Danica gets 4th at Indy! She had her rookie moments, stalling in the pit and spinning right before a restart, however, she overcame all that and finished in the top five, outrageous!!!!! She also led several laps. I had watched her in the Toyota-Atlantic series last year and knew she was the real deal then, today now everyone knows!

I hope her performance will inspire other women to go on track! I teach driving at Thunderhill Park and consistently women do not have a clue what their capabilities really are. It is so cool to be there when they start to get an idea about that!

Yeah, I saw parts of the race too, and the last 50 laps. Lots of drivers stall their cars here and there, and the spin did look like it was provoked by the people brake checking and trying to jump a restart which she will have to get used to. Overall a good job. She needs to get used to the camera....it seemed that she didn't know what to say when she was getting interviewed although all the questions sounded the same.

... regardless, a good showing for the rookie.

Yes, good show!

Loved EVERY minute of it....I only wish she could have held on to a few more spots...she deserved even better!

wow thats great. I am glad to hear she did so well. shes a great driver and should go a long way and have a great career.

She did better than I thought she would, not because of her gender, but because of her experience. I only wish her spin hadn't collected 2 of only 5 Chevy powered entries.

At my region's last autocross, a woman who competes in GS in a Mini wore a T-shirt that she bought at one of Danica's races. Front: "I drive faster than the boys." Back: "Deal with it!"

My father pitted for Janet Guthrie once. She was racing a Jag XK at the time, so I think that would have been around ten years before Indy.

for the guys out there, I just found this link of pics from another message board, so check it out
http://www.fresh99.com/danicapatrick-sexy-non-nude.htm

the last sentance gave me a good chuckle:

"Danika Patrick is one of the nation's best young auto racers, it would be great to see Danica naked."

She did a good job, except for the bonehead spin that took a few cars out. As long as she keeps her ego in check, I expect she will win races.

My daughter (age 7) built a pinewood derby car to race in the Cub Scout Pack with her twin brothers (that's encouraged in our Pack). Her car, a wicked fast Daytona prototype car, had a pretty neat sign on the back.

"If you can see this, you just lost to a GIRL".

She finished 10th out of 80 boys, and most importantly, beat both of her brothers (13th and 19th respectively).

I'm very pround of her, and very proud that Danica is handling this the 'right way'. She is a good driver first and a woman second.

She has talent and the best equipment available. But that quote on a shirt is enough to make me hope she never gets a checkered flag in IRL. I'm sure her marketing people dreamed it up, but her career doesn't need to include "male bashing". She's a fine driver, she doesn't need that kind of BS.

...eh.....I don't have a problem with it....actually I think it is kinda cool....I would buy my daughter one....she already has a "Girls Kick Ass" sticker that her mother loves Then again, I have a dark humor, and have a closet full of all the old No Fear shirts with similar slogans....my personal favorite "...drive it like you stole it...."

Its not like she is not getting A TON of bashing against her because she is:

a) a GURL
pretty
c) young
d) has top equip...

Let the girl have fun with it while it lasts...

I agree.. She is one hell of a driver.. She can hold her own, and as this last race proved, she drove better than all the boys with the exception of 3..

I agree, I don't take it as male bashing at all. I read it as "I'm here to win just like you are", but with humor

My daughter is still a bit young for that shirt. I need to get one made that says "Me do, me do!!!!".

BTW, Who won Indy?
Although I would really like to see more women in racing, especially at our local events, I have had about enough of hearing about Danika. They could have called it the Danika 500 with all the press she has received.

...you mean Danica DIDN'T win???...

...then to hell with her!

She hasn't won anything since she joined Team Rahal. She's made a couple of podiums in the Toyota Atlantic's, but hasn't shown that she can win races.

Don't get me wrong, she is a really good driver (better than I will ever be) - but unless she starts winning races, her novelty will eventually wear off.

...I know....I was just ribbing ya'll...

There was a photo of Dan Wheldon in the Richmond Times Dispatch friday morning hold up a "Danica Who?" T shirt. The IRL is running at RIR in 3 weeks and it will be interesting to see Danica on such a short track. I'll be there and no, I do not wish her bad luck. I just want to see a Chevy power plant win one for a change.

LOL! Wheldon is a jealous guy! Anyhoo, I'll be glad when racers are just racers, male or female. I'm sure Danica will be too. If men racers had to go the pinup route to help them get in a car there would be much smaller fields!

Hey, if posing would get me into an open wheel ride, I'd be there! There just hasn't been much demand ....

Sean! Notice I said "smaller fields..."