# IRL : Danica Patrick becomes the 1st female to win an Indy Car Series race



## Steve615 (Feb 5, 2006)

http://msn.foxsports.com/other/story/8051728/Relief:-Danica-Patrick-wins-1st-IRL-race


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## Steve615 (Feb 5, 2006)

http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/racing/news/story?id=3355226


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## SPACEMAKER (Dec 11, 2007)

That was really fun to watch. I am very happy for her.

Hopefully they will show the rebroadcast in HD tomorrow. Watching on ESPN Classic was brutal.


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## machavez00 (Nov 2, 2006)




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## Greg Alsobrook (Apr 2, 2007)

it's about time :sure:

She sure is cute though


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## Sharkie_Fan (Sep 26, 2006)

machavez00 said:


>


Gotta love winning an event and getting a trophy that's almost as big as you are!

Good for her. I'm not a huge open wheel fan, but I've always been curious to see if Danica would be Anna Kournikova or Maria Sharapova.


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## njblackberry (Dec 29, 2007)

Hundreds of male sports writers have a happy ending to their two year quest.

Millions of racing fans say either "What's IndyCar" or "I didn't t know there was a race last night".

In any event, it's good for racing. Even IndyCar.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

Sharkie_Fan said:


> I'm not a huge open wheel fan, but I've always been curious to see if Danica would be Anna Kournikova or Maria Sharapova.


Technically, using that analogy... I think she's still Anna until she wins again. If memory serves me correctly, Anna came onto the tennis scene and made her first splash by being good and winning a tournament. She then detoured into the modeling/spokesperson category and her tennis took a nosedive.


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## Sharkie_Fan (Sep 26, 2006)

HDMe said:


> Technically, using that analogy... I think she's still Anna until she wins again. If memory serves me correctly, Anna came onto the tennis scene and made her first splash by being good and winning a tournament. She then detoured into the modeling/spokesperson category and her tennis took a nosedive.


No... Anna Kournakova has no career singles titles, and, at her highest, a ranking of 8th in the world.

Maria has 19 titles, 3 grand slams, and a world ranking, at her peak, of #1.

The point of the comparison though, is that Maria is one of the "elite" tennis players, while Anna was a "good" plalyer but never good enough to break through. It's not fair, but their looks played into the judgement of them as players (is she actually a good player or just another pretty face).

Danica has been dogged by the same questions since she first started. Are you really a race car driver, or just a pretty celebrity who happens to drive cars.

With a "W" under her belt, she can put those questions to rest. She's now among the "elite" drivers in the world. She really already was, competing at such a high level every week, but the win validates her standing and should quiet some of the people who questioned whether she belonged.

Edit: a bit more anna info. She was among the elite doubles players in the world, with 16 titles including a few grand slams (2 Australian Opens, IIRC). She just never had the same success as a singles player, which is where most of the criticisms of her stem from.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

Sharkie_Fan said:


> No... Anna Kournakova has no career singles titles, and, at her highest, a ranking of 8th in the world.


I must have been remembering her success in doubles, that you added at the end of your post. I knew I wasn't imagining that Anna first came on the scene as a promising player, with some early success.. I just wasn't remembering correctly on where she had her success. I knew she had not won any of the major titles, but was sure she had won.. I just wasn't remembering that it was doubles rather than singles.



Sharkie_Fan said:


> Maria has 19 titles, 3 grand slams, and a world ranking, at her peak, of #1.
> 
> The point of the comparison though, is that Maria is one of the "elite" tennis players, while Anna was a "good" plalyer but never good enough to break through. It's not fair, but their looks played into the judgement of them as players (is she actually a good player or just another pretty face).


That's one of the unfair, although sometimes turns out to be true, things with women athletes. Women who are not seen as "pretty" are sometimes ignored as being inferior to men and thus uninteresting... while women who are pretty are seen as non-athletes. It doesn't help matters when a woman does come onto the scene and divert more of her attention to her looks than her athletic skills, as happened with Anna.

There's no reason why a girl can't be pretty and athletic... and also no reason why looks should even matter really.

In the men's game, I can't think of a single male athlete (even a handsome one) that traded his athletic efforts for a modelling career. Some guys do become spokespersons or go into acting after their career is over... but during their career, as long as they are competing on the high level I can't think of a single male athlete that traded the sport for his looks.



Sharkie_Fan said:


> Danica has been dogged by the same questions since she first started. Are you really a race car driver, or just a pretty celebrity who happens to drive cars.


Regarding Danica... I can't blame her for also trading on her good looks... but it does drive a wedge in accepting her as a driver when she is feeding the frenzy (like the Go Daddy commercial). From the beginning I took her seriously as a competitor, as she always talked a good game and seemed knowledgable and serious... so I'm glad she has a success now and perhaps can build more. Then, I think much of the controversy will go away and she will be like any other driver on the circuit.


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## Sharkie_Fan (Sep 26, 2006)

HDMe said:


> Regarding Danica... I can't blame her for also trading on her good looks... but it does drive a wedge in accepting her as a driver when she is feeding the frenzy (like the Go Daddy commercial). From the beginning I took her seriously as a competitor, as she always talked a good game and seemed knowledgable and serious... so I'm glad she has a success now and perhaps can build more. Then, I think much of the controversy will go away and she will be like any other driver on the circuit.


I'm in 100% agreement with you here. Though, I think, to some extent, her commercial appeal has been sensationalized because she's a woman. We see men pitching products all the time. She's out there pitching products, being seen in "famous" circles, and faces the questions about what career she's really pursuing.

Michael Waltrip is a very good comparison to Danica in this regard. He hasn't seen huge success as a Winston/Nextel/Sprint cup driver. He went years upon years without a victory, but his name, coupled with his fantastic personality, got him commercial endorsements. But you never heard questions as to whether he was a race car driver.

Again, being a woman in a "male world", she's under a microscope - to a much larger extent than males with similar success are. I think she knew that going in though, and that's probably why she handled it so well And she does have a very good support system around her, with her parents and husband there every step of the way.


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## fluffybear (Jun 19, 2004)

I am happy to see Danica finally won a race but I almost wish she hadn't. The media whores over at ESPN/ABC who have an obvious love affair for Danica will be talking about it for months/years. It was nearly 2 years before they stopped talking her leading laps at the Indy 500. Yawn, even I can lead laps at Indy (just don't pit when everyone else does).
This win by no means catapults her to the ranks of the elite. Yes, she is the first woman to win an IRL race (and I am happy for her) but when it comes to great female drivers, Danica hasn't even earned the right to lick the stilettos of someone like Shirley McDowney. Give it a couple more wins and we will talk again.


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## fluffybear (Jun 19, 2004)

Sharkie_Fan said:


> Michael Waltrip is a very good comparison to Danica in this regard. He hasn't seen huge success as a Winston/Nextel/Sprint cup driver. He went years upon years without a victory, but his name, coupled with his fantastic personality, got him commercial endorsements. But you never heard questions as to whether he was a race car driver.


Michael has a couple of things going for him

1) The name Waltrip. Anyone who watched NASCAR knows the name Waltrip. However, most will associate with Darrell (who made it a point when he was racing to be a loud mouth) and not is younger brother.

2) Michael won the Daytona 500 in which Dale Earnhardt tragically died in.

3) A second Dayton 500 win

Danica wins the Indy 500 and all questions about her ability will go out the window. This win is start but by no means qualifies her to be considered elite.


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## Lee L (Aug 15, 2002)

Yeah, I will have to agree that Michael Waltrip is not that great of a driver, but he has won a few races and with 2 Daytona 500 wins he will always get respect.

I am happy to see Danica win. Every interview I have heard her give, she sounds like a genuinely nice person.


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## djlong (Jul 8, 2002)

Now that you mention it, Danica seems to have more in common with Michael Waltrip.

For years, Waltrip's only win was in a non-points race - "The Winston" - back quite a few years ago. He had the longest-running winless streak around when he finally won the 500 (most people going a lot less time without a win are dropped). At that point, nobody questioned him - he showed his talent when he had good equipment (from DEI).

So now Danica has won a race with a smaller starting field since the final 'other' open wheel race was scheduled in Long Beach. I can see her still being questioned a bit - and it would be nice if she silenced all critics just like Waltrip did - if she could win the Indy 500.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

I know some of the pressure on Danica comes from being a woman in a "man's sport" and also because of her sometimes capitalizing more on her appearance than her talent in the sport.

But I also believe a lot of the "when will she win" comes from her hype.

Remember Tiger Woods in golf... was a phenom on the amateur circuit, so when he turned pro there were lots of "when is he going to win" rants very early in his career. Lots of folks were seemingly stunned that he didn't immediately dominate, as if that is what would be required to be good.

To some extent this is where Danica has been as well... people hearing all the hype and then asking "if she is so great when will she win"... but IF anyone actually dug into stats for all the racers, they'd probably find other racers who also haven't won in the time since Danica came on board, but no "when will he win" rants about those guys.

So had she been a guy and not been "Go Daddy" she may very well still have been in the focus if people had jumped on her train as being the next big thing... but pile all of that together, and you get the mess that had been Danicapalooza until she won.

If she doesn't win again, most of that should still be done... but if she even wins one more time it should be gone permanently.


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