Indy 500 Not Won By Danica Patrick!

[sopwith21]

1) Danica Patrick, star driver (and apparently the only driver) in the Danica Racing League, did not win today's Danica 500. Hence, Danica's face will not be on the Borg Danica Warner trophy, much to the chagrin of the broadcasting crew at ABC Danica Sports. However, Danica's face will continue to be on the front Danica page of every Danica sports section in the United States of Danica for the next 83 years.

I forget who won the race, but it was some guy who's name wasn't Danica Patrick. The crowd was shocked to find that such a person had shown up.

2) Frenchman Sebastian Bourdais drove brilliantly, advancing from 15th to 5th and positioning himself for a top finish. He would have been the top finishing rookie and lead candidate for Rookie of the Year had he not crashed with two laps remaining... ironically, while preparing to pass Danica Patrick for fourth position.

Barring that crash, Indy Racing League officials would have been in a terrible mess. Danica Patrick, the driver they've spent the entire month hyping in the media, would have finished behind a rookie driver from the rival Champ Car series... a MALE driver, of all things. It would have been a public relations disaster. Giving the Rookie award to a male, Champ Car driver was simply not an option. That moaning sound you hear is IRL officials chanting thanks to Allah.

3) Best drives of the day: Bryan Herta, 18th to a well deserved 3rd. Ed Carpenter, 26th to 11th, but no one will give him credit because he's the track owner's stepson. Fillipe Giaffone, dead last to 15th, but his name isn't Danica and he had the misfortune of bumping Arie Luyendyke's kid out of the show.

4) Biggest disappointment: Kenny Brack, sentimental favorite who took over defending champ Buddy Rice's vacant ride and was fast qualifier in the field, only to fade to 26th.

5) Worst luck of the day: Tomas Scheckter, who was unlucky enough to be in Danica's way when she spun. Scheckter was a threat to win the race, but the crash took him out. Danica created her own yellow flag, came down pit road when pit road was closed, changed nose cones on her damaged car and went on with no problem and no penalty.

6) Please, please, Lord... have mercy on us and let Danica win a race soon so we can put an end to this, the most embarrassing media circus since the OJ trial.

[Mikey Likes It]

HA!

That's pretty funny.

[g72s20]

..Well if the "PIT" road was closed, WHY wasn't there a sign put up saying so, and directing a girl to the nearest open one? Hmmm?(hands on hips, head tilted). Golly, when a girl hasta "powder" her nose...you don't ask questions, silly!

[panchovisa]

Sopwith, you sound like Danica got your seat at Indy (shoulda-woulda-coulda).

Media attention, isn't that the name of the corporate sponsered game?

Don't I recall that you are part of the media, and have given this site links to the press of your exploits (self media explotation, gasp).

The pre-race babble is as valuable as the post-race snivelling.

Real racers know that the race is run, the results are finalized, and no amount of excuses can move you up, or down in the standings.

The facts:fast all month, lead race under green (passed the winner to do it), finished 4th (with no excuses). Possibly the highest finishing real rookie (not ringer World Champ, or competing series champ). She is the real deal.

Media attention, is that what puckers you? The media wasn't in any drivers car today, just DRIVERS.

[sopwith21]

Don't I recall that you are part of the media

Yes.

and have given this site links to the press of your exploits (self media explotation, gasp).

No.

She is the real deal.

Very possibly. She's a good driver, and I've known that since I first met her in karts when she was 12 years old. I like her, and I hope that I am able to continue liking her.

Imagine for a moment that you eat a bowl of your favorite ice cream. You enjoy it. But just as you finish, someone ties you to your chair and pryes your mouth open and you eat another bowl. Of course, you really do like this ice cream, but you had already had enough. Then they put a funnel in your mouth and pour another four gallons down your throat.

The media has been absolutely merciless, ignoring many other deserving drivers in order to cram in another Danica feature. Bourdais was brilliant today and was entirely ignored. Same with Giaffone. The list goes on. Its an embarassment to auto racing. The media will have its female champion no matter what the cost. So for everyone's sake, let's just get it over with so we can all get back to racing.

Now let's look at it from Danica's standpoint. To live up to half the media hype, she will have to win at least six Indy 500's and eclipse every record from AJ Foyt and Mario. The expectations are ridiculous. The same pressure was put on Sarah - another good driver - but its impossible to live up to. It serves mainly to shorten your career, as it did Sarah's.

Further, Danica will never get any credit for what she's accomplishing. You'll notice that today she was not credited with being the 188th driver to lead Indy... no, instead she's the "first woman" to lead Indy. She's just first in class, nothing more. She wasn't recognized as the top ranked rookie... instead she was the "highest finishing woman" at Indy. The poor girl can't get a lick of credit for anything she does. She's just "the first woman" to tie her shoes, blow her nose, etc., etc.

The clowns were fun for a while. But to preclude any further embarassment for auto racing, I hope she wins immediately. Its the only way the circus will end. We all still like the ice cream, but we're starting to gag.

[Z-point]

I didn't follow the mediahype. But I must say, with her 23 year of age I bow deeply for her courage!!!!

[HS30-H]

Sopwith21,

Er, so who exactly was it who 'drank the milk' this time? I didn't see a namecheck for Mr Dan Wheldon above.....

And "Indianapolis, racing capital of the World" - please justify.... ( ? ).

Alan T. :classic:

[Walter Moore]

Alan...

Of course you know who won the race. Dan Wheldon is your countryman is he not?

And justification... there is no need for that. The world already knows.

[2-4-T-Z-MAN]

Regardless of all the media hype to get ratings, she is one hell of a driver, she deserves the attention she got for doing what she did, in a mostly male sport.

And all at age 23.

[MikeW]

Yes, Wheldon is a Brit. Actually, he was born there but currently lives in St. Petersburg, Florida. It should also be noted that Danica was racing in the UK when Bobby Rahal spotted her and immediately signed her up. I can understand the frustration with the media hype. She's quite a novelty and the media likes anything sensational. If nothing else she will bring more fans to racing (of all sorts) which means more corporate sponsorships which means more money for racing.

[sopwith21]

Regardless of all the media hype to get ratings, she is one hell of a driver, she deserves the attention she got for doing what she did, in a mostly male sport.

And all at age 23.

Nobody's arguing that she's a good driver. However, she is getting far more attention than her results deserve. She drove a winning car to fourth place. That's a good, solid performance, especially for a rookie. But her average finishing position is still only tenth... if a male driver had similar results, he would go largely unnoticed. In fact, he might lose his job (a couple years back Laurent Redon had virtually identical results for his first three races and is now unemployed... I bet you didn't even remember his name).

Meanwhile, Dan Wheldon goes from 16th to 1st and can't get the same publicity. In a desperate bid to revive his career and get a job, Buddy Lazier drove a 15th place car to 5th and barely got an interview. In one of the best drives of the year, Bryan Herta goes from 18th to 3rd - beating Danica - but the network doesn't run a single feature on him while Danica is used as a bumper out of every commercial break. Felipe Giaffone starts dead last in a car that wasn't even intended to be raced and gains 18 positions to end up in the top 15... but his name is never even mentioned.

No matter how much I like her, the health of the sport is more important than any one driver. Even Danica.

The circus was fun for a while, but now its time to get back to racing. And of course, the only way that will happen is if she wins. Until then, the media will continue to be merciless in their desperate bid to create a female champion. So go, Danica, go! Win one... please... so we can all get on with life and put an end to what has become an embarrasing sideshow.

[sopwith21]

YI can understand the frustration with the media hype. She's quite a novelty and the media likes anything sensational. If nothing else she will bring more fans to racing (of all sorts) which means more corporate sponsorships which means more money for racing.

Very true. This has been great for the IRL, at least in the short term. It was good publicity, but enough is enough. Let's regain our sanity before it backfires.