What's the big deal about women in racing?

[david ring]

Oh, it's just NASCAR that is making a big deal over Danica Patrick (I'm personally happy that she got a ride by the way). The same weekend she is getting all that press, two women pull down wins in Phoenix (SS and TAD). Oh yeah, over here in drag racing, a woman winning is not a big deal because it happens all the time-take that you circle track Janey-Come-Latelies!

[CycloneFE]

Here Here! Well put Dave.

[Andys dad]

I thought we did make a big deal out of Courtney Force (Ashley and others) - when they are a PRO racer as Danika is

Don't kill me but I think it takes guts to run in a 20 car pack of 200 MPH 3500 lb cars - bumper to bumper and door to door

Come on guys give here just a little credit

Just because she is good looking and leveraging her looks dose not mean she can't drive

It is not her fault - good looks (sex) sells


:-) peace

[FED 387]

if ya will notice there were several ladies that attempted to qualify for the 500----Now if Danica was just another pretty face in the crowd and had no attachments to Go Daddy.com but was either unsponsored or had say Wallys Fish Mkt as her primary sponsor do ya think she would be getting the coverage/exposure she is??? GoDaddy is spending a ton of money in racing and they are doing all the PR they can to not only promote Danica but if ya notice she has GoDaddy all over her uniform so even if ya do not like or care for Danica their logo is splattered all over the TV screen ---its called advertising folks---we will see how this all plays out over the course of the season but remember you're gonna see lotsa GoDaddy .com logos wether she wins or finishes last---sorta like John who???---they show him spending time withe grand kids,riding his bike ,whatever. It takes time away from the other advertisers/racers and focuses more on Castrol/Ford

[jwsamuel]

Originally Posted by FED 387

if ya will notice there were several ladies that attempted to qualify for the 500----

There were four women IN last year's 500. Danica Patrick, Ana Beatriz, Pippa Mann and Simona de Silvestro. There have only been women in drag racing for what, 50 years now?

But Patrick gets all the attention. It's not because of her sponsorship. It has more to do with her looks, her appearances in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue, etc. The GoDaddy sponsorship is because she gets so much attention.

Jim

[Dinsdale]

She's doing something right. Apparently the third highest income for a female sports person at 12 million bucks! (Forbes magazine 2011)

[Lew Silverman]

Originally Posted by david ring

Oh, it's just NASCAR that is making a big deal over Danica Patrick (I'm personally happy that she got a ride by the way). The same weekend she is getting all that press, two women pull down wins in Phoenix (SS and TAD). Oh yeah, over here in drag racing, a woman winning is not a big deal because it happens all the time-take that you circle track Janey-Come-Latelies!

I think the big deal, in NASCAR anyway, has been an almost total lack of gender or ethnic diversity in their Professional series! It's always been a male-dominated sport at that level, much like drag racing used to be. NASCAR recently hired a Vice-President of Diversity and started a program for bringing more ethnic minorities and women into the sport, starting on the local level.

[cicero819]

Women or men, if you have a great PR firm you can make any blemish disappear, just look at Denica:

(Danica Patrick Marries Paul Hospenthal)

Recently, Liz Mellott of NATIONAL SPEED SPORT NEWS followed up on Hospenthal’s sordid professional past - which actually goes beyond his reprimand for underage sex with a patient:

Under the Pennsylvania Department of State Health Licensing Boards Disciplinary Actions in October 2007, the story continues.

“Paul E. Hospenthal, license no. PT001940E of Scottsdale, Ariz., agreed to a permanent, voluntary surrender of his license because he had a license disciplined by the proper licensing authority of another state.” (09-27-07) So, now no longer on probation, he has no license.

Then, to add more soap to the opera, “The Board then discussed ordering Mr. Hospenthal to submit to a psycho-sexual evaluation. The motion carried by a unanimous roll call vote.” Wow, when the whole Pennsylvania State Board thinks you need a psycho-sexual evaluation, you would think it would be hard to get a date, much less marry an IRL star.

Mellott also reports that Hospenthal had another complaint lodged against him by a young patient in Arizona:

In the Arizona State Board of Physical Therapy records, there is another complaint that in 2000 he seduced another woman while she was his physical therapy patient and that they had a consensual sexual relationship for four years during which time she “periodically received physical therapy care from Mr. Hospenthal both in and out of his clinic. Boy can you hide things with money!