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Quote: rxwine

Being attractive doesn't work just in Hollywood. Works for men too. Helps getting hired more than the times it hurts.

Appearance does matter. Though I think the press would still have been goo goo no matter how she looked. But all the push in the world can't help you win a race.

Quote: AZDuffman

Danica Patrick to end racing career at next year's Indy 500

I still remember the dumping on Richard Petty when he said she would struggle in NASCAR at least for awhile.

189 NASCAR Races, best finish ever was 6th. Made Top-10 7 times.

Never finished higher than 24th in NASCAR season points.

1 victory in Indy Cars, 115 races and one year finished 5th in points there.

Very average at best as a racer. Has appeared in 14 Super Bowl ads, believed to be a record.

If she was not an attractive female, she would have lost her NASCAR ride years ago.

NASCAR is full of drivers with long careers who finish mid-pack. I haven't looked up the numbers but how does her career stack up to Sam Hornish Jr. , Kyle Petty, Robie Gordon? I don't blame her for taking advantage of her unique situation.

Quote: AZDuffman

Though I think the press would still have been goo goo no matter how she looked.

Yeah? Name me one other female NASCAR driver. There has been some, I promise. One in particular actually had some talent. It just happened to be the kind found behind the wheel, and who watches racing for that? =p

I absolutely loathed this chick. She was the final push that got me out of NASCAR. There was no more shop talk, car talk, garage insiders, nothing. Week after week, 85% of everything was Junior and Danica.

I'd rather listen to hauler interviews.

Quote: Face

There was no more shop talk, car talk, garage insiders, nothing. Week after week, 85% of everything was Junior and Danica.

I was never much of a fan, but I failed to see the point when you could no longer tell a Ford from a Chevy at a glance. Years ago it was about manufacturers trying to outdo each other. Now it is merely about making every car exactly equal. Call me old school, but I want the templates back. I want a team to again discover that there was more power when you remove the directional marker from the piston and make it all smooth.

Or my favorite story. Way back they put a flare on top of the fender to allow NASCAR tires to clear the factory template. Once, one driver did not do it at qualifying. Other teams screamed, but he said that the rule book allowed, not required it. He easily won the pole. Soon as he did, he started cutting the flares. Now drivers really went crazy. He says, "The rule book says I can cut them if I want to, it does not say when I am allowed to do so."

THAT is racing!

I've no problem with keeping everything uniform. In fact, I don't think they do enough. Despite all the rules, it's still the huge money that wins races, while guys with tens of millions of dollars are lauded for simply finishing a race running.

Personally, I'd like to see all the cars be built by an independent supplier. Kill the team owned engineering aspect and have it come down to only tuning and the driver. But, even more important, I'd go leaps and bounds backwards. Tweak aero as needed so these things don't turn into planes, but otherwise make it mechanical grip only. Take it back to when you had to wheel it. When a crumpled fender only need be beat out of the way of the tire and it was as good as new, instead of completely crippled on speed and grip as it is today.

I always said the All-Star race should be done in early 80's throwbacks. It would be huge.

Life in NOKO must be grand

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-42021373

Quote: Face

Personally, I'd like to see all the cars be built by an independent supplier. Kill the team owned engineering aspect and have it come down to only tuning and the driver. But, even more important, I'd go leaps and bounds backwards. Tweak aero as needed so these things don't turn into planes, but otherwise make it mechanical grip only. Take it back to when you had to wheel it. When a crumpled fender only need be beat out of the way of the tire and it was as good as new, instead of completely crippled on speed and grip as it is today.

I agree, I really liked the IROC races that did this. All cars set up identical by the same crew. Drivers didn't even know which car would be theirs until the morning of the race. That definitely puts everybody on a fair playing field.

Quote: odiousgambit

Life in NOKO must be grand

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-42021373

A little warning man. I had just sat down to breakfast when I clicked that link.

Quote: DRich

I agree, I really liked the IROC races that did this. All cars set up identical by the same crew. Drivers didn't even know which car would be theirs until the morning of the race. That definitely puts everybody on a fair playing field.

IROC races were even more about driving, they had no pit stops. In this way it comes down to do you want it to be all about drivers or let the cars come into it? Where I grew up, much was about the cars. Can a Ford beat a Chevy? It was all Ford/GM when I was a kid, but think back to how Plymouth made the Road Runner Superbird to win.

Racing is supposed to improve the breed. Way back it was engines. In the 1980s it was aerodynamics. I remember races in the 1980s and the announcers explaining that the cars falling apart in a crash was safer. Look at a traffic accident now---parts fall off, taking energy with them. Thing is, if all cars are the same, nobody has a reason to make theirs better.

I guess I will just have to agree to disagree, preferring to be old school where you cared what brand of car was winning. Today you hardly notice let alone care.

Quote: AZDuffman

IROC races were even more about driving, they had no pit stops. In this way it comes down to do you want it to be all about drivers or let the cars come into it? Where I grew up, much was about the cars. Can a Ford beat a Chevy? It was all Ford/GM when I was a kid, but think back to how Plymouth made the Road Runner Superbird to win.

Racing is supposed to improve the breed. Way back it was engines. In the 1980s it was aerodynamics. I remember races in the 1980s and the announcers explaining that the cars falling apart in a crash was safer. Look at a traffic accident now---parts fall off, taking energy with them. Thing is, if all cars are the same, nobody has a reason to make theirs better.

I guess I will just have to agree to disagree, preferring to be old school where you cared what brand of car was winning. Today you hardly notice let alone care.

I agree with this post. Making it about the drivers seems only to feed their egos. If that's the case, let them pay for the racetrack and all the expenses, ambulance at the ready, fire crews, po po, etc.

When the races were about the cars, society go something in exchange for all the trouble they have to go through, with increased traffic jams, etc. Sure some merchants make out, but generally if you are not a fan, the races do nothing for you personally. Racing has brought tons of innovation to automobiles, like engine efficiency, braking and safety. That's the trade off. And I want to be able to tell the difference between cars again at a quarter mile, type, age, maker, etc.

It's not like drivers are athletes, sheesh.