An ABC reporter asked Dan Wheldon, prior to last week's IRL event in Kentucky, how he intended to hold off Danica Patrick? Are they kidding, I thought? Shouldn't they have been asking Patrick how she intended to hold Wheldon, the current Indy 500 champion and IRL points leader, at bay? The question was just an example of the extreme silliness the Danica-crazed press has gotten.
Before the race, I saw a replay of the lap at Indy where Wheldon passed Patrick for the final time. The view was courtesy of an in-car camera on Patrick's vehicle. Wheldon passed, then disappeared so far down the track that the person I was watching with asked me if Patrick's car was still moving at the time? (That was from someone who knows less about racing than I do, noting that I know next to nothing.) Yet, if you knew nothing about racing, and watched only the pre-Kentucky race interviews, you would suspect it was Patrick who was the points leader and Indy champ not Wheldon.
A few races back, members of the Andretti Green Racing boycotted an autograph session after seeing the seating arrangement. There was one section for Patrick, another for all the other drivers. I think the sign actually said "other drivers", as if Wheldon and Helio Castroneves were toss away figures in the sport.
At the time, I just figured it was your typical jealousy amongst drivers and teams. It probably was, in part, but after seeing the media drool all over Patrick this past Sunday, I can see how some of the top drivers are put off by the Danica steamroller.
If Danica wins at Pikes Peak this week, it will be hailed as one the greatest sports achievements of all-time. If Wheldon or Dario Franchitti have the audacity to win, no one will notice. If the race means anything, then isn't it fair to assume that whomever wins the race matters, as well?
If Patrick captures the checkered flag, but is triumphant over a field of talentless nobodies, as the IRL and mainstream media media would have you believe, then what is the significance of her potential victory?
I'm not rooting against Patrick, but it's just plain media overkill at this point. Haven't Sara Fisher and Janet Guthrie traveled this path long before Patrick? I guess I'm just too much of a newbie to understand, but what has Patrick done that the women before her haven't?
Patrick may one day emerge as the greatest female driver in history. She may just vie for the greatest open wheel driver of all-time. I seriously doubt it, but I guess it's possible. However, before we proclaim her as the savior of open wheel racing in America, let's remember something. She hasn't won anything, yet.
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