Comments on: The Media Darling

By: Leigh O'Gorman

Leigh O'Gorman — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 15:15:51 +0000

He went from Spain (Real Madrid) to the US. He was trying to score a place at AC Milan in Italy, so that he would have a chance to play for England again.
Anyhoo, back on topic…

By: Sean

Sean — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 07:01:15 +0000

J.J. Yeley couldn’t win in a Gibbs car, and he has a stellar sprint car record.

I think Danica will win in ARCA, actually. It’s basically all car and if Kerry Earnhardt and Jason Jarrett can win there, she should be able to win there in her rocket, eventually. As I pointed out on Will’s blog, David Stremme lapped the field in an ARCA race. ARCA races are probably less corrupt than NASCAR races, but the talent of the field is probably no better than a lot of local short tracks, and I might be generous here. Nationwide? No way, because she’s up against full-time Cup stars. She’s not going to be the next Brad Keselowski.

By: JamesO

JamesO — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 03:30:50 +0000

I think there’ll always be some of that. I live in LA so I got a double-dose of the news when David Beckham signed to play soccer on the local team. It was a feeding frenzy. The couple people I knew who actually follow soccer just scoffed at it: Beckham was a has-been and it was like going from the Indy 500 to driving dirt tracks at the county fair. But you’d never know it to listen to the News.

Last I heard he was going to Spain. Is he here or is he gone? I have no idea…

By: Sam Wright

Sam Wright — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 00:50:59 +0000

Well Danica did pretty well as an Indy driver, there’s no reason why she shouldn’t go out there and really tear it up as a Nascar Driver

By: M Coz

M Coz — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 22:45:34 +0000

Hi George, I’m not certain that Danica is arrogant, a race car drivers career is short, so go for the dough. You can still exhibit loyalty in sports to some extent and still get paid as well. Some do and some don’t-in this case, she stuck with AA, and that shows some character. I also don’t see sleaze in Go-Daddy, but then again, I go to Hooters for the Wings, yeah, right. But as for the fawning press, you got it, bub. And I’m really glad that Hobbson resurfaced.

By: nickh360

nickh360 — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 21:35:35 +0000

I still stand by the fact that Nascar drivers should be embarrassed that IndyCar drivers are doing as well as they are. Cup & Nationwide drivers have been training in either stock cars or dirt track cars that run loose like cup cars their entire lives.

Now, here come guys that have spent their entire careers driving cars that are alien-like to stock cars, that handle and perform completely different. And within 2 or 3 years, they’re running at least midpack, performing better than half of the field (of guys training for this their entire careers).

In my opinion, this shows just how talented open-wheelers are. THAT should be the story.

By: Dylan

Dylan — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 21:14:16 +0000

Cup is completley diffrent, and I would say if she moved up right aways she’d struggle terribly, but Nationwide is another story.

By: Dylan

Dylan — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 21:13:31 +0000

A lot less then 40, 10+ cars start and park ,and it’s worse at Fontana. IRL races are flat out and involve the draft, so Daytona should be good for her. As for drafting partners, a lot of nationwide drivers would struggle to get them, but mabye Junior will help her out. Besides, McMurry and Keselowski could win a plate race, so anyone can if they’re lucky. I don’t think the Nationwide field is very strong, and the equipment many of the teams have isn’t very good(think Kenny Wallace). Also, her other avenue to success is the Nationwide COT,currently schedualed for 4 races, if Junior Motorsports(Hendrick) get a good grip on it.
I guess I just lack a lot of respect for the Nationwide series, it’s about 20 field fillers, 8 cup teams, and a couple semi legitimite midpackers, and she’ll be with the top stuff. Anyways, had she signed with Joe Gibbs racing, a win would be almost certain, anyone can win in Gibbs car!

By: tim nothhelfer

tim nothhelfer — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 20:45:24 +0000

I think she will be a perfect fit for nascar. Assuming she makes it to cup… running in the top twenty five she would be beating eighteen men. Because it’s all about the show making money. And She will be a huge money maker for nascar…

By: The Speedgeek

The Speedgeek — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 18:56:18 +0000

Dylan,
I don’t think Danica has a prayer at the plate tracks. Those require a drafting partner to have any success. Who’s going to draft with somebody who’s barely spent any time at all in those cars? You can ask Jacques Villeneuve about that. She might win the ARCA race at Daytona, because she’s going to have one of the best five cars out there and then it’ll be a lottery among those five drivers, but the Nationwide race will be a different matter. I see her cruising around at the back and all of the other drivers avoiding her like she’s got H1N1, SARS and the gout.

As for the rest of her NASCAR schedule, regardless of where, she’s going to be up against 40+ drivers who have each been training for 10+ years to get where they are. Her transition from IndyCar to stock car is like a pilot getting out of a Red Bull air race plane and trying to solo-pilot a Boeing 777. Are they fundamentally the same, comprised of all the same controls and components (wings, ailerons, flaps, elevators)? Sure. Do they fly even remotely the same? No way. She’s going up against guys who do this dozens of times per year, and who don’t also have to spend time recalibrating themselves to a different type of car on different weekends. I’ll be happy to eat my words if I’m wrong, but I just don’t see her running in the top-20 in NASCAR, at any level, before 2012 or 2013.