RON430

To some people, the "ton of pressure" she is under is accompanied by a "ton of money" she is getting because she is a woman that a male driver wouldn't be getting with her record. May not be fair but I can sure understand both sides of the argument. I wasn't paying a lot of attention to the broadcast but the decision to duck into the pits for the top up before going green on that last yellow wasn't hers as I recall. I was sort of flabbergasted that she was the only one that did it. She was able to duck into the pits, top up, and still restart fifth (as I recall) - somebody was pretty shrewd. But the record books just record wins and a win is a win. Being in position to take advantage of fuel mileage makes it a win as far as I am concerned. Races don't go to the fastest a lot of the time.

There are also people who are of the opinion that she isn't agressive enough on restarts or have a real inclination to go wheel to wheel for a bunch of laps if that is what it takes to win. Are those opinions valid? Who knows? Let's just see how long it takes her to get number two, especially with the Champ Car guys thrown into the mix. No matter what anyone thinks of her racing career, she is going to do very well with her endorsements.

CK6Speed

iTrader: (1)

She actually talked about that a bit. The strategy to pit at the end of the caution was a gamble and a team strategy. So yes, it wasn't her call. According to her though, her instructions were to hit a specific fuel consumption to be able to make it to the end. She saved enough fuel that she didn't have to be conservative at the very end like some of the other racers who may not have been able to finish if they went full tilt. For that, she did her part of the job well. We all as race fans know that it takes the entire team to win a race, but the driver will get all the praise.

My opinion is a lot of the media attention to her in the past have been overblown. Yesterdays win; however, deserved the media attention because the fact is she did make history. I work in the TC Broadcasting and I would say that news was more news worthy than a lot of other stuff we and others put on the air.


PS. As for her record, I still don't think it is that bad at all. One of my current favorite drivers in F1 is Jenson Button since he began driving for BAR/Honda (Now Honda). How long did it take for him to win his first race?

DriftGirl

iTrader: (6)

more money=more pressure (or mo' problems )

Plus, guys have waaay more advantages over females overall in the world....PERIOD.

but if we're just talking INDY CAR:
2005: 17 starts 9 top ten finishes. 12 overall ( rookie of the year in points)
2006: 13 starts 10 top ten finishes. and 9th overall
2007: 17 starts 15 top ten finishes and 7th overall
2008: 3 starts 3 top ten

So far: 39 out 50 top ten finishes....pretty good record?


But TODAY...Danica has an AIRPLANE



dang, I wanna a freakin plane!!

RON430

I'm pretty neutral on the whole Danica thing. She wants to play lumberjack in a male dominated sport she's going to have to learn to handle her end of hte log. There are a lot of drivers who never get a win so she deserves credit for her win.

As for top 10s in IRL, I am not very impressed. IRL fields are not exactly NASCAR fields. You could look at top 10s in IRL and bottom 10s ( I don't think they have had too many 20+ car fields other than Indy but could be wrong) and my guess is you will find it is as important what team you race for than anything. When she was with Rahal, they had the hot setup in chassis and particularly engine for a while. She jumped to another top team and I would expect top 10s where she is. After this, she should be consistently moving up to top 5s IMO.

Once again, I can't say I follow the open wheel soap opera in the US but now that Champ Car has thrown in the towel and we are back to one series, the fields and the talent may become a deeper pool. Nothing wrong with her record to this point, might argue that that year she qualified so well at Indy she should have done better with the equipment she had but that isn't too big a deal, but let's see how she does going forward. For me, I would hope that she isn't going to have a career that is one win for every 50 starts. That's not much of a record for the teams she has been able to drive for to this point.

Gojirra99

Danica Patrick Talks About Historic Win on XM Satellite Radio's 'Andretti Green Racing Hour'



WASHINGTON, DC UNITED STATES



WASHINGTON, April 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- In an exclusive
interview on XM Satellite Radio, IndyCar Series superstar Danica Patrick
will talk about her historic win at the Indy Japan 300 on the XM show she
co-hosts with her fellow members of the Andretti Green Racing (AGR) team on
Tuesday, April 22.

Patrick, who became the first woman to win a major auto racing event on
a closed course with her April 20 victory, can be heard on the "Andretti
Green Racing Hour" on XM Sports Nation (XM Channel 144) Tuesday from 7:00
pm to 8:00 pm ET.

Following the special edition of the program, the XM Sports Nation
channel will replay the Indy Japan 300 from 8:00 pm to 10:00 pm ET. During
the replay AGR team manager Kyle Moyer and XM Sports Nation host Joe
Castello will talk about the strategy and behind-the-scenes action that
played out during the race. After the replay XM will air an encore
presentation of the "Andretti Green Racing Hour" 10:00 pm-11:00 pm ET.

XM is the exclusive satellite radio provider of the IndyCar Series and
a major associate sponsor of AGR's No. 7 Honda-powered Dallara driven by
Patrick. XM premiered the "Andretti Green Racing Hour" in 2007.

"Danica Patrick is a superstar who has worked tirelessly to become a
champion, and the entire XM family congratulates Danica on this huge
victory," said Kevin Straley, XM senior vice president of news, sports, and
talk programming. "If you missed the race this weekend, you can hear the
full replay on Tuesday night, and you can hear Danica tell what it's like
to make history."

The next IndyCar Series race will air on XM this Sunday at 5:00 pm ET
on the IndyCar Series channel (XM 145) live from Kansas Speedway.

XM airs more than 5,000 live sporting events annually, including every
IndyCar Series race, every Major League Baseball game, every National
Hockey League game, college sports from all six power conferences, and PGA
TOUR events. XM also airs sports talk on the 24-hour channels XM Sports
Nation, MLB Home Plate, NHL Home Ice, ESPN Radio, ESPN Xtra, Fox Sports
Radio, and the Spanish-language sports channel XM Deportivo.

About XM

XM (Nasdaq: XMSR) is America's number one satellite radio company with
more than 9 million subscribers. Broadcasting live daily from studios in
Washington, DC, New York City, Chicago, Nashville, Toronto and Montreal,
XM's 2008 lineup includes more than 170 digital channels of choice from
coast to coast: commercial-free music, premier sports, news, talk radio,
comedy, children's and entertainment programming; and the most advanced
traffic and weather information.

XM, the leader in satellite-delivered entertainment and data services
for the automobile market through partnerships with General Motors, Honda,
Hyundai, Nissan, Porsche, Ferrari, Subaru, Suzuki, Infiniti and Toyota, is
available in 140 different vehicle models for 2008. XM's industry-leading
products are available at consumer electronics retailers nationwide. XM
programming is also available through XM Radio Online, as downloads of
original XM shows via podcasts from XM's Web site or the Apple's iTunes
Store, and as streams of commercial-free XM music channels to AT&T and
Alltel wireless customers through XM Radio Mobile. For more information
about XM hardware, programming and partnerships, please visit
http://www.xmradio.com/.

Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those
in the forward-looking statements in this press release include demand for
XM Satellite Radio's service, the Company's dependence on technology and
third party vendors, its potential need for additional financing, as well
as other risks described in XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc.'s Form 10-K
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on 2-28-08. Copies of the
filing are available upon request from XM Radio's Investor Relations
Department. Programming is subject to change.



SOURCE XM

LexFather

To be honest she has me watching the sport(s). Before her, I rarely if ever watched it. Its curiosity really, but I find myself rooting for her.