Having waited over an hour for my anger to subside, I am appalled at the comments the "Princess of Rahal" made about Jaque Lazer. Mr. Lazer didn't get his ride because he looks good in a bikini or the boss has the hots for him ( at least I hope not).
She pinched him and put a wheel into him and caused the wreck in todays IRL race. A few weeks ago she did the same thing to Tony K and he was pissed( only no wreck just put him under the white line). He made mention of it and you'd think she would get the message.After taking Tomas Scheckter and another driver out of the 500 and blaming her crew and everyone else for HER problems, and mommie does too, you'd think she could be a big person and admit the blame and apologize.
I am sick and tired of her spoiled attitude. Jaque Lazer was a National FV Champ in SCCA and worked hard to earn a ride. Danika didn't set the world on fire in the Toyota Atlantic series, not like this new lady Legge.
Her attacke about Lazer looking for rides and she understands why he doesn't have one or is hard to find one was cruel and totally unprofessional.
God Knows AJ IV needs help.
I agree with Chip G and he certainly has a helluva better record as a team then Rahal.
She need to put her nose back in place and get her head out of her........you know.
The cute stuff and novelty has worn off and she in general gives women racers a bad role model and image. Sarah Fisher, Lynn St. James, and Janet Gutherie had skills (Danika has excellent skills, no doubt) but lacks that one most important element...CLASS. They were pros and paid their dues, she was handed the world and expects the universe.
I expect to get some nasty replies, but this is America and I am entitled to my opinion.
I think as racers we don't kick each other and talk trash, leave that to pro wrestling, BB, and FB. We are more a fraternity of speed and we settle things between ourselves not being cry babies and ragging to the media. This degraded the IRL and made it look petty and classless.
there's a lot of truth to what you say, from her talent to her brashness, but....she's young. the maturation process is often retarded in that type of environment. don't expect racers to be so different from any other young pro athlete. but that's just my opinion... i could be wrong.---ric
I don't know which replay you guys watched, but there was at least a car width between Jacques and the white line prior to thier touching wheels. Everything I saw looked like Jacques started to push and just didn't back out of it - if you watch a few frames you can see him drifting up.
I can also say having raced there that when you cross over those "lanes" of asphalt at Cal speedway the car will dart around about a foot (at least with a road course alignment). I was pinched below there white line in 1 there last year - put the line right down the nose - and it it hadn't been the green flag lap we would have been in the fence for sure. As close as the IRL guys race you can expect that kind of stuff a couple of times every event.
Jacques wasn't really faster, and he wasn't fully along side, there were no sudden moves on Danica's part - I'd say he had every opportunity to avoid the crash but didn't.
this whole danika thing has gone on long enough and far enough to show how much in america is packaged and marketed..........i remember when i was in radio - it was "here's the newest song you're GOING to love".......the Beatles eventually decided to pack it in when they realized they could stand around in a studio and just shout out/sing out whatever garbage/anything came to mind in whatever state of mind they were in and it was soon declared to be the newest hit song - they actually abhored the continued job because they knew it was neither music nor art
the headline a few months ago here was "blah-blah wins the whatever 400 - danika finishes sixth" .........excuse me......since when did the media put the sixth place finisher in a headline ???? duh.
what's worse is producers know they are shoving it/her down our throats but they're doing it anyway.
i didn't watch the race - i went to an auto parts store and then worked on my FF
I'm not sure which race which race you were watching but Slamica didn't make a move atleast THAT time. Lazier understeered up into her. It was clear as day! You guys should stop picking on the poor girl. We need her to stay infront of the cameras until the naked pictures come out ! Then she can go away!
First, I am not a big fan of TG, so despite being a casual fan of many of the series past and present drivers I don't normally watch the IRL races. I have watched 1 race + 20 laps since the day after Memorial Day, 2004.
The only reason I am saying this is I don't have a 'your driver wrecked my driver' slant on this one. I like Rahal and Letterman, Lazier also lives less than 3 miles from me in the same city.
The IRL race took place about a stone's throw from my house. Okay, not quite that close, but close enough I could hear when they went to a caution. While wrenching on my car in the garage I heard an extended caution early in the race. After I was done with my car I went to flip on the tube to see what happened, hoping that nobody was seriously hurt (Foyt IV) and there were 20 laps to go, so I watched. The only relevence of the above is to justify to myself why I turned the flippin' IRL race on in the first place....coming clean about something I am not proud of.
Anyway, I see what some would call 'racing', I call it dirty pool. Cars getting pinched down all four below the white line. Knowing what that transition is like, I'm thinking if they don't play nice someone is going to get seriously hurt.
In my opinion the Danica/Lazier crash had absolutely nothing to do with pinching someone down. At the very most, it may have been a "no way he can hold that tight line and keep the speed up, so I'll stay right here" We don't really expect a driver to move up on the exit more than they need to? Big difference between closing the door and holding it wide open. I believe she did neither.
I really hope she didn't really punch, slap or poke him after the fact. Should have let one of her crew guys do it. What would have happened if some poor sap would have puched/slapped/or poked her? Probably should have chose another word instead of poke.
Plain and simple... Catherine Legge is 10 times the driver the brat will ever be. And she has a great personality. I hope they meet on the field of battle soon.
__________________
Jamie Cole
89 Reynard CFC
Only those who risk going too far will ever know how far to go
I don't know Jamie... I'm not knocking Legge's ability to be competitive, but I think she has wrecked as much as she has finished well this season. She tends to drive over people a lot and stick her nose in way late on people. I don't recall Patrick going through so many contacts.
__________________ 2003 VanDiemen FSCCA #29 KeithCarter.net
"Faster and faster, until
the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death."
--Hunter S. Thompson
In listening to the replay, the former IRL/Champ Car racer/commentator said it best - on an oval if the car on the lower side of the racetrack cannot hold their line it is their responsibility to lift and maintain his line. The replays show him drifting up and into Danica left rear wheel causing the accident. Danica came up through the ranks as well and while there is plenty of hype (and associated ticket and advertising sales) around her - she drove a smart clean race up until Lazier's screw-up. She was chopped and forced below the white line by this years Indy 500 champion avoiding a major incident with him and Dixon which showed her ability and poise - try being forced off a banked curve at 210 and controlling your car. She has talent, she's brought thousands of new viewers and attendees to open wheel racing which was on a major downhill slide. I say good for her, good for open wheel racing and focus on the driving not the sex of the driver.
It's rather amazing how people bring the preconceptions with them all the time, and let them blind themselves to what is actually happening right in front of them. They even somehow allow those prejudices change the video image somewhere between their eyes and their brain when watching the replays!
In this case, Jacques was clearly the one at fault. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. Danica's line never varied more than an inch or two in her distance from the white line, and Jacques was all over the place like a drunken sailor. He had been driving "lines" like that the whole race, even when he was by himself!
You don't like Danika? Fine. Your choice. But please get your heads out of your asses and quit blaming her for the media blitz stuff that she has absolutely zero control over.
The media feeding frenzy will do more to promote open wheel racing than anything I can think of offhand- the fact that there are two or more additional good drivers coming (Erin Crocker, Ms. Legge), can only be good for the sport.
Wouldn't it be fun to see a Legge/Patrick duel at the front of the Indy 500 field....think what the press would do with that one. The only problem with the fickle press is that women driving race cars will become old hat routine eventually...
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In memory of Joe Stimola
We've watched Ms. Patrick get run over at Infineon by that suicidal inside late braking gosh I don't think I can stop move, then get taken out by another gosh I think I can hold this pig down low.
This young lady races with the best that IRL has to offer and continues to finish well. The marketing side is another matter. What matters to me is how well she handles the car, not the marketing machine.
a bra trick ?...............darn, and to think i missed it.............maybe i will start watching the IRL after all...........didn't know tony was that hard up for ratings.
WATCH one of those races???? Are you nuts? The Sports Center highlights on the 11 pm news are almost too much to stomach! Thank heavens there is now a 5 month break until the next race.......
Saw some of those sites for this other Richard Pare - I could only wish that I had his level of talent (and paycheck)!
Quote: "Wouldn't it be fun to see a Legge/Patrick duel at the front of the Indy 500 field"
-they'll probably end up crashing each other out.
God, do I really want to wade into this one? One forgets that the only reason Danika and the "Princessmobile" even got to lead at the end in the Indy 500 is because she crashed out two other cars and had to pit early putting her out of step with the rest of the field. If memory serves me correctly it was only after the 16 or so cars in front of her took their scheduled pitstops that she got to lead. She was never in contention for the win...not ever. She didn't have the gas and had to stop before the end. I actually felt sorry for the screaming fans in the stands who were completely clueless...also at least 2 of her pole positions came because faster cars were either penalized or dq'ed for some minor infraction. She's a 100 pounds lighter with the car than her nearest competitor...with that kind of advantage she should have won every race this year...if she really had the talent.
As for Legge, yeah, she won a couple of races this year, but against who? (I've face tougher competitors in regional races). And in a series that started the year in it's dying throes.....with a million bucks on the line next year all kinds of talent will show up. I doubt she'd even get a podium.
Last edited by Thomas Copeland; October 18th, 2005 at 9:52 AM.
Danika is a rookie, but her media hype is that she is the greatest racing hot-shoe rookie ever, with the added bonus of a rack she enjoys displaying in Honda commercials.
So if she puts her self out there, she needs to live up to what she promotes. Just like Villeneuve shooting his mouth of how BAR was going to be #1 etc...
So now everyone is expecting big results from her. I think her marketing brought this on herself. She should have just came into the sport and driven. Leave the bra and g-string shots to the professionals. I don't see Pam Anderson trying to pawn herself off as a race car driver.
I can tolerate the headlines that "Danika Finished 6th". But the Honda commercial and the other sex stuff is not what I want to see when watching a race.
I have to jump in... I am the only female driver in my club right now.. I prefer being one of the guys... There are definitely moments where the gender thing comes in and its all in good fun... I wish I could market my femininity but honestly it should just be driving ability and not what you got... whether that be boobs or balls
I do it for fun, thrill and comraderie.... No big bucks on this level and being 30 I dont think I am going to suddenly break into the big leagues (not that I want to) as a prized female driver... Again it should be on ability not gender...
Any and all Rookies mess up! Pick on them evenly is all I ask!
My 2 cents...
Dani
#24
Lola T440
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Dani
#24 1977 Lola T440
New York
FRCCA Metro Region
"Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting "...holy ****...what a ride!"
As there have been two people and two genders in my FF, I have a few opinions. Assertiveness and agression is respected in men, but looked upon with contempt in women. Thankfully, racing requires more control than pure agression, which lends itself to personalities which I can tolerate on track and off. However, one must be able to go head to head with the strongest and most aggressive at times and people outside the cars involved are subject to passing judgement. Patrick Bedard made a statement about race cars resembling busses because 'so many people inside seem to know what is going on, however, when it is time to unbuckle and get out, there is no one else there.'
I will do the classic thing and leave the incident between the two Drivers to work it out between themselves.
Guys, I have the most respect for women racers, as a former FV pilot I ran clean with many women racers, Lisa Noble, etc. and enjoyed the racing. No one knows a woman from a man with a helmet on.
I agree she can drive a race car. I find fault with the whole public put downs of a fellow racer. You guys saw what you saw, Lazer held his line and Danika tried to pass on the outside, you gotta give room and if, and I say if, Lazer drifted up in the corner, well that happens, and the outside car plans for a move. It appeared to me that Lazer held steady and the Argent car put wheels between Lazers wheels and the shunt occurred. I am not concerned about a racing shunt as such. It was her put down of Lazer and the mention that he had been rideless and a cheap shot and personal. Even football players slap each other's butts after a game and shake hands.
The IRL needs to support each other. Tony K , again mentioned above, had a problem with Patrick pulling the outside move and forcing him under the white line a couple races ago. He didn't slap her or make it personal, he simply stated that that was a rookie mistake the first time she did it, but after 2 times she would face the consequences.
I just think she needs to think about what she says publically and be more diplomatic.
I wish Robbie Gordon would give her some lessons on media realtions and track etiquette.
I'm just not sure what you were watching, but It must have been some other race! I'm no Slamica fan (just want to see the nude pictures) but she did NOTHING wrong in the Lazier crash. The only thing she did wrong in the whole deal is PUNCH HIM IN THE FACE while the two were in the ambulance on the way to the medical center(as reported on Speed news) Male or female this "driver" is unprofessional and just a plain spoiled brat! It's funny when watching her interview after the race she had the same look in her eye that my girlfriend gets once a month!
This young lady races with the best that IRL has to offer and continues to finish well. The marketing side is another matter. What matters to me is how well she handles the car, not the marketing machine.
I just think that it would be nice if somebody with this much attention won something....anything. She never won a thing in Atlantics and was not very good this year unless you count qualifying on ovals. Even then, she usually went straight backwards at the green. I don't care how much they adore you now, eventually, you have to win or people will get tired of you.
I know I will probably get flamed for this, but for a 23 year old rookie, she has kicked a..
Look at the other rookies: Briscoe, Enge. Let's see Enge F1 experience, Briscoe.. Danica some time in FA. Don't forget that she was the highest finishing American ever in the FF Festival. She left home and went to Europe to race on her own at 16.
I would say pretty good mettle for ANYONE.
Personally, I do not find her physically that attrractive (too skinny), so I do not understand why everyone is so hot to see the nude pics.
All the clowns criticizing her could not begin to drive as well as her, so lay off.
Am I sick of Danicamania?? You bet. Is she good for the IRL, given that most of the people in this country do not know a IRL car from a FF, hell yes. She gets the press.
And as far as punching Lazier out, I think racing needs more of that sort of stuff to make it interesting for the general public. No doubt words were exchanged in the meat wagon. I am sick and tired of these robotic gnomes who we watch in victory lane and the entire PC thing. Cale, Bobby and Donnie got NAZCAR in the headlines about 20 years ago at Daytona and look what has happened since.
People want racers to be human and show human emotion. It is what makes all of us interesting.
And as far as punching Lazier out, I think racing needs more of that sort of stuff to make it interesting for the general public.
Good idea Steve! let's just start punching each other out when we have an incident. "Racing needs more of that." Maybe we could award points for it like in olympic boxing. You may be on to something...
You know, I saw a Danika look-a-like (maybe it was her) in that HBO mini-series Rome Sunday night playing Cleopatra. What she did with Titus Polo (let alone ol' Julius C)....Holy Mak-a-ra-la!!! .....(p.s. there was a lot of "slapping" goin' on...)
...
Last edited by Thomas Copeland; October 18th, 2005 at 3:40 PM.
Well, this thread certainly has brought out the male chauvinism!
In this particular incident, Danika was 100% in the right. She was NOT the one weaving, nor did she move even one inch down on Lazier - the videos prove this without question.
The "punch" was nothing more than her poking Lazier in the forehead with her index finger and telling him to start using his brain. THIS version was from the doctor who was in the ambulance with the two of them.
What really seems to be the problem that too many have with here is that this is a young woman who is not afraid to use what assets she has to her advantage. Maybe some of the marketing she has agreed to has been on the risque side, but SO WHAT! Strange how I don't hear the same complaints about the guys who have posed for swimsuit shots!
I guess maybe the real problem is that some guys still can't handle women that are stronger and just as agressive mentally as they are!
That just goes to show you it's not what you know (or how good you are), but who you know...
"The test has come about because of Legge's connections with Kalkhoven who, in addition to running PKV Racing, is also the owner of Cosworth, which supplies engines to Minardi."
__________________ 2003 VanDiemen FSCCA #29 KeithCarter.net
"Faster and faster, until
the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death."
--Hunter S. Thompson
Danika Bratrick
