Danica wins.....

danica Patrick has finally put the the speculation to rest.
Yes she can win....

Good drive even if the race result turned on economy.
Now its a question of 'Will this be the only one? or 'Will it be one of many....?

Helio, Dixon and Weldon tucked in behind.

Just happened to flick over to sky and see the last 50 laps of this race (lost track of it in the rain delay shuffle).

So glad I caught it, a great historical moment, and just rewards for a driver who's put a lot into a league that has been floundering.

Could Indy Car have hoped for a better start to the season publicity wise? Merger at last, a "great new hope" in American driving getting his first win, and now Danica getting across the line in front. I hope all this turns into a renewed interest in the sport in the US and a big Indy.

WOW never thought i'd see the day.

I must admit I never thought she could do it, but well well! Good on her. Not every day you make history.

Her first win ever in any car, even Formula Ford. There was a time when you couldn't even get to that level without results...but good on her, well done.

Didn't see the race since my cable provider no longer carries ESPN Classic (or has at least very skillfully hidden it). So I wake up to read that Danica got her first win.

Congratulations to her and Andretti-Green.

What a great start the "new" IndyCar series is having. Decent racing. Two wins by first-time winners and American drivers at that in Graham and Danica bringing positive exposure to the series.

It's all good.

Good day for motorsport. Hope it helps make IndyCar great again.

Her first win ever in any car, even Formula Ford. There was a time when you couldn't even get to that level without results...but good on her, well done.

She won on a fuel gamble, not racing anyone on track.

She got to the level she got to by being a woman. Other drivers have won a lot more races since karting and have never got to the top.

She can drive a car, certainly better than I could ever do, but i doubt shes anything special.

Well she has done it and fair play to her for that, but to be brutally honest she is in a top team, it was a small field and as has been said before it was a fuel gamble that won it for her. She may well win a few more races over the course of her career and i hope she does, i don't have a problem with Danica, but can anyone really see her ever becoming a title contender?, no, i didn't think so. So enjoy it Danica, well done and all that, but to be honest, big deal, lots of drivers have won one race in american open wheel racing, you may be the first woman to win but not everyone drives for a team as good as AGR.

:gogirl:
danica Patrick has finally put the the speculation to rest.
indeed. a win is a win.
:gogirl:

She won on a fuel gamble, not racing anyone on track.

She got to the level she got to by being a woman. Other drivers have won a lot more races since karting and have never got to the top.

She can drive a car, certainly better than I could ever do, but i doubt shes anything special.


Then what you are saying invalidates every win by every driver who made it to a top series winning fewer races along the way than someone who didn't make it.

I know we are going to go 'round and 'round on this but I guess that means Rahal accomplished nothing as he won (partially) on a fuel strategy and Franchitti won last season using a fuel strategy at various races and Wheldon and Castroneves and Hamilton and Schumacher and come to think of it, in any race that goes more than 20 laps fuel strategy almost ALWAYS comes in to play.

Bottom line is that by executing that strategy in the pits and on the track, she won.

If raw speed is all that you need to determine the fastest driver, than the NHRA runs an excellent series where you can see some really fast cars with drivers who have lightning-quick reflexes...

All part of the game, fair play to her! :)

She was always going to do it someday.

great news for her and andretti green they put fantastic cars under their drivers....
Danica finally gets a win, we can expect more now.
why would IRL put down Katherine Legge's achievments in Formula Atlantic- she won three times on street and road courses- a professional series...
nevertheless congratulations to Danica

The best part of this is the utterly retarded reaction to the win on Champcarfanatics. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

truly historic. great day for motorsport.
not sure why anyone would dis her victory.
the defending nextel cup champion got his first win of the season last week in the same fashion. thats racing.

great going danica. a great driver and now a race winner.

Wow, good on her! Gutted I didn't see this live.

No, she's not the most talented driver ever to pull on a helmet in the IRL. But what she is is a winner and nobody can ever take that away from her.

Can only be good for the series.

Great news for IndyCar as a whole, and a great start to the season from a publicity point-of-view alongside Graham winning St. Pete's. It's true that she still hasn't done enough to justify four years of racing in a top team though.

Well that puts that other thread to rest then and has proved many of us wrong (including myself). I did not see the race (down at the V8 Supercars meeting in Hamilton) but good for her.

I'm feeling sort of hungry now. Has anyone seen my hat

Congratulations to Danica! A win is a win!

Now let's see if she can win the Indy 500 and a championship someday!

;)

[QUOTE=johntt]She won on a fuel gamble, not racing anyone on track.
QUOTE]
Penske and Donohue won a lot of races with such strategies; if it lessens her win it lessens Penske and Donohue wins also.

Great news for IndyCar as a whole, and a great start to the season from a publicity point-of-view alongside Graham winning St. Pete's. ....

Agree 100% on that :)

Good day for motorsport. Hope it helps make IndyCar great again.


well put :)

Totally agree. On the otherside it was good to see Power cleaned up in Long Beach. Yes i'm an Aussie, so probably a little bias, but i don't care. Now it's all done back to Indycar Racing.

A win is a win, it might have been fuel related but who cares.
Fact is that this is a great day for racing, She normally went well in Japan as that track seems to suit her very well.

Must be a lot of humble pies being eaten today if you go back and read the old thread......:laugh:

As I predicted the win,mine is in the freezer waiting to see if she gets an F1 drive.......:)

Average drivers from Europe can go and become superstars in the US.. hmmm American racing has no value, going around in circles is nothing special.

But good for her she won her first race, tactics helped her for sure. It is more Like Panis winning at Monaco 96, just luck! he never won again

I would'nt say that "Our Nige" was average, or Justin Wilson or even (to a lesser extent) Daniel Wheldon. It takes a large amount of skill and precision to keep one of those things out of the wall at 195+ mph. Granted, its a different style to circuit racing and can at times be tedious, but tough stuff all the same.

But good for her she won her first race, tactics helped her for sure. It is more Like Panis winning at Monaco 96, just luck!
Strategy certainly helped her. But don't forget that she passed Castroneves on lap 198 and pulled out a 5.9 second lead.
Not too shabby! Well done Danica :winner:

Average drivers from Europe can go and become superstars in the US.. hmmm American racing has no value, going around in circles is nothing special.

But good for her she won her first race, tactics helped her for sure. It is more Like Panis winning at Monaco 96, just luck! he never won again


Yeah, send over some more of those "average" drivers like N Mansell. Now, your "average" guys like M Blundell who didn't exactly became superstars...

Anytime you want to put L Hamilton in Sprint Car and run him against anyone named Kinser, I will happily stop what I am doing to watch. I will even be sure to tell Lewis who that was who went by him so fast...

Sorry for the off-topic thing but the Eurocentric nature of the above post was difficult for me to resist...

But don't forget that she passed Castroneves on lap 198

well, sort of!!

Helio says he was told to let her pass - and backed off accordingly. I'm surprised they didn't roll the dice (fuel) and race her.

Yeah, send over some more of those "average" drivers like N Mansell. Now, your "average" guys like M Blundell who didn't exactly became superstars...

Anytime you want to put L Hamilton in Sprint Car and run him against anyone named Kinser, I will happily stop what I am doing to watch. I will even be sure to tell Lewis who that was who went by him so fast...

Sorry for the off-topic thing but the Eurocentric nature of the above post was difficult for me to resist...

Hamilton in a Nascar? That I would like to see! :D I reckon he'd be pretty good once he gets up to speed. It would also be interesting to see what Kyle Busch could do in an F1 car.

Danica has only ever suceeded due to strategy, she can't beat people in a straight fight and her crew knows it so they have to make clever calls on fuel to get her up there, she is an average driver who has made it into a top car because of her marketing potential.

And yet Marco Andretti, whom she comfortably beat last year, is seen as the next big thing by some.

Ultimately, I think Marco is a major talent, but Danica is more than worthy of her seat IMO. She has her bad moments mind...

And yet Marco Andretti, whom she comfortably beat last year, is seen as the next big thing by some.

Ultimately, I think Marco is a major talent, but Danica is more than worthy of her seat IMO. She has her bad moments mind...

Marco is certainly something special.

O/T - is your sig a reference to Jorge Lorenzo or Peter de Lorenzo?

Congratulations to Danica! I had my doubts but she proved many of us wrong.

And great for IRL! Not only the PR of a woman winning but also another race winning American..The future is bright!

I am not a Danica fan. I said she would win sooner or later. Fuel strategy? Almost all F1 races are won on fuel and certainly Napcar (see last week) and CC have been. She is a good driver but not super and prone to silly mistakes. So were Mario and Michael! Win more, probably, now that she has won. Johnscc's comments are not about Sprint Cup (Napcar) but about those fire breathing 850 hp front engined dirt sprewing 1000lb. methanol fueled sprint cars of the WOO etc. They run mostly on 1/4 to 1/2 mile tracks on dirt. There are at least 3 generations of Kinsers driving them and the King, Steve Kinser (who has run Indy, Napcar and IROC) has only won about 800 feature races. Counting his heat and dash races well over a 1000. His father has recently retired well into his 70's.

Congratulations to Danica! I had my doubts but she proved many of us wrong.

And great for IRL! Not only the PR of a woman winning but also another race winning American..The future is bright!

Yeah, so far this year the only race winning American (isn't Graham Rahal lebanese? :))

Anyway, a win's a win...and it's good it's out of the way for Danica finally. I think on this instance, it's okay for the 'woman factor' to be played up, it is a great acheivement - it's not just another race winner, it is the first female Indycar victory and deserves special recognition. The rest now, don't matter so much however - I hope this is effectively the demolition of that media-haze - and she's now just one of the boys.

Marco is certainly something special.

O/T - is your sig a reference to Jorge Lorenzo or Peter de Lorenzo?

Jorge. :)

Not sure what happened here, posted a reply that went up Xs 3...obviously I am jinxed so I will just go away now....mods, if you can restore my original I would appreciate it. If not, the other forum members would probably appreciate it as well!

Triple post???? what the heck??? Help mods!!

Great news for Danica - for any driver to get their first win in the majors is a big deal, worth celebrating.

To those who peevishly say that 'she only got her drive because she's a woman', one thought:

How many great drivers never got the chance they deserved because they were women?

She won on a fuel gamble, not racing anyone on track.

She got to the level she got to by being a woman. Other drivers have won a lot more races since karting and have never got to the top.

She can drive a car, certainly better than I could ever do, but i doubt shes anything special.

Pretty much every Grand Prix from 1983 to 1988 was won on a fuel gamble......

A win is a win.

and in the quiet DiSilvestro won the atlantic race the same day at longbeach
another girl wins
has this shown the change girls are in equal cars are capable of equal chances?
tlaent is talent

Anyway, a win's a win...and it's good it's out of the way for Danica finally. I think on this instance, it's okay for the 'woman factor' to be played up, it is a great acheivement - it's not just another race winner, it is the first female Indycar victory and deserves special recognition. The rest now, don't matter so much however - I hope this is effectively the demolition of that media-haze - and she's now just one of the boys.

Agree on all points but the last - she is still a girl (or should I say young lady)

Congrats Danica. Well Deserved. As to the next big thing in IRL, watch Rahal. The kid can DRIVE!

ON the whole the season offstart for the new unified AOWR couldn't have been better, with ex-CC share winning at the second race, and now with a woman winning the first major race in history

So glad I caught it, a great historical moment, and just rewards for a driver who's put a lot into a league that has been floundering.Indeed, she's put her body and soul into publicising things. Well body mainly. And a fair bit of mouth too. ;)

But fair play a good win had, even if it was on strategy but she executed it well. She's always been moderately quick so this was always going to come.

Great news for Danica - for any driver to get their first win in the majors is a big deal, worth celebrating.

To those who peevishly say that 'she only got her drive because she's a woman', one thought:

How many great drivers never got the chance they deserved because they were women?

This was Danica's first win in any series above go-cart racing.

FWIW

long overdue. winning is nothing new to her team mates.

I watched her on the Conan O'Brien show. Her arrogance is out of control. it created an awkward interview.

Anyone see the picture with her leaning on the trophy like she had just conquered Rome? She said she stood like that to show how much bigger her trophy was compared to Helio Castroneves' second place trophy. Maybe Helio Castroneves can let Danica lean on all 12 of his winner trophies.

Also congrats to Bobby Rahal who hired her into the series, and brought her to the point where she became competent and a competitor. You cannot minimize her qualifying runs at Indy, which are done draftless and alone with nary a soul to chase. I respect her achievements. Nothing in racing at that level comes without hard work.