Hanging out w/ Danica...

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kompressornsc

New member
Okay, maybe I wasn't really 'hanging out' with her, but I did attend a luncheon in her honor today. The media around her was insane-5 or 6 TV cameras in her face the whole time. I think she said she had done 56 TV interviews in 48 hours. And she is so tiny! They list her at 5', 100 lb., but there is no way.



Also there were Sebastian Bourdais, Tomas Enge, Patrick Carpentier (he's probably under 5' tall as well), Jeff Bucknam, Ryan Briscoe, Phillipe Giafonne, Johnny Rutherford, Donald Davidson and Tom Carnigie. My friend that went with me was supposed to bring his camera & forgot. Ugh.



And tomorrow I have to go to my glass etcher and pick up the milk bottle that the winner takes the traditional drink of milk from each year-hope I don't drop it.



;)
 
Cool! You going to the race? Got any hookups for gasoline alley or any of the fancy tents? :) :p We moved our seats last year from H stand down to about 15 feet past the yard of bricks.. Really awesome seats. Nice to be under cover.



Saw her on Letterman last night.. Hopefully she'll do better than Sarah Fisher who seems to wreck each year.
 
Danica Patrick, yeah she was on Letterman lastnight. I'm looking forward to watching her race, but I bet she hits the wall. I wish her no ill will or anything but it seems she has something she wants to prove.



JJ
 
perry said:
Cool! You going to the race? Got any hookups for gasoline alley or any of the fancy tents? :) :p We moved our seats last year from H stand down to about 15 feet past the yard of bricks.. Really awesome seats. Nice to be under cover.



Saw her on Letterman last night.. Hopefully she'll do better than Sarah Fisher who seems to wreck each year.
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Not this year. :( I go on Sunday morning & buy scalped tickets.



Danica will do well if she can get lucky and avoid all the things that drivers have no control over-she's actually a really good driver and has been driving in Europe for a long time. Fisher was a star because she was a woman. Patrick will be a star becasue she's a good driver.
 
She's a cutey. I see her on Power Block on Spike TV on Saturdays if I can catch a few episodes of Hot Rod TV, etc...



I think she qualified with a speed of 223mph or something near that.
 
kompressornsc said:
... They list her at 5', 100 lb., but there is no way....
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Built for speed.



And I mean that in a technical way, not a chauvinist pig way (although that works too, she is cute).



Chassis engineers would much rather have small-framed drivers. They require less “wasted� cockpit volume that could otherwise be dedicated to something useful like structural triangulation.



An IRL car with partial load of fuel weighs in around 1600lbs. The difference between a 100lbs. Driver and a 180lbs. Driver is about 5% of the total vehicle weight. That’s 5% less mass for the engine to push, the brakes to haul down and the tires to hold sideways. What team wouldn’t kill for a 5% advantage?





PC.
 
Saw her on the Powerblock today, yeah she is a cutie. Shes gotta have a big advantage over a guy like me, all other things considered, as you're looking at about 120 pounds of ballast that you can place in the most structurally advantageous point, rather than up in the cockpit.
 
Was that a helluva race or what?!?!?! The crowd was on their feet with 25 laps to go and Danica in the lead. She had a ballsy crew chief that had her make her last pit stop with 40 to go. Ended up paying off as she went from around 9th place to finally finish 4th.



Saw Janet Guthrey badmouthing her this morning, but I think Danica will give the league a much needed kick in the ***. What she did today was just awesome.



Dan Wheldon was my Uncle's man so we were cheering for him anyways. We were right across from his pit so we were really paying attention as he moved up all day.



Seeing Reggie Miller on the starter's stand was pretty cool and he seemed to have a blast. The crowd really appreciated him too... "REGGIE! REGGIE! REGGIE!" And so did the Archbishop of Indianapolis that said a prayer before the race.. "Lord, please bless the drivers and Reggie."



After last year, I wasn't all that excited to go this year. But I can't wait for next year!



Now time to relax and watch the race on TV and see what all I missed.
 
I was disappointed in her interviews.. she said she doesn't want to be just another pretty professional athlete, that she wants to be seen for her track skills, not her "attributes", yet she does the sexy photo shoots in various "guy" magazines. Does she want her cake and eat it too?



I'd love for a good female athlete to say "No" to the sexual sterotyping that always goes on. Anna K, Sharipova (sp?) (tennis, both), and now Danica... give our young girls something to look forward to other than having to get half dressed to be taken seriously as an athlete.



But, it was a great race, and, for being my first time at IMS, it was a surreal experience (working the EMS side, I got to be down in the pits and garage, and got to drive on track on Friday... it's a perk that offsets the low pay we typically make <G>).
 
But racing is also about money. And Danica can bring in the money (sponsors) because of her looks. I hate to say it, but if she was unattractive, she would not have the ride she does simply because she could not generate the press that she can now. And press is good for sponsors (who knew who Argent Mortgage was until this May?), so they pour more money in. More money = better equipment.



And it was a great race, but my knees are sunburned. :)
 
She's doing what the fans want, and without fans, the sport wouldn't exist. I can't remember when there was a buzz around the race like there was this year and I've been to 13 or 14 races. The other women to compete seemed to be more of a publicity stunt, but Danica had a real chance to win. Saw David Letterman in the rebroadcast and it looked like he was almost in tears.



Overcoming the stall in the pits, brushing wheels a/ Matsura, and the mishap on the north chute to still come in 4th with a real chance at winning? Takes more than luck... Hopefully Rahal / Letterman can afford to keep her for a couple more years so she doesn't escape to another series.



Searching Danica Patrick on news.google.com brings up over 5000 hits. Dan Wheldon only brings up around 3000.



What happened to Dan Wheldon at the end? We saw him doing burnouts down in the 4th turn, and the next thing we knew he was hanging on to a tow strap. Everyone around me figured he broke something doing the burnouts, but the announcers said he ran out of gas.
 
kompressornsc said:
But racing is also about money. And Danica can bring in the money (sponsors) because of her looks. I hate to say it, but if she was unattractive, she would not have the ride she does simply because she could not generate the press that she can now. QUOTE]



Agreed... but, she's attractive enough in her jumpsuit--we don't need to see her in whatever she was (not) wearing in her magazine shoots for her to sell tickets. Heck, especially NOW, she won't need any more spreads.. just ones of her and the #16.



I guess I'd want my daughter to be able to sell her God-given ability, rather than her God-given attributes. Let men appreciate the skill, rather than the sex. You should (did?) see some of the signs that were being waved "at her"... I'd feel prostituted if my fans were more horny than proud of me.
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I tell ya... those FHM pictures make me want to applaud her accomplishments as a driver. Since when does leather and high heels sell Mortage policies?



A good photo is that of her in the blue jumpsuit... she's cute but not leerable--a photo a parent would be proud to have in the living room. The FHM ones? Leave 'em for the horny teenagers (who can't buy a house) to keep in their lockers or "special place".
 
/edit



My argument sounded really smart in my head, but really dumb on paper :). So I guess I'll just let the more eloquent duke it out about the whole "Danica shouldn't milk being hot" issue.
 
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