Originally Posted by beachbum
What I find interesting is how "records" and "firsts" have so many qualifiers. If you want to get picky, Danica was the first American female winner of a non-american race. Next we will have an award for the first IRL winner who was born in Wisconsin and is under 5'1" tall.
PR hacks are notorious for creating accolades that sound great but don't tell much of a story. What is unfortunate for the princess is that nearly all of her "firsts" and "records" come with a back story. Most of her results in every series have been average at best with a handful of good results. She has never shown a pattern of being a regular contender, but more of a "one hit wonder", and often a very lucky one at that.
IMHO, one of the reasons she is controversial is that in some ways she is an enigma. She has proven she can be fast for a few laps at certain types of tracks, yet almost always fades in traffic and her average lap times are typically mid pack. All of her early experience was on road courses, yet they are her main weakness in the IRL. She can run consistently with few mistakes for whole races, and then pulls off bone-headed moves like at Surfer's, Kentucky 2007, and the Glen this year. She can seem charming to some, and then explodes in temper tantrums. She lectures other drivers on racing etiquette yet blocks mercilessly, can't hold a line, and has a history of "doing her own thing" (ask Kanaan at Edmonton). She has claimed she wants to be treated like another driver, yet much of her notoriety has come from taking off most of her clothes and playing the celebrity model card. She can easily spout off techo-talk about her car setup and how it works and yet admits she knows almost nothing about the mechanical aspects of a car. She wants the back of her car "planted" and then screams on the radio about understeer (the basic condition created from the back being planted).
When the princess showed up on the scene, I was personally skeptical about how she would do. It was fairly obvious that much of her history was heavily enhanced by PR, which is hardly anything new for a young driver, and her efforts to get attention seemed a bit over the top. But she showed sparks of talent and the potential to contend in Atlantics and the early days in the IRL. I was willing to let time judge her abilities. But now after 4 years, she hasn't improved, her attitude and behavior seems less and less professional, and now her "performances" are getting more than a little stale. IMHO, her best years are already behind her and if she doesn't clean up her behavior and attitude, her days may be numbered in major league racing.
