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I think "do unto others as you would have others do unto you" fits in this situation ... or "if you have nothing good to say ... say nothing at all". I feel Richard Petty experienced a lapse in judgment; unfortunately that lapse occurred when the press was listening. It doesn't matter if it was true or false, it just didn't need to be said in the national media. None of us are perfect however, I'm not casting stones at Richard Petty. What he said doesn't change my opinion about him or Danica.

Wouldn't it be bitchen if she wins a race and proves him wrong?
I see it as a push back from the American male to stop back peddling, and apologizing for every thought, remark, and action concerning race, and gender. Good for him.

Call it what it is. She's a sex symbol, and uses it for a large part of her popularity. If not for that she'd have been gone a long time ago.

Hopefully I won't get reprimanded, and my post deleted. Ha.
Amen!

This world has become so PC you can not speak the truth and if someone does you have to twist what they say. What did Richard say?

If she was a guy you would not even know who she was? I know a few names in the top leaders but I couldn't tell you any of the bottom 30...except Danica. Absolutely true!

Petty said she is fast at qualifying but not at racing. She can drive fast but does not race as well. Absolutely true!

She got there because she used her sex and not because of her skills? No doubt true! Danica acted like a slut to get to where she is and now she is held in hi regard because of it! What is wrong with speaking the truth?

I really don't care if she acts like a slut (except in commercials which are meant to be family time). but it is not a resume to be a notorious race car driver. When you have to explain a slutty commercial during a NASCAR race to a 12 year old girl at family time, well, that's just un-cool!

Richard also said there are more people watching NASCAR because of her and I believe that to be true too. Although to do so they have taken one more step away from a legitimate sport into an entertainment spectacle which, in all fairness is what it has become.

Danica is a media made icon which honestly gets under my skin. We simply quit watching speedvision over how they handled her. With a race going on all they could focus on was her:

"Danica is running a lap down, but slowing before tat corner, man what a great decision, she is really coming along!" and on and on.......Hey guys there is a race going on with people who deserve commentary!

The Indy 500 was the same way. A third of the commentary was on Danica when we were saying.."C'mon guys there is a race going on!" You wouldn't even know there were 2 other women in the race.

I am tired of PC media made heroes. It is very anti PC to say but one of my annoyances has always been Amelia Earhart. She was known as a pretty poor pilot in the pilot groups but being a charming woman propelled herself to fame. It is this media created hype which got her to do something she had no business doing.

Amelia Earhart was known for wrecking planes and getting lost; she did so several times. When she was preparing for her faithful flight she was in search of a navigator. She knew her best shot was the local airport drunk Fred Noonan. She asked Fred and he said no. She asked everyone else at the airport and they all said no way in hell are we going on a flight with you. She went back to Fred and begged him until he agreed.

Amelia wrecked landing on the first leg. No one in aviation that knew her was surprised by the outcome. She was in over her head and should never have let the publicity push her to do what she did. Now she is held in high regard...for what? Wrecking then failing at something she should have never attempted?

THIS IS TRUTH...Not PC......

I have heroes.....they are generally people no one knows their name. For instance, when a buddy of mine was going through initial flight training at UPS, I stopped by to visit. He and a group of people were training at the motel in a conference room. When we left he said do you remember that good looking girl at the end of the table? I said how could I not.

She needed experience to get to the airlines. She took a job in Alaska flying night cargo....in a twin radial engine Beechcraft similar to what Amelia Earhart flew. She flew cargo every night. When she was done with her flights in the early mornign she would drain the oil form the engines in 5 gal buckets and taken back to the motel room to keep it warm. The following evening she would take it back and put it all back in the engines in sub zero weather then fly all night in antique antiquated twin radial engine tail dragger airplanes; and no she did not have any wrecks on her certificate.

No I do not remember her name but she is far more a hero to me then Earhart ever will be.

This is not about being male or female either. Look at Charles Lindbergh. After all he did he worked with a scientist in pursuing the ultimate race following the path of Nazi Germany. In doing so he even lost some of his military clearances. You don't hear about that much but it is a part of the big picture.

How about Captain Sully Sullenberger who put the airplane in the Hudson river. They made sever serious errors which have all been ignored. In his first interview he said they came across a flock of geese and they tried to dive under. That has never been addressed but that is a major no no. You never dive under geese. They fold their wings and dive. Every professional pilot knows that.

Second, when they hit the geese they compromised 2 engines. In a knee jerk reaction they shut down an engine which is believed to have been in good enough shape to get the back to the airport! Third he hit kind of hard doing more damage then he should have. 4th he failed to hit the ditching valve which closed the outflow valves which is intended to allow the plane to float (if he had not damaged it as much on landing.).

When Sully came off the airplane USAIR was ready to hang him form a tree. When everyone thankfully lived, and when the media looked at him as a hero, what really happened was buried and he became the number one spokesman. When they FAA interviewed him, his lawyer was there to cut off any real questions, but he didn't have to. The questioning went along the lines of "Oh Captain Sully, we are so blessed with your presence today....."

And when someone like Petty comes out...not trashing Danica but rather speaking the truth...it is refreshing! I am just a little tired of the media bandwagon everyone is on!
One more thing I meant to say regarding Sully's failed flight. If he had not been exactly where he was at daytime in good weather, I doubt anyone would have survived.

Knowing someone who hit geese leaving JFK, who did not shut down compromised engines in a knee jerk reaction, who was therefore able to limp the airplane back to JFK in an uneventful landing....who no one will ever know his name which has happened many times...are people I hold in much higher regard then Captain Sully.
Neither one of you are alone. I agree 100%

When Danica wrecks or is not doing well. it is NEVER her fault. Rarely will she thank the crew.
I developed my opinion pretty quickly first hand at IMS in the Indy cars being in the garage and pits. First it was a weak low budget team then she moved up to first class and did not improve. Penske would never put up with her antics. The other female Indy Car drivers, past and present, had class. She was a bitch who complained more than all of the Andrettis combined.
I just saw this on Fox Sports, regarding Richard Petty's comment about Danica and Danica said it does not matter.

This is from a reader and is dead on:
Bmwguy
7 minutes ago



She is right. It doesn't matter. It is totally irrelevant as well as she is. She will never be a NASCAR Champion. She hasn't won a championship in ANY series since Go-Carts. She lost in both her Formula Fords bid. She then went overseas to race FF and lost there as well. However when she returned to the US, her Dad had big plans. Her dad had secured full sponsorship and approached Bobby Rahal to add another car to his IRL team for her. Bobby agreed and her IRL career began. It had nothing to do with talent or skill, it was about sponsorship. And when GO Daddy signed on, the rest is history. If it weren't for a fully paid for ride, no one would ever have heard of Patrick.... If some of her so called fans would look at her entire career for what it is, I think they would be less enthusiastic. They would recognize the fact that she was always a mid-packer at best. Her one IRL victory came in Japan during a fuel mileage race where 1/2 of the normal IRL teams never even bothered to make the trip over there. Recognizing all of that, at least they should have some sort of basic understanding as to why serious race fans have the same opinion as the Petty's.
I actually do not have a problem with Danica get to where she is the way she did. My problem is the society which propels her forward and put her there.

When someone is put ahead of a group without merit, those who are there because of merit are knocked down a notch and they are the unsung heroes.

Somewhere is someone without a slot in NASCAR because she was propelled forward without merit.
Hmm, I've read this thread with interest as I respect your opinions and I don't follow racing closely anymore. I suppose that I am the guy who frustrates you because I generally cheer for her and would like to see her win.

Professional racing has always been about bringing sponsorship. Thee has always been backmarkers who bring in the dough and very talented drivers who can't find a ride.

That's racing. Racing is life; thus, That's life. The way it is.

May she prove her critics wrong!
I can't believe the pure crap I'm reading on this thread, it should be locked up, deleted and the key thrown away.

Get over it, a) in this day and age most race drivers are where they are because someone had the money to propel them there. b) you are talking about NASCAR that's not even Motorsport in my book, just another reality show!

If you cannot even remember the name of someone who is supposed to be you hero, then I say they didn't make that great an impression on you!

Julian
quote:
Originally posted by #5754:
quote:
Yup. That would get me watching NASCAR. Big Grin


I dunno, I don't watch NASCAR at all, I wonder if I could even pick her out of a lineup of 5 NASCAR drivers in full gear and helmets.

Now, if they actually drove STOCK cars, then I might watch - I'd much rather watch a group of just off the assembly line Mustangs, Corvettes, Challengers, and for fun some off-shore contenders like Lotus, Aston, Ferrari, Kia, Toyota, Nissan, Audi, Hyundai ... hang on, I think I smell a script for a Top Gear episode!

And wouldn't pit stops be more fun when the guys with 4 lug nuts get back out there 20% faster than the guys with 5, or just imagine the work of the commentators who have to make it interesting to watch the gal in the electric car who's stopped for a 2-hour recharge? OK, maybe that would get boring, but as long as the occasional transmission blew, throttle pedal got stuck, indicator stopped working, or exotic caught fire (and no one gets hurt), I'd much rather see a true competition between manufacturers product offerings. THAT would be more enjoyable to me than watching a bunch of custom built tube frames with fake bodies that have more stickers than aunt Bessy's Winnebago on it's eighth cross-country tour to see county fairs, music festivals and giant fiberglass geese, bulls and dinosaurs!

... of course after three or four races with an A8 or GTR winning every time, most teams would probably pack up the whole show and go home, then the boys and girls with all the bumper stickers would be back at it ... any one for a deep fried Turkey Drumstick?
Today’s finish must have been a disappointment to the Danica team.

Showing her telemetry on the screen early shows why she went from 9th starting position to about 16th. Although lots of people went out with the same type of wrecks... makes you think the announcer might be right when he is pointing at the car’s chassis design....

This might be the case if all the chassis are built by the same operation!

I did a little research...

quote:
Manufacturers:

Indy cars are a “Spec Series”, where all the cars are built to the same specifications, varying between seasons due to the racing venue. The carbon fiber chassis is built by Dallara which all teams use, while the engines are built either by Honda or Chevrolet. But while the actual cars are the same, the aero kits are unique depending on the engine supplier. This means that sidepods, engine covers, rear wheel guards, and rear wing main planes provide teams with flexible development areas. In addition, the kits are different for varying road courses.


Rocky
Last edited by rocky

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