Danica wins Daytona 500 pole -> we are DOMED!!!

[NaBUru38]

You know: Danica Patrick beat 44 drivers and will start the Daytona 500 on pole. It's quite of an achievement for her, and she will keep getting better at driving stock cars.

But there's another side of the coin. IndyCar, the new sports car championship, motorcycling and everything else in the United States will get ignored for months, if not years. I think that if Valentino Rossi and Michael Schumacher run at the X Games Los Angeles next August 1-4, people would still discuss how will Danica do at the Pennsylvania 400.

The only thing that could change this is if Nascar invites her to drive a Corvette DP at the 24 Hours of Daytona, or Andretti / Penske gave her a ride at the Indianapolis 500. The first just might happen, the second definitely won't. Like I said, we are DOMED!!!

Oh, yeah, there's Brittany and Courtney Force at NHRA. IndyCar has Simona at KV. Endurance racing has... like seven GTE works teams, some Daytona Prototurtles and top notch European teams and drivers in P1. But will anyone care?

[Paradise City]

Good for her. But I will be tuning in to the Daytona 500 on the pace lap and not a minute sooner.

[skycafe]

She has driven previously in Daytona 24 hour.

[cmk]

She did a good job, but the pole for the 500 means that a) she has an excellent car (3 Stewart-Haas cars in the top 5) and crew chief and kept it smooth and b) not much else. It's a poor guide to race form in the pack and the 500 was last won from pole in 2000. She's got a good team behind her and she'll do ok this year, but the fervour will decrease once it becomes apparent she's not about to go Jimmie Johnson this season.

PS you're looking for "doomed"! Domed means you have a curved top, and I'm feeling rather flat after this news.

[NaBUru38]

It's a Ten-Tenths joke. Like "Vettel is FAT".

[Ephaeton]

Why bother. Grand AM and NASCAR are the wrestling of racing. When the script demands it, she'll have that big win (but first, expect more romantic stories).

[Clive Brown]

Vince McMahon would make a great replacement for Mike Helton....

[Yannick]

I would loved to have seen DanicaFan's first reaction to the news.
Mrs Patrick is finally an IndyCar driver who can have success in NASCAR, too.
She clearly has learned a lot from a lot of the others who made this transition before her, like Tony Stewart and Dario Franchitti. Over here, she is considered an oval specialist, and it is showing in this result. Good luck for the race!

[The Happy Track Fan]

Originally Posted by cmk

She did a good job, but the pole for the 500 means that a) she has an excellent car (3 Stewart-Haas cars in the top 5) and crew chief and kept it smooth and b) not much else. It's a poor guide to race form in the pack and the 500 was last won from pole in 2000. She's got a good team behind her and she'll do ok this year, but the fervour will decrease once it becomes apparent she's not about to go Jimmie Johnson this season.

PS you're looking for "doomed"! Domed means you have a curved top, and I'm feeling rather flat after this news.

Winning the pole at Daytona requires about as much driver skill as driving to the market on a straight road on a completely clear day. Very little. It's 98 percent car and 2 percent driver. Thank Stewart-Haas racing and Hendrick Engines for that pole position.

When she gets pole at Watkins Glen or Darlington, then I will be impressed. When she wins a race on any non-restrictor plate track, then I will be even more impressed.

Till then. YAWN!!!

[JagtechOhio]

I hear that Stenhouse was holding up three fingers during her lap.

[W.A Trichlorostyrene]

Originally Posted by The Happy Track Fan

Winning the pole at Daytona requires about as much driver skill as driving to the market on a straight road on a completely clear day. Very little. It's 98 percent car and 2 percent driver. Thank Stewart-Haas racing and Hendrick Engines for that pole position.

Not only that, but who's on pole position here has no impact on the race itself whatsoever...

All my respect to the #10 crew, it's a good achievement for the engineering staff, but in the grand scheme of things its impact is just big bag of empty hype. Who remembers about Daytona polesitters, and why should anyone care about that? It bears about as much importance as who wins the draw to hit the ball first at your random soccer game.

Well actually, NASCAR could spare a few hours for everyone and set Daytona and Talladega grids with random draws, would it really change anything?

[W.A Trichlorostyrene]

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

It's a Ten-Tenths joke.

Nah, you're thinking of another forum I belive.

[NaBUru38]

Probably.

[mountainstar]

So she got the "special" plate out of the ones handed out. Not the first time this has happened. Big whoop. Nascar has a long history of down and out drivers suddenly finding a big burst of speed to get on the front row when it is seen they need some media attention.

[Canada ALMS fan]

Originally Posted by mountainstar

So she got the "special" plate out of the ones handed out. Not the first time this has happened. Big whoop. Nascar has a long history of down and out drivers suddenly finding a big burst of speed to get on the front row when it is seen they need some media attention.

So true, anyone with half a brain can see through this farce.

[Adam43]

They actually fix the result? Isn't that illegal?

[Ephaeton]

Illegal? Is Wrestling illegal? It's "sports" entertainment, just as NASCAR is.

[mountainstar]

Originally Posted by Adam43

They actually fix the result? Isn't that illegal?

The driver still has to drive. So no it's not a fixed result. It would be a fixed result if other competitors had to deliberately sandbag to let her get pole. Nascar is a private organization so they can do whatever they want to make a good show. Illegal? Hardly.

There is a long history of drivers that need media attention or a sponsor that suddenly find a big turn of speed to land on pole position. Consequence? You decide. A driver that can barely finish in the top 30 is suddenly on pole at Daytona. Sure.

In fact in Nascar circles it's known as "The Call". Some say publicly it doesn't exist, which obviously it will be denied. Pole Positions are false gimmes. They mean nothing really in a 500 mile stock car race. It's not a race.

The indy racing league did something similar for danica. Unlike just about every other formula series that weighs the car with the driver, the irl only weighed the car, giving danica a 30-80 pound weight advantage which as we all know, that makes a significant difference in speed in a formula car. In addition the irl allowed her specifically to run a special steering rack that functioned like a power assist. Finally the other teams protested and allowed everyone else to run the steering rack and then put the drivers into 3 different weight classes. Who knows what else went on we don't know about. Those changes in the rules coincided with her drop in form and she knew she had to escape to Nascar as the clock was ticking on her PR value.

[Hamness]

Certainly got media attention over here and had a slot on the main BBC News. " History was made today " was how the story started !

[peckstar]

She has now qualified for next years Sprint Unlimited

[MJ_N_09]

I doubt it's as rigged as many here claim, but my worry is that judging by a vast majority of people posting here about how they think Nascar is a joke, especially spurred by the Danica/Ricky publicity, I fear that Nascar's image to "outsiders" has been completely destroyed, as some compare it to wrestling. Where is the proof that Danica's pole was rigged anyway? It seems baseless despite the incredible coincidence.

Seriously, I wouldn't panic yet. However, if her overall performance skyrockets, yeah. That would be a different story.

[JHamilton]

Anytime Danica qualifies first it will be now referred to as 'sitting on Stenhouse'.

[JHamilton]

Originally Posted by MJ_N_09

I doubt it's as rigged as many here claim, but my worry is that judging by a vast majority of people posting here about how they think Nascar is a joke, especially spurred by the Danica/Ricky publicity, I fear that Nascar's image to "outsiders" has been completely destroyed, as some compare it to wrestling. Where is the proof that Danica's pole was rigged anyway? It seems baseless despite the incredible coincidence.

Seriously, I wouldn't panic yet. However, if her overall performance skyrockets, yeah. That would be a different story.

I used to love stock car racing and I still follow it but it was better when (not too long ago) when a bit of cheating and a tad bit of dirty driving slipped though... not completely dictated by Nascar as it is now. However, Nascar's image is unchanged. You either like it or you don't.

[kelvin88]

Come on guys! There was a time trial and she came first.

She can't do any better than that! there isn't positions ABOVE first to be had!

You don't know she was cheating.

None of you can just say "Well done." And watch the race on Sunday?

[Paradise City]

This is not F1. Pole in NASCAR is not important, race pace is everything and any team worth its salt will be looking at that.

So dumb European journalists are buying hook, line and sinker in this syrupy hysteria that Danica has broken some amazing glass ceiling. It is a 'first' so to speak but not alot has been accomplished in tangible terms.

Maybe she'll do something as the season presses and then I'll award her her accolades but atm she's done zip.