If Danica Patrick Weren’t So Smokin’ Hot …
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Jul 06, 2008
SI.com
“She’d be Darren Manning,” is one response.
“She’d be chokin’ on Sarah Fisher’s exhaust,” is another.
“She’d be on the other side of the pit wall where all those women belong, because high-end auto racing is a man’s job and women will never be any good at it. And besides, we don’t want them here anyway,” is the third response.
I think it says what 90 percent of Patrick’s fellow drivers believe but would never admit even to themselves, unless you poured a gallon of sodium pentothal down their throats.
Indianapolis 500 winner Scott Dixon declared her a “menace. ” Ed Carpenter labeled her “the new Scott Sharp. ” Both criticisms apparently rose from Patrick’s alleged habit of blocking other drivers on the track.
Ed Carpenter taking shots at Danica Patrick is like some guy from the Des Moines Repertory Company taking shots at Robert DeNiro.
If Dixon, Carpenter or anyone who secretly snipes at Patrick behind her back had their heads screwed on even halfway straight, they’d realize she’s putting money in their pockets that wouldn’t be there otherwise.
No, she’s no Wheldon or Dixon or Helio Castroneves on the track. But she’s no Marty Roth, either. So far this year she’s won once and finished in the top 10 in six of eight races, and she is fifth in the points standings.
In other words: The woman can drive. She’s also raising the profile of her sport, whether she deserves the attention or not. And in the long run that’ll make everyone richer, her detractors included.
