The Bloom is Off The Rose.

Scotty, I think BB was simply quoting the excuses and defenses from other people on other forums. From BB's posts before about this particular driver, I don't think he believes those excuses for one second. I think he was being sarcastic. IMHO

BTW, how do you think she would have reacted today if her team had pulled a qualfied time and taken themselves out of the Indy 500 (like Howard and Tracy did)?

Think she would have handled it with the class and "manned up" like PT did? He had to be steaming. They screwed up. But did he cry and whine like a spoiled brat in the post-qual radio interview? Nope. Did he blame his car or his team or anyone besides himself for not making it? Nope. Said "WE didn't get it done". Said "OUR car and OUR team just didn't get it dialed in in the hot weather". Didn't single anyone out. Didn't talk about his prior record at Indy or his racing accomplishments that could show that it wasn't his fault. He took it like a true TEAMMATE is supposed to.

And I bet his TEAM appreciated it.

Simona has been very open to fans so far this year, and I hope it doesn't change when she gets more successful.
At the race I was at, she was very nice and an all around good person in the paddock.
Danica was...well, something I should not say here.

thanks for the correction on her being their

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Originally Posted by Scotty G.

1. So what? You think Sarah Fisher's car was very good this week? You think the Foyt cars were good the past 2 days (they were so bad, that AJ's grandson told his grandpa to stick it and quit this morning)? You think KV's cars were very good the past 2 days? You think ALL cars were fun to drive the past 2 days in the heat and with low downforce? Her car isn't always going to be great. Unless you are driving for Penske or Ganassi, most teams have to fight their ass off at Indy to get a good car in different conditions. John Andretti sucked it up and qualified at noon, with no practice today, and ran some of his fastest speeds of the week. He is just some old, washed up Cup driver who only races Indy Cars once or twice a year. :p How'd he do it and do it with class too?

2. Engineers aren't the ones driving the car. They have too much input/influence on these cars anyway. They can get you to a certain point. Its up to the driver to get that last tenth or two. Sometimes the driver has to help. The good ones do. The fakers don't.

3. Bull. She was roundly booed. Anybody with 2 working ears could hear it. And she deserved it.

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Scotty, you took my post way too literal. Read the sentence before the excuses.

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You people need to read another racing forum where the Danica supporters have "come to her rescue". The excuses have been almost laughable. Some examples:

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I was outlining the the ridiculous arguments her apologists were posting on other forums. No mine. Your reaction to what they posted was about the same as mine. Maybe I should have wrapped them with a "sarcasm alert" :)

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Originally Posted by Scotty G.

I watched Princess today live and in person at IMS.

She is scared. Nothing else to say about it. She is lifting noticeably going into turn 1 on almost every lap. In race trim. With no other cars around her.

She won't be around long on raceday. And if she does soldier it around, she will be many laps down.

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This is symptomatic of her larger problems as a driver. I do not blame her for not wanting to get hurt by a bad crash. There are endless examples of such at Indy. That being said, as a racecar driver, you need to put it on the line every once in awhile. Almost every driver out there this weekend said they were losing the car constantly, but managed to make their run without wrecking. I get the impression that Danica did not push her car to the place where it was very loose, it sounds like she was letting off in the turns and playing it very safe. In races, you can count on her to block others from passing, but making risky moves to get ahead of other drivers? Never seen it. In some ways she is the polar opposite of a driver like Scheckter, or even Dixon & Castroneves who know how to put their cars right up to the edge without wrecking. That is a skill, and a mindset, that she doesn't seem to have.

I agree that Simona is one of the bright spots in the series right now. She may not be getting the best equipment, but she has been regularly in the mix and appears to be a rather aggressive driver. More so, she seems to have genuine talent, which is more than I can say for some of the ride-buyers that are on better teams.

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Originally Posted by beachbum

Scotty, you took my post way too literal. Read the sentence before the excuses.I was outlining the the ridiculous arguments her apologists were posting on other forums. No mine. Your reaction to what they posted was about the same as mine. Maybe I should have wrapped them with a "sarcasm alert" :)

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Pretty typical for Scotty. Ready, Shoot, Aim!

Gary

Posted this in another thread, didn't see this one. Oops.

Sorry if this has been posted elsewhere, but was anyone at the track on Saturday? I was and heard the quote of the year, maybe decade.

"It's just not my fault!" -Danica

I try not to be too hard on her most of the time. But THAT statement is just unexcusable. You don't throw your crew under the bus like that, especially not over the PA at the track. You should have heard the boos from the crowd. And the comments from the people around me can't really be written here, but they were funny as hell.

Like I said, I've tried to give her the bennifit of the doubt for years. But after THAT display of "sportsmanship" ... she's fair game. And I wouldn't be surprised if she falls out early with an "unexpected" mechanical issue, if you get my meaning.

Some updates on Danica.

First, anyone who tries to compare Danica to Milka is a fool. There is no comparison at all.

We know that George Mack, Dr. Jack, Marty Roth could hold there foot down for a lap or two and even Milka can throw up (what we do when she is on track) a decent number now and again. But Milka was a disater on the track all week.

She almost took out one Penske (Ala AJ taking out Bruno) in turn two, and was called in by race control. She went for the trifecta the next day by almost taking out TWO Penskes in the North chute. Dunno, moved from the race lane to the middle lane, and lifted…causing one Penske to shoot to the warm up lane, and the other shoot around on the high side. She was called in by race control, again, and Little Al was sent over to give her advice. I know what my advice would be! All told, race control called her in around four times. Neither Al Jr. or her spotter, Pancho, could do anything with this terrible ball of clay. Milka is the only driver team's warn their drivers about.

Danica, was never called in by race control, and no drivers sent her way to explain to her what to do or what not to do. While she can display a bit of ‘King Hirro when being lapped (going faster, as leaders try to pass) she does not regulary try to kill people.

Having pointed that out, Danica was way out of line for throwing her team under the bus in public. The “It’s not my fault”and “I’m not an engineer” have already made it on T-shirts on 16th and G. She could very well be right, but as Tony Kanaan said in public “We win as a team, and we loose as a team”. There certainly was kaos in the Andretti garage as they dealt with damage control, of the car kind and team moral kind. I know first hand how frustrating it is when the crew does miss the mark and the best place for such discussions is behind closed doors.

But to fill some in on what they do not get on TV or the web, there is turmoil in Danica’s personal life at the momment which certainly can cause a negative effect. We all saw how Tony Kanaan struggled last year on and off the track (though the off the track was self afflicted) and it is notable that his old engineer is now working with Tags, so I am not convinced the engineer was to blame. Same thing with Danica this year, as in addition to her being pulled in multiple directions for her “brand” she has some personal issues she is dealing with. Now that she has asked for another engineer, and another race strategist, maybe a quick check in the mirror and more good advice from TK, will help her out of her rut.