This has turned into a gender-based morality play. This has involved liberal use of the b-word. This has been a study in double standards. Did you notice that all three women in the race were sent to the garage because of wrecks initiated by men? Had it been the other way around, the noise would be deafening.
There have been a lot of compelling questions in the days since Patrick’s stroll. Here are some answers:
Was she right to be upset?
Absolutely. No question. I can promise you, if Briscoe had clipped any one of the 30 men in the race, the majority of them would have reacted in a similar way. Maybe they wouldn’t have walked through the pits to confront Briscoe at that very moment, but there would have been some ugliness, probably after the race and back in the garage area.
I’ve asked countless racing aficionados their opinions of the scrape, and I’ve not yet found one who believes it was, in any way, Patrick’s fault. She already was close to the wall when Briscoe spun out and hit her. She had no place to go.
“If I had to put more of the blame on anybody, it would be Ryan, not with regard to the lane as much as his car was out of control,’’ said chief steward Brian Barnhart. “When he broke the rear tires loose and spun it around a little bit, she was trying to give him room.’‘
Was she out of line in the way she reacted?
Given more time to think about it, I’d have to acknowledge that she did cross the line—a little bit. While I loved it for its theatrical quality—and the fact it provided plenty of column fodder—the fact is, she should have taken the fight back behind the pit wall. Or gone to the garage and, after the race, confronted Briscoe there.
One of the things that has been overlooked is that the race was still going on, albeit under a yellow. Briscoe was in his pit box, his crew checking to see if the car could get back into the race. And the pit box she crossed was still hot. If anybody should understand the potential danger of walking on that side of the wall, it’s Patrick, who accidentally ran over a Dale Coyne Racing team member who had wandered there during a practice.
“It’s like walking into traffic on the interstate,’’ Barnhart said. “It’s not a real healthy or safe situation.”
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