikely to do anything in NASCAR either, but she'll get a few years grace period in which she won't be expected to do much and she'll make a ton of cash.
slappy4428
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Drip said:An A cup on a dirty beach isn't sexy IMO. Sorry.93Devil said:
End of thread.
Since when don't you like dirty beaches? Did your back-door neighbor move?
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Join the discussion when you grow up. Until then....slappy4428 said:Drip said:An A cup on a dirty beach isn't sexy IMO. Sorry.93Devil said:
End of thread.
Since when don't you like dirty beaches? Did your back-door neighbor move?
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cranberry
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Drip said:An A cup on a dirty beach isn't sexy IMO. Sorry.93Devil said:
End of thread.
Can we be real for a moment here? I'd hit it on the Louisiana shoreline, repeatedly and without hesitation, assuming I was the last man on earth and could somehow get her attention.
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Azrael
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Dale Jr isn't a fair comparison. He's won a lot of races, including two Busch titles.
To the OP, why judge Patrick by some arbitrary sexist standard? Ask yourself instead why Michael Waltrip has earned tens of millions of dollars in a lackluster career.
To the OP, why judge Patrick by some arbitrary sexist standard? Ask yourself instead why Michael Waltrip has earned tens of millions of dollars in a lackluster career.
zagoshe
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Azrael said:
Maybe when Danica Patrick wins the Daytona 500 twice you can compare her to Michael Waltrip.
She's done nothing impressive and the only reason she is force fed down our throats as some superstar is because of political correctness.
The same can be said of Michelle Wie.
You can't benefit as greatly from your plumbing as these two have and then whine about sexism when people actually expect you to accomplish something even close to approaching the hype.
CR19
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To be perfectly honest, I don't follow NASCAR. I haven't even heard the name Michael Waltrip. However, I am well accustomed to hearing about Patrick. If she wants to become a superstar in her sport, then she actually have to accomplish something, not through political correctness or looks.
Azrael
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Yes, Waltrip's 4 wins in, um, 759 starts over 25 years are ****ing epic. He's another Foyt or Fangio.
He's a millionaire many times over because he's good-looking enough and well spoken enough to entice sponsorships.
Just like Danica Patrick.
He's a millionaire many times over because he's good-looking enough and well spoken enough to entice sponsorships.
Just like Danica Patrick.
Moderator1
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Michael Waltrip is good looking!?!?
Where did this myth start that Patrick is just some hot babe who can't drive? (That would be Milka Duno.)
She's been in the top 10 in Indy every start except for 2008, and she got her car from 23rd (as part of Andretti's disastrous qualifying) to sixth this year. Her points finishes have been comparable or better than her teammates' totals. The only time she was outshined was 2008, when Tony Kanaan finished third, and she finished sixth. To say she's been on "big-money" teams is also a myth, because the biggest of the big money is Penske and Ganassi, and everyone else is racing for scraps.
Sure, she gets a lot of hype because she's an American female racer who can actually race. That's what happens when you're unique. That Patrick is marketing-savvy helps, for sure. But like with Tiger on the golf course, there are a lot of fans who watch just to see how she does. That's just a fact.
And if you're going to criticize Patrick for getting rides "only" because she's a woman, you have to criticize all the drivers who get rides "only" because their fathers and/or grandfathers raced.
My criticism of Patrick would be that her move to NASCAR is all about marketing rather than winning. If she wants to win consistently, she would be better off concentrating on wringing all she can out of her Andretti car and hoping that someday Penske or Ganassi will bring her in. The NASCAR move has marketing savvy, but it's a long hill to climb up switching from open-wheel to the racing taxicabs.
She's been in the top 10 in Indy every start except for 2008, and she got her car from 23rd (as part of Andretti's disastrous qualifying) to sixth this year. Her points finishes have been comparable or better than her teammates' totals. The only time she was outshined was 2008, when Tony Kanaan finished third, and she finished sixth. To say she's been on "big-money" teams is also a myth, because the biggest of the big money is Penske and Ganassi, and everyone else is racing for scraps.
Sure, she gets a lot of hype because she's an American female racer who can actually race. That's what happens when you're unique. That Patrick is marketing-savvy helps, for sure. But like with Tiger on the golf course, there are a lot of fans who watch just to see how she does. That's just a fact.
And if you're going to criticize Patrick for getting rides "only" because she's a woman, you have to criticize all the drivers who get rides "only" because their fathers and/or grandfathers raced.
My criticism of Patrick would be that her move to NASCAR is all about marketing rather than winning. If she wants to win consistently, she would be better off concentrating on wringing all she can out of her Andretti car and hoping that someday Penske or Ganassi will bring her in. The NASCAR move has marketing savvy, but it's a long hill to climb up switching from open-wheel to the racing taxicabs.
