What's with the (media) fascination and Danica Patrick?

[icedwarrior]

I don't really see the point of nascar....... Driving around an oval for 3.5-4 hours seems pointless and boring to watch it doesn't really require a lot of skill just luck and timing... Hell its like going on a road trip and sleeping when you arrive you don't really do anything else.

Now if she was in Formula D it would be something to see.

Now, I'm not fond of Nascar, but that's not a fair assessment to make. "Basketball is just running up and down and dribbling a ball." "Football is just tackling and injuring players." And so on and so forth.

She finished 8th, and stayed in the top ten all race. Which is good all things considered.

Yes, I will give her props for that. Definitely pretty good...but she still didn't win. Again, I don't care that she's a woman, I care that she didn't win, and is largely irrelevant in regards to standings.

[Delekii]

The premise of this thread is that you don't understand why she gets the attention she does, which isn't true. You don't agree with the reasons why she gets the attention, but that doesn't change the fact that those are the reasons.

A woman doing commendably well in a male-dominated field who is objectively goodlooking enough to sell stories and magazines will, of course, be a tapped resource to garner attention.

[Souichirou]

Now, I'm not fond of Nascar, but that's not a fair assessment to make. "Basketball is just running up and down and dribbling a ball." "Football is just tackling and injuring players." And so on and so forth.

That statement has no correlation what so ever to what I stated.... "Basketball" as you said is just running and dribbling, "Football" as tackling BUT there is a point of scoring points while preventing the other team from doing the same.

My assessment of Nascar is fair and the results are ALWAYS the same its based on luck and timing, regardless of the placement's a person in lets say 3rd or 5th will NEVER over take anyone ahead of them UNLESS they get into an accident or have a mechanical failure.

[Blueobelisk]

NASCAR is totally cool, bro. If you're one of the engineer's competing to build/maintain the fastest car...Otherwise NASCAR is fucking boring lol. I have grandparents and two uncles who live 30 mins from Daytona. I could have gone to the NASCAR thing today since it's my Spring Break but lol it's too boring.

[Skarsguard]

NASCAR is totally cool, bro. If you're one of the engineer's competing to build/maintain the fastest car...Otherwise NASCAR is fucking boring lol. I have grandparents and two uncles who live 30 mins from Daytona. I could have gone to the NASCAR thing today since it's my Spring Break but lol it's too boring.

Dood you should have went I don't care for NASCAR myself but NASCAR is suppose to have the best tailgating out of every sport out there. I mean from what I hear it's like one of the biggest sport's parties to go to.

[Blueobelisk]

Oh btw my uncle actually went to Daytona 500 once. He said it's a little better if you're actually there in person but...I imagine all he did was drink beer with some rowdy southern people, and I doubt the race itself was actually that exciting.

I care that she didn't win, and is largely irrelevant in regards to standings.

As we all know:



---------- Post added 2013-02-24 at 08:28 PM ----------

Eh Skars it probably does have good tailgating parties, but I'm pretty sure Superbowl (or any other football event) beats it.

[Pendulous]

That statement has no correlation what so ever to what I stated.... "Basketball" as you said is just running and dribbling, "Football" as tackling BUT there is a point of scoring points while preventing the other team from doing the same.

My assessment of Nascar is fair and the results are ALWAYS the same its based on luck and timing, regardless of the placement's a person in lets say 3rd or 5th will NEVER over take anyone ahead of them UNLESS they get into an accident or have a mechanical failure.

That's just terrible generalizations, and it makes you come off as someone who has never actually watched a race.

With the new generation of cars, nobody really knows how they operate. Add to that the fact that superspeedways work the way they do, and yes, there is no chance really for someone in fifth to pull ahead at the end of the race. But that's just two tracks, and everything else comes down to pit strategy, pit stop times, and driver skill.

Dood you should have went I don't care for NASCAR myself but NASCAR is suppose to have the best tailgating out of every sport out there. I mean from what I hear it's like one of the biggest sport's parties to go to.

It was really boring, it did nothing but give me a sunburn, and races suck really hard live.

[Spectral]

While I don't personally regard NASCAR as a sport, a woman (and an attractive one) competing in a major competition is bound to draw some attention!

[AceofHarts]

That statement has no correlation what so ever to what I stated.... "Basketball" as you said is just running and dribbling, "Football" as tackling BUT there is a point of scoring points while preventing the other team from doing the same.

My assessment of Nascar is fair and the results are ALWAYS the same its based on luck and timing, regardless of the placement's a person in lets say 3rd or 5th will NEVER over take anyone ahead of them UNLESS they get into an accident or have a mechanical failure.

you can say that its "just driving in a circle" all you want, bu the fact of the matter is, it takes a LOT of SKILL and ENDURANCE to drive at 200 MPH, mere inches from the guy in front, behind, and beside of you, without wrecking every single lap. the amount of G-Forces alone is tantemount to driving on the freeway for 4-5 hours, with a 2 year old kidding strapped to your head. imagine trying to do that. now imagine that the cars are mere inches from you.

[Blueobelisk]

you can say that its "just driving in a circle" all you want, bu the fact of the matter is, it takes a LOT of SKILL and ENDURANCE to drive at 200 MPH, mere inches from the guy in front, behind, and beside of you, without wrecking every single lap. the amount of G-Forces alone is tantemount to driving on the freeway for 4-5 hours, with a 2 year old kidding strapped to your head. imagine trying to do that. now imagine that the cars are mere inches from you.

Well. I'll go ahead and be that dick.

I personally believe NASCAR driving is relatively tough. Driving a lot of hours cramped up in a car being in that safety suit, probably being hot would be annoying, and it takes some focus and dedication to do that and aim to win. No doubt. I don't think it's a sport though. I also don't think it takes the same level of physical endurance and athleticism that the "main" sports (Basketball, Tennis, Football, Soccer, lolbaseball, etc) require.

Again, it's pretty special to be a NASCAR driver but let's not over-glamorize it.

[AceofHarts]

Well. I'll go ahead and be that dick.

I personally believe NASCAR driving is relatively tough. Driving a lot of hours cramped up in a car being in that safety suit, probably being hot would be annoying, and it takes some focus and dedication to do that and aim to win. No doubt. I don't think it's a sport though. I also don't think it takes the same level of physical endurance and athleticism that the "main" sports (Basketball, Tennis, Football, Soccer, lolbaseball, etc) require.

Again, it's pretty special to be a NASCAR driver but let's not over-glamorize it.

Nascar drivers average losing 15 pounds of watermass in a single race.

[Zeek Daniels]

The media is facinated with Danica because shes an attractive woman competing in sports that are pretty much 99% male from top to bottom. Key word is attractive. Other female competitors that dont get mentioned in Nascar by ESPN.com or SportsCenter although they do get some brief and some slightly longer mentions by those actually covering the sport for speed and espn are Jennifer Jo Cobb, and Johanna Long who are both unattractive in my opinion. Also Danica has a huge publicizing team or marketing team from her indycar days. What ever her dad did to get backing to get her in the spotlight in indycar is not being done for these other women who race. And so Danica is in the spotlight and they are not.

Now as to how Danica did in this race. I think she did pretty mediocre, but its not her fault its the new gen 6 car. They rode around in a line over half the race. She had a fast car but so did everyone else. No one could pull out and pass because if you got out of line by yourself without that 2nd line down there you would go straight to the back because there would not be any spaces to get back in line.

So the only ppl that even had a shot of passing Jimme on that last lap was Matt Kenseth, and the only way he could have done it was if danica gave matt the push that mark martin gave dale jr. Remember Dale was behind danica and mark behind him. Yet the push he recived only got him infront of kenseth but not Jimme. Either Dale would have to push danica past jimme and hes not gonna do that because he and jimme belong to the same team, or danica would have to push kenseth but the problem there is if she does shes not going to win she would get 2nd maybe, also pushing the person in 2nd makes it easier for jimmie to block since he just watches them pull down and he pulls down right in front of them and bam we are back where we started.

So all in all. There was no passing on a car by car basis, so i cant grade danica for doing anything other than driving in a line like everyone else. She didnt show anything, she didnt do anything other ppl didnt. She did what the gen 6 car allowed.

The true test comes next week. Not only is this the first race for the new gen 6 car at a non restrictor plate track but its also danica's first true test this year.

In case you dont know danica's history she actually runs very well at restrictor plate tracks as well as road courses. She dominated a road course last year in the nationwide series but due to a bar breaking in her vehicle she finished poor. At another road course she dominated again but got turned on the last lap and finished 8th or 12th when she should have finished 2nd. She also runs good at daytona and talledega when doing tandom drafting which you cant do in the gen 6 car but can still do in the nationwide car. She was doing well on Saturday at daytona but had a engine issue. And aside from some crashes at these races she is usually running up front.

So back to my original point. I know danica can run restrictor plate tracks and road courses. I think those are the best tracks for her to pick up wins in both series. I however believe she will run poorly at the other race tracks because i watched all her Nationwide races last year and didnt see anything from her on normal tracks all year long except a hand full of races where she ran well and one i think she finished 4th.

Hopefully she does well next week and gets a top 15. I am a Danica Patrick Fan btw. And Go daddy couldnt have picked a better color to put on that race car. Love that green.