Frickin Women Drivers

[Mirroredshades]

LoL !!!!





















Kyle Petty says that Danica Patrick can't drive.

:funniest:



Ummm...... Hello? Pot? This is Kettle.

Danica Patrick may be in her first full season in the Sprint Cup Series, but former driver Kyle Petty says she's not a race car driver.
Appearing on SPEED's RaceHub, Petty was on with host Matt Clark. When the discussion shifted to Patrick, Petty called her a marketing machine, a phrase he's used to describe the 30-year-old driver many times before. Then Clark asked Petty where Patrick was as a driver.
"That’s where I have a problem. Where fans have bought into the hype of the marketing, to think she’s a race car driver," Petty said. "She can go fast, and I’ve seen her go fast. She drives the wheels off it when she goes fast."
Petty, who is also an analyst on TNT's Sprint Cup coverage continued after he was asked if she's learned to race.
"She’s not a race car driver.There’s a difference. The King (Richard Petty, Kyle's father) always had that stupid saying, but it’s true, ‘Lots of drivers can drive fast, but very few drivers can race.’ Danica has been the perfect example of somebody who can qualify better than what she runs. She can go fast, but she can’t race. I think she’s come a long way, but she’s still not a race car driver. And I don’t think she’s ever going to be a race car driver."
"Because I think it’s too late to learn."
While Petty is certainly entitled to think what he wants about Patrick as a race car driver, using her qualifying position relative to her racing position isn't necessarily the best argument. Through 26 races in the Sprint Cup Series, Patrick's average finish of 26.8 is 6.8 positions better than her average starting position.
Yes, part of that reason is because Patrick has qualified poorly – her average starting position is 32nd this season – but that still runs counter to Petty's argument.
As someone who faced weighty expectations because of his father's incredible success, Petty knows what it's like to struggle in the NASCAR spotlight too. While Richard Petty won 200 NASCAR races, Kyle won eight Sprint Cup Series races and 1992 was his only season with multiple victories. To his credit, Petty is open about that – calling himself a "journeyman" driver during the segment as the topic transitioned to the differences between good and great drivers. But those adjectives were never used in the conversation about Patrick.
In the final 10 seasons of his career, Petty drove for his father's team, Petty Enterprises, after stints with the Wood Brothers, Felix Sabates and his own team. You could make the argument that the Petty Enterprises equipment in that span wasn't as good as Patrick's Stewart-Haas cars are relative to the field this season, but it's worth pointing out that Patrick's average finishing position this season (25.8) is better than Petty's average finish in seven of those 10 seasons.



Y! SPORTS (http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/kyle-petty-says-danica-patrick-not-race-car-010709102.html)

[DAB]

her reply:

Y! SPORTS (http://sports.yahoo.com/news/notebook-danica-patrick-responds-kyle-211124196--nascar.html)


By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service
Distributed by The Sports Xchange

SPARTA, Ky.-There was one aspect of Kyle Petty's criticism that Danica Patrick found downright comical.

"I just think that it's funny how he said that I can qualify but I can't race, because those of you who actually watch what I do would know that I can't qualify for crap," Patrick said Friday at Kentucky Speedway when asked about Petty's critical comments a day earlier. "So it's a little bit funny."

In an interview on SPEED, Petty said of Patrick, "She's not a race car driver. ... She can go fast, but she can't race. I think she's come a long way, but she's still not a race car driver. And I don't think she's ever going to be a race car driver."

Petty also referred to Patrick as "just a marketing machine," something the driver-turned-analyst has been saying ever since Patrick announced her intention to move from IndyCar to NASCAR more than three years ago.
Clearly, Patrick realizes that one consequence of her celebrity - and of being the only female driver in a field of 43 - is becoming a target for criticism.
"I really don't care, I don't," Patrick said. "It's true that there are plenty of people that say really bad things about me. I hear about them, or I read them, or read them on Twitter - people want me to die - but at the end of the day, you just get over that kind of stuff and all you can do is trust that you're doing a good job. That's all that matters, and that people around you believe in you."
Petty's comments notwithstanding, Patrick believes she's making progress. She won the pole for the season-opening Daytona 500. She ran 12th at Martinsville in April and 13th two weeks ago at Michigan.

The most important thing to me is that I can keep my team happy," Patrick said. "We're moving in the right direction. (Sponsor) GoDaddy's happy.
"And then, when you walk out of the garage or walk around the track and you meet a little girl who wants to grow up to be like you, you're doing something right."

Dale Earnhardt Jr., who co-owned the car Patrick drove in the Nationwide Series, also came to the driver's defense.

"I have to disagree with Kyle," Earnhardt said. "I think she's a tough competitor, and she works really hard at what she does. She has run some really good races. On every occasion, she is outrunning several guys out on the circuit. If she was not able to compete, or not able to run minimum speed or finshing in last place every week, I think you might be able to say Kyle had an argument.

"But she's out there running competitively and running strong on several accounts. I think that she has a good opportunity and a rightful position in the sport to keep competing - and she just might surprise even Kyle Petty."

RACING THE BLUES
Friday night's NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Kentucky Speedway carries specific significance beyond who wins and loses and how many championship points the drivers earn.

The Feed the Children 300 will establish the eligibility of the first four drivers for the series' lucrative "Dash 4 Cash" program, the first step on a path that could lead to a $1-million payday.

The top four drivers earning Nationwide Series championship points at Kentucky - in other words, those competing for the series title - earn Dash 4 Cash eligibility for the July 5 NNS race at Daytona. There, the highest finisher among those four will collect a $100,000 bonus and earn eligibility in the following race July 13 at New Hampshire, along with the three other highest finishing drivers to receive championship points at Daytona.

The format continues through races at Chicagoland (July 21) and Indianapolis (July 27). Should one driver win the first three $100,000 Dash 4 Cash bonuses and then win the Indianapolis race outright, that driver would receive a total of $1 million.

To Nationwide regular Justin Allgaier, the Dash 4 Cash program adds spice to the racing, especially since there's an easy way to identify the four eligible drivers in a given race.

"The four drivers that are eligible have a blue windshield banner and a blue spoiler," Allgaier told the NASCAR Wire Service. "I can tell you that blue really fits in with a lot of paint schemes - not all of them - and so, especially with the guys where the blue doesn't match, you know exactly where they are on the race track at all times. ...

"I think you have to change your style of racing. You're going to maybe take some chances at those races or push yourself a little bit harder, just because of those bonuses, than you would if you were just running for points on a normal day."

Fans also have a chance to share the wealth, by registering at Dash 4 Cash (http://www.NASCAR.com/Dash4Cash). Four individuals will be chosen to receive an all-expenses-paid trip to the race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The four fans will be paired at random with the four eligible drivers, and the fan whose driver wins the cash bonus also will earn $100,000.

TIME TO GET TESTY
Jimmie Johnson, comfortably atop the NASCAR Sprint Cup points standings, would like to see Hendrick Motorsports save its four allotted tests at Cup tracks for venues in the Chase - unless a test will help a teammate qualify for the playoff.

Johnson, however, realizes that other organizations won't have that luxury, especially if they're on the Chase bubble.

"The other teams in that bubble area - you'll see a lot of tests and you'll hear a lot about testing," Johnson said Friday at Kentucky Speedway. "Teams have been very smart about preserving test sessions.

"And as we get closer to the Chase, I think you'll see a lot of teams in that 8-to-14 or 8-to-12 range using those test sessions to make sure they have good finishes and collect a lot of points."

[Kerrmudgeon]

Isn't Kyle the guy who would have melt downs on the track, and pick fights with the other drivers? Nobody liked racing him, and if I remember right, didn't he cause quite a few crashes? Sounds like he's a little bit jealous of Danica. :yesnod:

[JRD77VET]

I think Kyle is right. There is a difference between somebody out on the track and a true race car driver.

She running basically middle of the pack. A couple good finishes but hell, Kyle Petty won races. ( 8 to be exact)

[Stevedun]

I think Kyle is right. There is a difference between somebody out on the track and a true race car driver.

She running basically middle of the pack. A couple good finishes but hell, Kyle Petty won races. ( 8 to be exact)

Kyle would have never been heard of if not for the Petty name. Get real! Danica has a long way to go and may not be a top driver, but she could probably show up and hang with Kyle on the track. He should find another subject to talk about, even though he is an expert on being a non-driver.

[JRD77VET]

Kyle would have never been heard of if not for the Petty name. Get real! Danica has a long way to go and may not be a top driver, but she could probably show up and hang with Kyle on the track. He should find another subject to talk about, even though he is an expert on being a non-driver.

The only reason Danica made it to NASCAR was because she's a woman. What gave her an advantage in Indycar was the just the car had to weigh a specific amount. She being a small framed, light driver, gave her an advantage in the open wheel ranks.

It all comes down to the cards you're handed.

Plus if you read the first article ( by Kyle), he does admit he was just a journeyman driver, not a great race car driver.