NASCAR running thread

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/pits-stop-hating-danica-patrick-191720922--nascar.html

Really, Jenna Fryer? Really?

 

Jenna missed the mark on this one. Badly.

 

Glad to see everyone at the cool kids table agreed to write the "Danica's trying really hard and you shouldn't criticize her" angle after Darlington.

Sure wish Racing Reference had "similarity scores" like BR does. Somebody on the race thread at RR compared her to a female Casey Mears -- and I can really see the similarities now.

Neither did much at the Indy Lights level but had the family connections/sponsorship to get a crack at IRL/CART, although Danica had much better equipment with Andretti. Both seem pretty much destined for mid-to-lower pack status in NASCAR, barring a fluke or two (Mears winning the Coke 600 on fuel mileage).

Mears at Darlington? 11 starts, no top-10s, 1 lap led, average finish of 29.5. Hate to say it, but that's where Patrick is heading.

It really shows how insulated the NASCAR media is (and perhaps how boring the actual on-track product has become) that the only story lines seem to revolve around the feud of the week or the flavor of the month. Ho hum. And they wonder why the TV ratings are down 40 percent since 2006.

 

DANICA IS A STORY.

 

If Danica were a man, you know, like if her name was, I dunno, Manica Patrick ;D, based on skill alone, she wouldn't even be in Nationwide.

 

Word for word.

 

And you base this assertion on what? That clear, black-and-white, everybody-can-see-it talent chasm? Let me know how you can sort 'em out, because I'd sure as hell like to know how, say, Joey Logano snatched/keeps his sweet ride.

 

Jenna's worldview is a touch different than most on this thread. As such, I can see where she's coming from, even if I disagree with it.

 

You folks ever hear of "regression to the mean"? As in, maybe NASCAR at the time was enjoying some well-above-average performance with regard to viewership and those numbers had nowhere to go but down? Maybe, just maybe, lots of those eyeballs moved on just because ...

 

Kurt Busch has been fined $50,000 and put on probation for his escapades in Darlington in the pits at the end of the race. I guess it's time to visit the therapist again...

http://espn.go.com/racing/nascar/cup/story/_/id/7934363/kurt-busch-fined-50000-placed-probation-july-25-actions-darlington-raceway

 

I thought he was a new man? What a shame.

 

The talent-to-hype ratio simply isn't there. ANYONE can see it. And I'm looking forward to when she blames the wrong person for everything bad that's happened to her on the track.

Joey's dad wrote a check.