Motor Sports (especially women race drivers)

[BBOvenGuy]

Now that this is an OT board, I'm hoping to find some other folks out there who like to talk auto racing - Indy (my favorite), CART, NASCAR, F1... you name it.



Of particular interest is the emergence of several women in the sport, most notably Sarah Fisher of the Indy Racing League's IndyCar series and Danica Patrick of the Toyota Atlantic series (the minor league for CART).



Both women had a good day today. Sarah used some good strategy to get up into second place at today's 200 mile race in Phoenix. Unfortunately, there was a mishap on her last pit stop that dropped her way back, but she worked her way back to finish eighth. Meanwhile, Danica finished a strong third at the Toyota Atlantic series opener in Monterrey Mexico.



Sarah has a newly redesigned website here. You can help her racing effort by going there and clicking on the link of her sponsor, GM Upromise. They sponsored her for the race today, but they're still deciding whether or not they want to sponsor her for other races this season. On TV today they said the number of hits they got from her website would be one of the factors that will go into their decision. Meanwhile, Sarah has her own TV commercial now, for Raybestos brakes. Be sure to look for it.



Danica will soon have a website here, although at the moment there's nothing up. In the meantime, you can check out her recent appearance in FHM magazine. Personally, I think maybe she should stick to driving race cars, but that's just me.



And lastly, word at the Long Beach Grand Prix website is that Shawna Robinson - a big favorite of Xita's - will be competing in the annual Pro-Celebrity race on April 12. You may recall that Alyson Hannigan drove in that race three years ago. You can see my photos from that here.

"Sure it's simple, writing for kids. Just as simple as bringing them up." - Ursula K. LeGuin

Edited by: BBOvenGuy  at: 3/23/03 3:40:50 pm

[xita]

Oh I'd like to mention that Shawna also races ARCA, if you have speedvision you can catch some of those races.



I don't think I like Danica doing herself up like that. Women in motor racing don't have respect as it is that appearing as a sex symbol isn't going to help you.



It's a double edged sword though, with so few women in the sport the accusations of lesbianism are quick to follow.



It is always with regret that I watch Angelle Savoie compete in drag racing. She's perhaps the most successful woman in motor sports at this time. She's won the NHRA Pro Stock Bike drag racing championship 3 consecutive times, and is currently leading the points after 3 events. Each time she comes out of the bike after a race, she starts fixing her hair and make up and I think it's great women love make up. It just seems inappropriate to do so in the middle of a race to be so concerned for your looks. Yet this is what women must do to not be isolated as women but I fear they lose respect as racers. Check out her website

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Only 50 cents

[BBOvenGuy]

Deborah Renshaw is driving ARCA, too, and plans to drive some NASCAR Busch Series races this summer. She had a terrible year last year - in one race, a bunch of the other drivers conspired to get her disqualified, a plot that actually involved paying off one driver for his role in it. Then she was in a terrible accident toward the end of the season, when her spotter didn't warn her about a car stopped on the track and she plowed into it, killing the other driver. I'm glad she's back on her feet and driving again.



Here's a pic of Sarah Fisher signing an autograph for my friend during February's "Test in the West" at California Speedway:







A couple Sarah pics from Richmond two years ago can be found here:

"Sure it's simple, writing for kids. Just as simple as bringing them up." - Ursula K. LeGuin

Edited by: BBOvenGuy  at: 3/23/03 6:20:29 pm

[BBOvenGuy]

Sarah did well last year with the Infiniti engine. She even won the pole at Kentucky. This year she's got a Chevy engine, which has been horribly underpowered for everyone. So far she's been the second-highest finishing Chevy in both races, which isn't too bad relatively speaking. And yesterday there were thirty laps or so when she was running second and sticking right behind leader Tony Kanaan, who had a Honda engine - so maybe she's figured out something the rest of the Chevy drivers haven't.

"Sure it's simple, writing for kids. Just as simple as bringing them up." - Ursula K. LeGuin

[BBOvenGuy]

There's a new article on both Sarah and Danica at ESPN.com. Here are a couple of excerpts:



On Danica -

Quote:

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Patrick became the first female to ever make it to the podium in the 30-year history of Atlantics and tied the debuts of 1997 Formula One champ Jacques Villeneuve (third at Montreal in 1992) and '96 Atlantic champ Patrick Carpentier (third at Montreal in 1993) while besting CART star Paul Tracy (started 11th and finished 16th at Elkhart Lake in 1987) and two-time Indy Racing League champ Sam Hornish Jr. (started 13th and finished eighth at Long Beach in 1999).

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And Sarah -

Quote:

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But, as happy as she was with her performance, Fisher still has no guarantee she'll be running in next month's IRL IndyCar show at Motegi, Japan.



"Nothing is definite for me at Japan yet, we just keep knocking on doors trying to find sponsorship," said the only woman to ever capture an Indy car pole (last year at Kentucky) and finish on the podium (second at Homestead, Fla., in 2001 and third at Kentucky in 2000).



Added car owner Dennis Reinbold: "We're living hand to mouth right now and we've got the IMS (Indianapolis Motor Speedway) marketing department and General Motors marketing department helping us."

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Check it out...

"The first task of anyone, lest you get canceled, is to entertain people, because they ain't there for message." - Dick Wolf

[BBOvenGuy]

Congratulations to Tina Gordon, who finished 10th in her NASCAR Busch Series debut today at Talladega. Tina had to start from the back of the field because of an engine change, but she missed the big wreck early in the race and worked her way up the rest of the way.



Tina is currently leading in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series rookie points race and hopes to drive Winston Cup in the future.

"The first task of anyone, lest you get canceled, is to entertain people, because they ain't there for message." - Dick Wolf

[La]

After reading through this thread and checking out websites and stuff, I think I'm going to have to start following these women cuz that rocks that they're doing well in such a tough field to get into. Of course, now I feel like racing cars would be a lot of fun. I always liked go-carts

~La



"A science-fiction movie? I think I have made a science-fiction movie:

Chasing Amy. Because you go ask any lesbian--that'll never happen."

~Kevin Smith

[BBOvenGuy]

For La and anyone else who might be interested - here's a rundown of who's racing where this weekend.



The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, with current rookie points leader Tina Gordon, will be racing in Martinsville VA on Saturday at 1pm Eastern Time. Coverage will be on the Speed Channel.



The Toyota Atlantic Series, with rookie Danica Patrick, will be racing at Long Beach CA on Sunday at 1:30pm Eastern Time. Coverage will also be on the Speed Channel. I'm going down to watch the practice sessions tomorrow, and I hope to bring back some good shots of Danica at the wheel. If I'm lucky I'll be able to get a couple of Shawna Robinson practicing for the Pro-Celebrity Race, too.



The Indy Racing League, with two-time Most Popular Driver Sarah Fisher, will be in action at Twin Ring Motegi in Japan. A tape-delayed broadcast of the race will be shown on ABC. Check your local listings for the time. ESPN.com says it'll be on at 1pm Eastern Time, but out here in LA they're saying it won't be on until 3pm.



And turning our attention away from the women in the sport for a moment - how about those wacky finishes at the NASCAR Talledega race and the F1 Brazilian GP last week???

"The first task of anyone, lest you get canceled, is to entertain people, because they ain't there for message." - Dick Wolf

[xita]

I have never actually been to a nascar race , i've been to plenty of CART races, but I am going to see Busch race at the California Speedway this month, I am pretty excited. If only Tina Gordon would race that busch race!

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Only 50 cents

[sheila wt]

Quote:

---

And turning our attention away from the women in the sport for a moment - how about those wacky finishes at the NASCAR Talledega race and the F1 Brazilian GP last week???

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I don't watch NASCAR, but I've been a big F-1 fan since I was, like, 10. The Brazilian GP was a mess from the beginning with all that rain (I never understood why the heck they have the GP in March, it's the month Sao Paulo gets more rain than ever!). And poor Rubinho... out of gas??? Give me a break! He just doesn't have any luck at home.



The good news is that today the FIA amended the final results and gave the victory to Fisichella, who's now 4th in the drivers championship. Very fair, IMO. He and Jordan were deserving a victory for a long time.

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"She had tasted Willow on her tongue, and she had worn Willow on her skin. There wasn't a shower in the world that could have washed that away." (Terra Firma, by Tulipp)

[BBOvenGuy]

Xita, I've been to the Fontana Busch Series race twice, and each was a good time. I think you'll really like it.



It was a good day today at the Long Beach Grand Prix, except for a hard lesson I learned about digital cameras - they're terrible for racing photos. First of all, there's that delay between the time you push the button and the time the camera actually takes the picture. Then there's the fact that it auto-focuses on the chainlink fence around the track instead of on the cars. As a result, only a handful of my digital photos turned out. Fortunately, two of the ones that did are of Danica Patrick:







Danica was tenth in provisional qualifying. The final qualifying lineup will be set tomorrow.



And I should have more (and better) pics once I get back the film from my 35mm camera.

"The first task of anyone, lest you get canceled, is to entertain people, because they ain't there for message." - Dick Wolf

Edited by: BBOvenGuy  at: 4/11/03 9:55:13 pm

[xita]

Thanks for the pics bob! I didn't get a chance to go this year to the LB GP, but I am enjoying it on TV right now.

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Only 50 cents

[BBOvenGuy]

It hasn't been a very good day for the racing women. Danica crashed at Long Beach and Sarah crashed in Japan. Tina Gordon didn't even qualify for the truck race at Martinsville.



But I felt worst for Michel Jourdain Jr., who had the Long Beach GP locked up until something broke in his gearbox.







Editing to avoid a double-post



63 year old Mario Andretti returned to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway today, and almost got himself killed doing it.



Mario hasn't driven an Indy car since the end of the 1994 season, but this week there's been talk of him doing some driving at the Speedway this year. His son Michael now owns Andretti Green racing, and one of Michael's drivers, Tony Kanaan, is recovering from injuries suffered in a crash at Twin Ring Motegi. The idea is that if Tony isn't able to qualify but can still be ready in time for the race, Mario can qualify the car for him.



Today during testing, though, Mario's car hit a piece of debris and went flying into the air. The accident was caught on tape by a crew from local NBC affiliate WTHR, and it's absolutely incredible. I've never seen a car get that high into the air. Fortunately for Mario, the car landed right-side up. He was able to walk away from the wreck. But it could have been much much worse.



You can see the video for yourself at the WTHR website.

"The first task of anyone, lest you get canceled, is to entertain people, because they ain't there for message." - Dick Wolf

Edited by: BBOvenGuy  at: 4/23/03 6:44:56 pm

[xita]

Wow thanks Bob. That's an incredible crash, I've never seen that ever before. I can't even imagine that happening during a race. SOme serious aerodynamic issues there.. wow.



It would be great to see Mario race again. But not at that price.. wow.

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Si nos dejan buscamos un rincón cerca del cielo

Si nos dejan haremos con las nubes térciopelo


José Alfredo Jiménez

[xita]

I am so happy, last weekend I went to see NASCAR for the first time at the California Speedway, I must admit it was better than watching the Open Wheel indy cars in there because they go so darn fast it is hard to see them. I like going to the Long Beach Grand Prix for those cars. Anyway, I had fun more than I thought I would.



Anyway, the reason for my post is that I heard last night on the speedchannel that Shawna Robison would be riding in an early June Nascar Truck race. But that's not the big news, the big news is she'll have an all female pit crew in that race. I hope she can qualify the truck.

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Si nos dejan buscamos un rincón cerca del cielo

Si nos dejan haremos con las nubes térciopelo


José Alfredo Jiménez

[BBOvenGuy]

Xita, I figured you'd like that race. I'm glad you got to go. I hope Shawna and her pit crew get into the truck race next month.



Today was the opening day of practice for the Indy 500. Since I'm here in Indianapolis visiting my parents, I went out to catch the action. There was an autograph session with all the drivers, followed by opening ceremonies and then practice.



Unfortunately, the day didn't go well for Sarah Fisher. Her engine had a loose oil fitting and dumped oil everywhere in her first warmup laps. She and her dad pitched in with her crew to get the car fixed up again, but just as she made it onto the track again it started to rain.



I got some good pictures today. I'll put a few up once I'm back in Pasadena. Meanwhile, you can check out an article on Sarah (the first of many this month, I suspect) at the Indianapolis Star website:



www.indystar.com/print/ar...1-037.html



Edited to avoid a double-post - Here's a story for the ages. Back in mid-September 2001, Alex Zanardi lost his legs in a crash at CART's race in Germany. Today he went out in a car specially designed for him to use with hand controls and completed the 13 laps that were remaining in the race when he crashed. And he was going fast enough that he would have made the field if it had been an official run. The crowd was going nuts. It was pretty amazing.



Meanwhile, I should have more photos ready to put up later.

"The first task of anyone, lest you get canceled, is to entertain people, because they ain't there for message." - Dick Wolf

Edited by: BBOvenGuy  at: 5/11/03 10:14:00 am

[Bagheera]

BBOvenGuy:



Thanks for opening an interesting thread.

I try to follow Katja Poensgen the first woman to earn World Championship points in 250cc Road Racing. After a 1 season layoff, she's back racing, but I fear that her machinery is less than competitive at the moment...hopefully Honda can come up with some improvements by mid-season.



And let us not forget:



Rest in Peace, Daijiro Kato #74 (1976-2003)

"They fed me behind bars from an iron pan till one night I felt that I was Bagheera--the Panther-- and no man's plaything, and I broke the silly lock with one blow of my paw and came away." Rudyard Kipling

[BBOvenGuy]

Bagheera, it sounds like Katja has the same problem that Sarah Fisher has this year - less than competitive equipment. But in Sarah's case she's racing a Chevrolet engine against the Hondas.



Speaking of Sarah, the Indy Racing League announced today that Sarah will be carrying the Girl Scouts' servicemark on her driver's uniform and the rear wing of her car for the rest of the season. It's part of her participation in the Girl Scouts' new "Girls Go Tech" campaign, which encourages girls to explore and excel in science, math, engineering and technology. You can read the full article and see a great pic at the IRL website.



Meanwhile, Sarah herself reports that she thinks she's picked up enough sponsorship to carry her through the full season, thanks to AOL Broadband, GMAC and Raybestos brakes (have you seen her commercials?). You can read about that in Sarah's latest ABC Sports Diary, which also includes an account of the practical joke she played on her pit crew. It involves SpongeBob SquarePants boxer shorts.



ESPN also has a new Q&A page with Sarah here.

"The first task of anyone, lest you get canceled, is to entertain people, because they ain't there for message." - Dick Wolf

[xita]

That reminds me Tina Gordon was 13th in the truck race even though she was involved in an accident on the last lap.

[Bagheera]

BBOvenGuy, Odd, isn't it? Honda engines are all-conquering at the moment in MotoGP, and from your post, in IRL, but they are struggling in Formula 1 and 250cc road racing. Development/testing is clearly a tricky business, and success in racing is so often determined by how deep your pockets are (Hello, Ferrari). Your post that Sarah has just now secured enough money to run a full season is half good news. Good in that she has the finances secured, but it also suggests that she’s is on a very narrow budget

I don't think we see any of the IRL on TV in my country. We do host a round of CART in Queensland, so it gets a bit more publicity.

B

"They fed me behind bars from an iron pan till one night I felt that I was Bagheera--the Panther-- and no man's plaything, and I broke the silly lock with one blow of my paw and came away." Rudyard Kipling

[Bagheera]

In Friday's qualifying session for the French 250cc GP, Katja missed the 107% qualification cut-off by a bare 0.25sec.

Unfortunately, it rained throughout Saturday's second qualifying session, so Katja was unable to improve her time. Here's hoping she has better fortune at Mugello, Italy in 2 weeks.

"They fed me behind bars from an iron pan till one night I felt that I was Bagheera--the Panther-- and no man's plaything, and I broke the silly lock with one blow of my paw and came away." Rudyard Kipling

[BBOvenGuy]

My favorite drivers are all having crummy seasons, all at the same time. Sarah Fisher is stuck with one of the very slow Chevrolet engines, which blew up 15 laps into the Indy 500 and put her into the wall. In NASCAR, Tony Stewart keeps running well but failing to finish. Ditto Juan Montoya in Formula 1.



I don't have a favorite driver in CART these days, although I've had some sympathy for Mario Dominguez. CART handed him a win in Australia last year in the biggest farce I've ever seen in auto racing (no offence to the Australian people - the Australian weather was entirely to blame). I'm hoping he gets a win for real sometime this season. He almost pulled it off in Germany, so maybe he'll do well this Saturday night in Milwaukee, too.

"The first task of anyone, lest you get canceled, is to entertain people, because they ain't there for message." - Dick Wolf

[BBOvenGuy]

Just a quick heads up for this weekend -



Tonight (6/6) at 9pm Eastern/6pm Pacific is the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race from Texas Motor Speedway. Coverage will be on the Speed Channel. Rookie of the Year contender Tina Gordon starts 18th, while Shawna Robinson and her all-female pit crew start 32nd.



Meanwhile, tomorrow night (6/7) at 8pm Eastern/5pm Pacific is the Indy Racing League's annual night race at Texas Motor Speedway, one of the best events of the year. Sarah Fisher had a problem in qualifying last night and will start 21st. Coverage will be on ESPN.

"The first task of anyone, lest you get canceled, is to entertain people, because they ain't there for message." - Dick Wolf

[xita]

Shawna finished 18th , here's an article.



Tina Gordon was 22nd.



Darn I missed it .. grr.

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"I love you all!!! -
bytrsuite

[BBOvenGuy]

I watched the first half or so. Shawna's pit crew did their best, but they're lacking two things - experience, which will come with time, and size. NASCAR doesn't use automatic jacks like the Indy cars and champ cars do, and those trucks are really heavy. It takes a really big person, male or female, to work the manual jack and lift the truck up quickly enough. The woman working the jack on Shawna's truck is certainly giving it her all. She leaps into the air and brings her full weight down on the lever. I just don't think she's big enough.



Sarah Fisher had a decent race at Texas under the circumstances - the circumstances being that she had a Chevy engine that's way slower than the Toyotas and Hondas, and she got black-flagged twice because people thought there was fluid spraying out the back of her car (there wasn't in either case). She still finished 15th.



The really great story of Texas, though, was Al Unser Jr. Last summer his career almost ended when the news that he had an alcohol problem (off the track) hit the press. He spent a few weeks in rehab and was given a second chance by his car owner and sponsor, and it paid off with a win at Texas. He's second in the points now and looks better than he has in years.



Oh, and one more thing - ESPN is reporting that Danica Patrick will join the Prodrive Ferrari team in the American Le Mans series, starting with the June 27-29 event at Road Atlanta. This is in addition to her Toyota Atlantic gig with Team Rahal, and in fact Bobby Rahal helped her get the extra ride.

"The first task of anyone, lest you get canceled, is to entertain people, because they ain't there for message." - Dick Wolf

[Bagheera]

After a disappointing non-qualification at Mugello, Katja qualified comfortably for the next round in Catalunya and finished a creditable 17th. She's starting to work her way back into some form.



And a correction to my earlier post - IRL is on cable in Australia.

"They fed me behind bars from an iron pan till one night I felt that I was Bagheera--the Panther-- and no man's plaything, and I broke the silly lock with one blow of my paw and came away." Rudyard Kipling

[BBOvenGuy]

ESPN.com has a new article on Danica Patrick. You can find it here:



espn.go.com/rpm/cart/2003...70516.html



And here's a pic from the article:







Meanwhile, Panther Racing supposedly tested a Cosworth IRL engine at Chicago on Wednesday. I haven't seen any writeup of how it went. If it was successful, I think the plan is for Chevrolet to put its logo on the engine and use it to replace the pitifully underpowered Chevrolet engine that's currently being used. Sarah Fisher is one of the Chevrolet drivers, so that would be a big help for her.



Update: ESPN's Robin Miller - not one to say something nice about the IRL when he doesn't have to - reports that the Panther Cosworth test was a big success. Reportedly within ten laps of running with the Cosworth engine, Sam Hornish Jr. was already going 5mph faster than the fastest speed he'd been able to manage with the current Chevy engine. Let's hope this means it's full speed ahead for getting the Cosworth approved for use in the IRL, so maybe Sarah and the other Chevy drivers will have a fighting chance this summer.

"The first task of anyone, lest you get canceled, is to entertain people, because they ain't there for message." - Dick Wolf

Edited by: BBOvenGuy  at: 6/22/03 5:58 pm

[BBOvenGuy]

Sarah Fisher's latest diary entry for ESPN can be found here. In it, she writes about her latest adventures, including singing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" at a St. Louis Cardinals game and riding in the "Celebrity Tractor Parade" at the Indiana State Fair.



And of course, she also mentions the Chevy "Gen IV" engine (really made by Ford Cosworth), which she'll finally get in her car this weekend. It's not a moment too soon, because this weekend's race is at Kentucky Speedway, Sarah's home track and the track where she qualified on the pole last year.



It hasn't been a very exciting season for Sarah fans, but maybe now things will turn around. Let's hope so.

"The first task of anyone, lest you get canceled, is to entertain people, because they ain't there for message." - Dick Wolf

[xita]

Christi Passmore was 5th in the ARCA race at Talladega. I was watching it tonight on tape delay and it was fun, she did great. Then I went to the website and she's 9th in points.

- - - - - - - - - - -
"Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose."

-Me & Bobby
McGee

Edited by: xita  at: 9/27/03 10:46 pm

[Bagheera]

Not good news.



In the Czech Republic GP Katja completed the race in 20th place and in an interview was happy with that result.



Next round in Portugal Katja qualified and made an excellent start to the race but fell before the end of the first lap. She has a bruised back and a broken bone in her left hand. Medical staff forebade her to start in the next round in Japan. Her messages on her Web site still sound quite chirpy, so she'll be back racing before too long, I daresay.



B.



Updating to add:



Katja returned to racing after the Pacific GP. She has qualified for today's Australian Grand Prix and the weather for morning warm-up was cold and wet. I'm going to stick my neck out and predict that if the weather remains this bad and Katja doesn't crash, she will score championship points today.

Edited by: Bagheera  at: 10/18/03 5:13 pm