Danica Patrick takes historic pole position for Daytona 500

She ran a great race but there is no way she ran half throttle.

 

She was probably half throttle in the draft.

On a side note, the Gen6 cars seem to have some side drafting issues because of the new nose and the way the air comes off it. I wonder if this is something that they take back to the tunnels and look at to see if they can get more stability out of the side drafting?

 

If she was at half throttle she would have been at the back of the pack. I don't doubt she wasn't always running full throttle but half is an exaggerating big time.

 

If you are in line you can run about 3/4 open because you are being both pushed and pulled and as long as you can maintain your line (on the straights), you don't have to be full throttle. As a matter of fact, that is how they conserve fuel.

 

Danica comments had to do with moving down to the bottom and unsure she would get help. Had she slide down with no help they would in her words freight train her to the back as was the case anytime a car would pull out of the pack without help you go to the back quickly.

When Jr made his move Mark Martin went with him the 2 cars together allowed them to move past the other cars and get Jr a 2nd place finish.

Gordon fell to 20th as he could not find anyone to make a move with and yes i think in Danica mind and many people who cover NASCAR a top 10 finish was very important to her at this stage of her NASCAR career.

 

She could have gotten down in front of the 48 and had no worries about getting shuffled to the back. It wasnt like that line was blasting on by, they were just hangin there for a while and she could have gotten right in front of that line. The black #3 would have been all over that spot, but he always drove to win! Biffle prob could have too, but he may have been too far in front of the 48 and felt they would have gotten a run on him. Besides he prob felt like the outside was a better line to be in as the 2nd car.

Super Danica had a good finish and she was up near the front all day. Nothing wrong with her day at all. Its just not some spectacular accomplishment as some are trying to make it out to be. She drove a cautious race and never made any moves to go for it. And recognizing that fact doesnt = hate, its just what happened. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

just about every post of yours DRIPS with it

but then none so blind who will not see

 

Does anyone have video of her taking the pole?

 

BS, every time a car went by itself they got left in the dust. todays plate racing you don't move without a partner just as Dale Jr. and Mark Martin teamed up to get up to the front. You can rag on her all you want but it just makes you look silly. You guys talked last week how she would be blown out and fact is she didn't. Plate racing with cars running bumper to bumer at 200 mph is not easy and the men who race there all say the same thing it is white knucle racing and the lady did an outstanding job. Either you don't understand it or you have some hangup with women in NASCAR.

 

She wouldnt have been by herself. She would have been the car in the front of the inside line.

Sounds more like you are the one that doesnt understand NASCAR.

Ive got nothing against Super Danica, I just watched the race and saw it for what it was. Not bashing her, nor building her up as something she isnt/wasnt.

 

I thought this was hilarious. 5-TIME 5-TIME 5-TIME Jimmy Johnson, #48, and his crew, doing the Harlem Shake after winning the 500

[youtube]82s9PmJOAJ8[/youtube]

 

It's interesting, I watched the race myself this weekend and I have a very good friend who was actually at the race this past weekend with a guy who used to run Busch National Cars some years back. He said two things that, at the time, I agreed with.

1. Was a mistake for Patrick to take on no new rubber in the last pit.

2. Drivers, throughout the race, took wind from the rear of her car.

Because she did not take on fresh rubber, she could not run in the corners. However, it was easy to see that she had enough car to run at the front because she would track the pack down in the straights. People were drafting with her but that's only because she would pull them along. It was not because they were trying to help her IMO. Every time she tried to move to the front, they would back off of her and she would lose the draft. She was afraid and she was right to be so. She new that if she tried to make a pass on the front runners, she would get freight trained. She absolutely would have and it showed. Number 1 is not her call really. That was a crew chief call IMO. They wanted to lead some laps and they did. I'm certain that they figured out that nobody was going to run with her towards the front and so, the crew chief (rightly so IMO) probably elected to make as many points as they could. The tires she had on the car weren't used up and so he probably elected to stay on the rubber they had and chance position gain on the pit stop. It didn't really help them but it didn't hurt them either.

At the end of the day, I don't really have a problem with what happened out there. She's new to the Series and you pay your dues. That means that people don't have to run with you and they didn't. Suck it up and run strong at the next race. In time, if you are able to run well, eventually people will run with you and you will have a chance to win that kind of race next time maybe. However, those of you who said she can't drive and all that other crap were dead wrong IMO. She has things to learn but she's got plenty of talent and she can drive.

Get used to it boys. Patrick, if she can stick it out, is going to be a top driver IMO.

 

Like Indy Car?

 

I have to laugh how you just cannot let go of the fact a girl is showing your boys she can do it to.

 

who makes the decision on tires? The driver or the Crew chief?

 

Crew chief does

 

Indy/Cart didn't leave Patrick. Patrick left them.

 

It depends on the team. If you have a very experienced driver, the driver can have input, especially in NASCAR, but in the case of Patrick, I'd say (as I did in the original post) that I would guess the Crew Chief, Tony Gibson. More then likely, he would check the mileage on the tires, check things like fuel usage, check with the Pit Crew Chief and ask how the car is handling from Patrick. Then, he would likely make a decision. Teams are different because, as I said, some guys own their own cars and so they call the shots on that. Some teams have drivers that have skins on the wall and they make the call. In this case, neither of those are present so I would guess the Crew Chief would make the call.

 

Was she a top driver there?

You make it sound Michael Jordan leaving the NBA to play baseball.