For race fans, Memorial Day Weekend is racing heaven! It all starts Sunday around the noon hour with the Indy 500 which is followed by the Coca Cola 600 in the top NASCAR series. Pure speed with 1,100 miles of going fast and turning left. Just as usual, this year provided lots of speed, action, and story lines. The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat were present in everyone’s mind. Scott Dixon, who lost the IRL championship last year on the fourth corner of the final lap of the final race when he ran out of gas, took the checkered flag in the 92nd running of the Indy 500. He outlasted, and out ran the Indy car field for most of the day. On the NASCAR side, there were many leader changes. Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle, I Don’t Know How To Drive, Busch, his brother, Kurt, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, and a few others all ran up front. In the end, it was a Kasey Kahne sweep as he not only won the Coca Cola 600 but was also the winner of the All Star Race one week earlier.
While race leaders all provide great story lines, I want to address Danica “Cry Baby” Patrick and her uncalled for actions at the Indy 500 this year. Two female storylines are rising to the top after Sunday’s race. One centers around Sarah Fisher, while the other centers around Patrick.
First, let’s consider Sarah Fisher. A great Indy car driver, but one who decided not to pursue the sex symbol status like Patrick. As a result, Fisher finds herself fielding her own team this year. During the month of May at Indy, it was an uphill battle. Especially after her primary sponsor, who signed a deal with her, decided to back out of the deal. I would hope Fisher’s lawyers have some lawsuits underway. After that set back, she scurried around, found some sponsor money, and even had fans handing her money just because she’s an underdog in a big money game. In the end, she was doing fairly well. But, an unfortunate accident took her out of the race. After emerging from the infield care center, a very emotional Sarah Fisher did her best to keep her emotions in check. Through tear filled eyes, she said she’s now needs to figure out if she can pull money together for the race in Kentucky.
Many are picking on Sarah Fisher for the fact that she cried. I’m sorry, but this is simply uncalled for. Sarah Fisher just can’t catch a break in a big-boys sport and she was showing raw emotion after a very trying month. Against all odds, she put herself out there to not only race in the Indy 500, but was also making plans to race the entire season. That may now be gone because of a sponsor deal gone bad, and being caught up in a crash that took her out of the field.
On the other hand, another female racer who spends more time sporting a bathing suit than a racing suit, is heralded as a tough competitor for her actions during the race. Danica Patrick, who always looks like she’s mad at someone and carries a huge chip on her shoulder, was involved in a racing accident on pit road. As she was leaving the very narrow pit lane exit, she was clipped by another driver pulling out of his pit box. This was going on all day. Patrick was not the only driver to be clipped at some point during the day. But, for Danica “Cry Baby” Patrick, she responded in a very unsportsman like way. She may not have been shedding real tears, but she certainly was acting like a cry baby. After being pushed back to her pit stall, she bails out of her car and starts walking down pit road toward the pit stall of the driver that clipped her. What in the world did she plan to do? Did she figure she was going to pick a fight with the driver or someone on his crew? Come on Danica. Did you plan to pull out your lipstick and use it as a sword?
It’s time for Ms Patrick to grow up. It was a racing accident and it had been happening all day. Maybe it’s time to realize just because you might look good in a swimsuit, the big boys are not going to simply move over and let you by.
Just my two cents,
Dr. Rus
While you are correct that there was nothing wrong with Sarah Fisher’s display of emotion and that Danica needs to grow up a bit, your suggestion that Danica got to where she is by choosing to go the “sex symbol” route is just wrong. I’ll assume that you did not know she’s been racing Karts from an early age, that she raced formula cars in Europe (the most competitive development environment in the world) or that she raced in Toyota Atlantics prior to making the jump to Indy cars. She’s paid her dues just as much as Dan Wheldon, Scott Dixon or Tony Kanaan has. Sarah Fisher is a good driver who raced sprints and midgets prior to driving Indy Cars, a path traditionally more suitable for NASCAR than Indycar. It is obvious to just about anyone who really follows racing that Danica is the better driver. Does she get more attention because she’s willing to pose in Sports Illustrated and do Go Daddy commercials? Sure. Do a lot of people object to that? Sure. That’s fine. But don’t suggest that if the roles were switched and Sarah Fisher decided to show a little leg, she’d be driving for a top shelf team like Danica. BTW…you forgot to mention the Monaco Grand Prix is also run on Memorial Day, F1’s biggest race of the year.
To the Anonymous Post Comment;
Yes, I’m fully aware of Danica’s journey to the Indy Car series. However, once she arrived in the series, she either allowed others to “tart” her up, or she decided to “tart” herself up. I did not say she got to where she is now by going to a “sex symbol,” but that is where she is at now. These days she seems to cry “foul” more than anything else. Whether it’s the racing accident on pit row, or the fact that the series has decided to “weight” the cars. She thinks everyone is against her.
As you did say you agreed with me on this point — She needs to grow up.
You are also correct in pointing out the journey of Sarah Fisher seems more suited for NASCAR. But alas, that could be another post for another day. The “Good ol Boys” really don’t like lady drivers. Just ask Janet Guthrie about that.
As for missing the Monaco Grand Prix, oops! Sorry about that. I forgot about that race.
Keep reading!
Dr. Rus
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI
Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>