Danica & Indy 500

[Don]

Source: AutoWeek.com

" The best thing that could happen for open-wheel racing in America is for Danica Patrick to take that slug of milk in Victory Lane at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday.

Yep, everything would be right in the world--among the fans, the television viewing public or within the corporate marketing boardrooms world wide--if Danica wins the Indianapolis 500.

Think about it: The last dozen years of open-wheel apathy is nearly wiped clean. The near meteoric trajectory of NASCAR could suddenly flatten out. Moms and girls and stick-and-ball fans would flock to watch her race. There would be sports radio cannon fodder for a month, and this is among people who would no more talk about racing than they would chat up women's soccer or synchronized high-diving.

And if I wanted to be completely ecumenical in my wish, I would say the same for the other two women in the 500 field--Sarah Fisher or Milka Duno. I'm not. I am pragmatic and from a racer's standpoint when it comes to talent and top-echelon equipment, they aren't on pace to get the job done.

The publicity from a Danica Patrick victory in the Indianapolis 500 would bring huge benefits to open wheel racing in America, Dutch says. So here is a plea: Tony George, please give the rumored "A.J. pop-off valve" to Danica so she can gain "yet another" unfair advantage (to go with her 100-pound frame).

It would be perfect.

She would hit the talk show circuit with a kind of frenzy not even Brangelina's twins could muster. She finds herself on the cover of magazines around the world. She fires up personal endorsements and draws in consumer products to a sport that's been woefully under represented. She gets approached by both political parties to be the vice-presidential running mate.

Not only would a Danica victory make her the first woman to win the Indy 500--only the Greatest Spectacle in Racing--it automatically becomes the single greatest athletic sport feat by a woman in modern history.

Auto racing is a head-to-head, mano-a-mano contest of stamina, strength and smarts contested at 200-plus miles per hour. What else (besides being a jockey perhaps) pits gender against gender straight up?

Speaking of jockeys, let's talk about horse racing and another observation, which goes to Danica's support. I was not in the audience for the recent running of the latest Kentucky Derby where Big Brown took the roses, but I have heard from those who were. To a person I understand that every woman on site chose to place a bet on Eight Belles, the lone filly in the field. She is the one who finished second and who tragically, after fracturing both legs, had to be euthanized on site. (Yes, here is an opportunity for Neanderthal sexists to insert stupid, mindless quote.)

The point: The women at Churchill Downs that day-heck, around the globe-were pulling for a particular horse who was not the field favorite; they had a reason beyond just a race to pay attention to the event. And, sadly, they had real reason to weep openly at its conclusion.

Much is the same case should Danica take the checkers at 16th Street and Georgetown Road in Speedway, Indiana, on Sunday. Only the ones weeping openly will be the other 32 racers in the field who get bested by another racer. "

Dutch Mandel


AutoWeek | Updated: 05/20/08, 12:05 pm et

[Cobrabill]

She'll never win Indy.