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So is it just me, or is Danica Patrick making pole position not a big deal at all? How many races has she won in her 9 year racing career in Sprint Cup, Nationwide, or Indy? Would a man with the same record as her (1 win in 115 races in Indy, and 0 wins in 68 races in NASCAR) be getting the same praise and press that she is?

I am not a NASCAR or INDY Fan - I suppose her claim to fame is being both female and somewhat attractive. I read that she is publicly involved with a fellow NASCAR driver however her divorce from a current husband is not yet final. [Can't help myself - "Danica on pole" - sounds like she has a gig at the Centerfold Lounge. ]

Yes, it IS a huge deal, especially anyone with an economic interest in NASCAR.

This is no mere publicity stunt.
Danica is real.
She has proven her ability to drive race cars. Fast.
It doesn't hurt that she is pretty, or that she handles herself extremely well in front of TV cameras and the media.
By winning the pole for the Daytona 500, Danica Patrick is on every TV sportscast and made the top of every sports section of every newspaper still publishing. Really bad news if you are her major sponsor, right? LOL

By leaving IRL and strategically planning her move to a top NASCAR team over 2 years, she instantly brought huge amounts of good attention and new TV viewers, fans, and sponsorship $$$.

She may become more popular with fans than Dale Earnhardt Jr, another high profile, but ultimately 'adequate' driver with great equipment, a great team, and only 19 career wins in 14 years of Cup racing, just 2 wins since 2008. http://www.racing-reference.info/driver/earnhda02" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

In every Sprint Cup starting field of 43 cars, NASCAR has about 12 high-profle 'stars' on teams likely to win, 25 'adequate' drivers who will fill positions 13-37 most weeks, and 6 drivers who should retire or find another line of work.

Will Danica be more than 'adequate'?
Will she win?
Only time will tell.

Look for her to finish 10 to 15 laps behind. She drives like a flare gun. Big start, a short blaze of glory and then, KERPLUNK!!!

Gaining the pole requires a fast car and a lot of driving skill. Winning a 500 mile race requires teamwork, luck and driver endurance. I doubt that ANY 95 pound Human can withstand the physical challenge of battling at the front of the pack for several hours! Driving fast in 20th position - not so tough.
But about this pole, - I wish I had watched.
Nascar is a privately owned business, similar to WWE wrestling. I do not think the races are fixed. But qualifying?
What a great time to get a ton of free press to try to bolster flagging attendance and souvenir sales.
Time for your bets: I expect Danica to compete near the top for 10-15 laps (which is nothing), then slowly drop back to a safe spot of about 15-20th position for the long haul. At the end she will capture several positions with her undamaged car to finish in about 10th. My 2 cents.
chiadog

jake75 wrote:I am not a NASCAR or INDY Fan - I suppose her claim to fame is being both female and somewhat attractive.

I saw this on my favorite, most trusted source for news this morning...

Danica Patrick Lauded For Breaking Down Barriers For Attractive Women

Is She racing at Sonoma or Watkins Glen??? No, then why is this such a big deal... I don't enjoy watching cars drive in circles and for the big wrecks I have youtube. When the road courses come around, we'll see if her driving talent can make the car do something other then turn left... June 23 and Aug 11, I'll tune in for that!

jeeze that was an awful awful wreck. The report right now is that 15 were transported to local medical centers and one is in surgery. Apparently NASCAR is removing all of the user uploaded videos of the accident that are on youtube.

What? Danica is pole-dancing?

Oh, you're talking about race-car positions...darn!

(wink,wink)

Old Tele man wrote:What? Danica is pole-dancing?

Oh, you're talking about race-car positions...darn!

(wink,wink)

I'm with you!
It takes MONEY, Skill and Luck to win these races in that order.

ColonelPanic wrote:
I saw this on my favorite, most trusted source for news this morning...

Danica Patrick Lauded For Breaking Down Barriers For Attractive Women

Awesome!
Finally, Drop-Dead-Gorgeous Women are getting some attention!

Chiadog wrote: I expect Danica to compete near the top for 10-15 laps (which is nothing), then slowly drop back to a safe spot of about 15-20th position for the long haul. At the end she will capture several positions with her undamaged car to finish in about 10th. My 2 cents.
chiadog

I'm Wrong, again!
Congrats to Danica from running a very solid race for a rookie. Actually her 2nd Daytona 500. She finished a respectable 8th position.
Beyond Danica, the race was a snoozer. 200 laps, and the first legitimate "racing" started in the 180th lap! I hope these new 6th generation cars don't cause all races to be this boring. Also, BOO to Fox network for showing more commercials than Race.
chiadog

I'm not a NASCAR fan by any means but with all the hype I found a streaming site with no commercials and had it on in the background. I've always found it boring but holy (removed)... this took boring to new heights. There were maybe 3 laps out of the 200 that were actual "racing" in my book. The rest was just plodding around the track trying not to get caution flagged. The last lap was even a snoozer until literally the last corner when basically the entire front ten cars mixed it up and formed an entirely different 2nd-10th place order. Danica was in third for the last three+ laps, but ended up eighth after the last corner. Do people really watch these entire things just to see everything decided in the last 10 seconds?

Wise words my Dad once told me: "ANYBODY can drive a car. Where it takes SKILL is avoiding the ACCIDENTS caused by OTHERS."