Local Press'es Take on Danica at LBGP

IMSA I raced pro for ten years when things were a h--- of a lot more dangerous than they are today.
You are right I couldn't do it today but then I am in my 70's.
Danica is not a bad driver of race cars but she is not a race driver.
There is a big difference.

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Originally Posted by rifraf

Alex Tagliani.

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That is a very good call, throw in Vitor Meira for kicks (0 wins). I would call both of them above average drivers but who knows where each of us draw the line for an "A" class driver. One thing I do know is that both Alex and Vitor will drive the wheels off of a car and challenge for W's, even with equipment that isn't on par with the big 3. I highly doubt anybody will win an argument that Danica is more talented than either of these 2...what does that tell us?

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Originally Posted by IMSA

You people are unreal! Bash all you want, but I bet none of you have the balls to even do what Danica does each race!

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Danica doesn't have the balls to do what I did every race I raced.

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Originally Posted by IMSA

You people are unreal! Bash all you want, but I bet none of you have the balls to even do what Danica does each race!

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I wasn't born with a silver spoon up my butt. I never had to chance to play the sports I love the most when I was younger because my parents didnt have the money

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Originally Posted by rifraf

Alex Tagliani.

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Wrong!

Tags has 8 other professional wins.
6 wins in Atlantics
1 in the Canadian Tire NASCAR Series
1 in the Esso Protec/BF Goodrich Formula 1600 Series Championship

Even with those he didn't have a full time ride for 3 years and the only reason he is running now is because he started his own team.


Next!

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Originally Posted by IMSA

You people are unreal! Bash all you want, but I bet none of you have the balls to even do what Danica does each race!

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Obviously, you don't follow this forum very much. There are people here who have raced, some whom have worked on race teams, some who have worked in support tasks like corner workers. They have been on the inside of racing, not just following on an internet blog where the biggest risk of injury is carpal tunnel syndrome. All of them had the "balls" to actually make sacrifices and live the dream, not just talk about it.

What is striking to me is how people who have lived racing view Danica and talk about her. They follow a couple paths. There is the nice politically correct statements that could easily be categorized as "faint praise", silence, or in some cases, open criticism. When she gets praise, it is rarely on her driving, but on her ability to market her "brand". A few former associates (drivers and others) have publicly stated they will someday "tell all" when the mystique and celebrity worship die down. But that reserve about talking about her is slowing going away as time goes on.

If you are one who thinks she is great, fine. But don't try to suggest that people who are critical of that opinion must be a bunch of losers.

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Originally Posted by anthonyvop

Wrong!

Tags has 8 other professional wins.
6 wins in Atlantics
1 in the Canadian Tire NASCAR Series
1 in the Esso Protec/BF Goodrich Formula 1600 Series Championship

Even with those he didn't have a full time ride for 3 years and the only reason he is running now is because he started his own team.


Next!

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I took it as referenced to the top rung myself. Tags absolutely was an accomplished racer in the ladder series but the fact is he has under-accomplished at the top. Still, a very talented racer and even in his little start-up team a threat to win, if not at least run up front.

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Originally Posted by Ken

shes a ***** who would never have seen the bigs had tony not split sport.....

IMO of course.....YMMV

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Sorry, but she would have gotten to Indy Cars no matter what.

$$$ matters. And she would have always been able to bring $$$ and her overrated physical features.

Remember, Dean Hall, Carlos Guerrero, Marco Greco, Lyn St. James and King Hiro "saw the bigs" long before there was "a split". And she is a hell of a lot better then any of them.

She is a point-collecting "driver". She looks decent on tracks where her top flight engineered car is better then 75% of the field. She is not a "racer". Never has been. She isn't aggressive. She doesn't try and pass cars often (unless another female is driving). She is always been much much more about style over real substance.

Give her props for keeping her nose clean and getting to the checkards, while many around her (who are actually racing hard) are either too stupid or too unlucky to finish. Or her team gives her a great pit/fuel strategy that pays off with track position. That's how she finishes where she does. That's how its been for 5 full years now and it ain't changing now.

And people need to stick a sock in the "she finished 5th in points" stuff. Big freakin' deal. 2 teams (and 5 drivers) won all but 1 race last year. She was on the next best team. Marco was horrible last year. TK kept crashing and falling out of races. Mutoh was a mid-packer. The rest of the field was either too inexperienced and/or untalented or in grossly inferior equipment.

She finished 5th and never came close to competing for a race win (and no, she was never going to win at Indy last year). That's hard to do.

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Originally Posted by Scotty G.

Sorry, but she would have gotten to Indy Cars no matter what.

$$$ matters. And she would have always been able to bring $$$ and her overrated physical features.

Remember, Dean Hall, Carlos Guerrero, Marco Greco, Lyn St. James and King Hiro "saw the bigs" long before there was "a split". And she is a hell of a lot better then any of them.

She is a point-collecting "driver". She looks decent on tracks where her top flight engineered car is better then 75% of the field. She is not a "racer". Never has been. She isn't aggressive. She doesn't try and pass cars often (unless another female is driving). She is always been much much more about style over real substance.

Give her props for keeping her nose clean and getting to the checkards, while many around her (who are actually racing hard) are either too stupid or too unlucky to finish. Or her team gives her a great pit/fuel strategy that pays off with track position. That's how she finishes where she does. That's how its been for 5 full years now and it ain't changing now.

And people need to stick a sock in the "she finished 5th in points" stuff. Big freakin' deal. 2 teams (and 5 drivers) won all but 1 race last year. She was on the next best team. Marco was horrible last year. TK kept crashing and falling out of races. Mutoh was a mid-packer. The rest of the field was either too inexperienced and/or untalented or in grossly inferior equipment.

She finished 5th and never came close to competing for a race win (and no, she was never going to win at Indy last year). That's hard to do.

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Well said.

While I may not agree that AGR was the best team, they certainly were one of the "big three" and the best of the rest.

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Originally Posted by beachbum

There are quite a few journeyman racers who fit the same mold. She isn't the worst who has raced at this level by any means. But the main gripes by many fans are that she isn't nearly as good as the hype and she doesn't have the ability or dedication to develop any more than she has. Quite a few (including myself) are offended that she got where she is by playing off her "other talents" and living off the fantasies of sophomoric thinking people.
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not me, not at all.....just check out the sig....
She has real talent....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RWQ_...eature=related

careful what you wish for, you might get it

Bottom line, she is the only SUPERSTAR that the IRL has who gets press....and when she is gone, sliding into obscurity in Nascar, along with the years pulling down her assets, there is nobody to replace her, and IRL will follow champ car to the grave... :(