Why do so many people think that Danica Patrick is such a poor driver?

Question

It seems like most people on Y! answers that answer questions regarding Danica Patrick call her a "poor" driver, "average," "talent-deficient," or say that she under-performs in some way or another. Where do these opinions come from?

I have been watching Danica race for years and even though she is no Rick Mears or AJ Foyt Jr., she is DEFINITELY one of the top 5 or 6 drivers in the IRL. Can you name 6 drivers that are better. I mean, as far as I can see, she is right up there with Marco.

Wheldon, Kaanan, and Hornish may be better drivers, but not by much. I think these people on Answers are putting to much stock in actual wins. If you know how racing works, you would see that Danica had just as good a shot as anyone to win the Indy 500 this year. It all boiled down to when the rain started.

If you watch closely, Danica always puts herself in the best position possible with the car she has to deal with. Other drivers either wreck a fast car or squander away good position.

Answer 1

Danica is a fine driver. She is looked down upon because she is the first woman to actually be some real competition in a man's sport. Give her some credit she was the first woman to lead a lap at the Indy 500 two years ago and the first woman to finish the Indy 500 on the lead lap, which was all during her rookie year. Not many male rookies even finish on the lead lap. I think some men maybe threatened and well they should be. I'm not saying she is better than Wheldon, Kanaan, or Hornish but they've been racing longer. She's had to work and there is a lot of pressure on her to win races or she'll just be written off as another woman who couldn't finish the job. The same thing with Marco. He's under the same pressure to win as Danica or he to will be written off as an Andretti that couldn't finish the job. You try winning under those conditions and it doesn't help matters either with other drivers on the track with inferiority complex looking for a chance to mess her up. I'll let her win a few races first before I start saying she's better than anyone else though.

Answer 2

Q: "Why do so many people think that Danica Patrick is such a poor driver?"

A: For the same reason so many people are not outraged about the destruction of our nation due to the illegal alien invasion ....

In short, there is a lot of ignorance in America.

Danica drove and raced tonight in Texas extremely well. Last week, she went from end of the pack to near the front and was looking great when she was wrecked.

Don't pay any attention to the ignorant people. Just watch the complete replay of tonight's race and you will see her race with the leaders. She is doing just fine and will get better. I believe she is 7th in points after tonight's race. I would love to see her average running position since she did have a couple of crashes that pushed her down in points.

Had Danica stayed out with Franchiti and not pitted at Indy, Danica probably would have won the Indy 500.

Answer 3

I am one of those that says Danica is a poor driver.

She hasn't won a race in 5-6 years (that includes the "minors" of the IRL and she was in the best equipment by far in that series) and the only reason she was 2nd was because she stayed out before the first rain came instead of going into the pits like the others did. She was competing for a few laps but did nothing that exuberated a "great driver". The only reason she lead at Indy in 2005 was because she stayed out instead of entering the pits.

Mainly her top performances have been because of her staying out. Buddy Rice was a championship contender in 2004 and Danica basically got all of his equipment (leaving Rice in the horrible 2nd RLR car) and managed to finish 9th in points which is OK for a rookie.

I watch IRL regularly and Danica finishes in the late portion of the top-10 and if that's the best possible position she can muster in a top car; then her talent can't be more than average.

Marco has had a lot of bad luck this year in terms of crashes. He had a very good rookie season (including a win at Sonoma and a near-win at Indy) so I would assume most should be ahead of him based on his early-season misfortunes. He's wrecking, Danica is staying out on track.

All of her wins have come from the go-kart ranks. As of right now, I see her as the girl who draped over her car with part of "rear" showing in FHM than an actual driver. Actual drivers? Katherine Legge and Sarah Fisher (who actually finished 2nd in a race once).

I can name ya 6 better drivers:

Dan Wheldon, Helio Castroneves, Tony Kanaan, Sam Hornish Jr., Scott Dixon, Vitor Meira (who in FAR INFERIOR equipment is doing better than Danica), Dario Franchitti and if Tomas Scheckter could stay out of the wall? That's 8 right there.

thefourthhorse-You are making this into something that's sexist. You are praising her because she's a woman it seems! She's average, that's not bad. If it was because she's a woman, wouldn't she be wrecked a lot more? Then I guess next time she wrecks a man it's because she doesn't want men beating her. Yeah, that makes sense.

Answer 4

Danica is a decent driver, but one things that pisses me off and I think a lot of racing fans is all the press the gets for being a competent driver. Personally I think Scheckter is as good, if not a better driver than Danica. Why don't 90% of Americans recognize is name? Because he isn't a top driver, and the only reason people take notice of Danica is either because she is a woman, or an attractive woman. She is somewhere between Kournikova and Sharapova. She isn't there only because of her looks as Anna is; but she isn't an accomplished unqualified star like Maria.

Danica does not deserve half the press she gets, and maybe not all of the criticsm either. She is a decent driver in a very competitive car, but for her to get top billing over Wheldon, Dixon, Kanaan, Franchitti, Helio, Castroneves, & Meira is sad

Answer 5

I must say I wonder the same thing. If people were to watch the way she races, she's quite a talented driver. Just look at Milwaukee. I'm not going to go into whose fault that was, but there are some drivers in the IRL, with more talent (or so people say) that would not have been able to save that.
I think the reason is because she's a talented woman in good equipment, and it seems that some people are intimidated. She is a very good driver, just doesn't have the wins to show it. That's what people base it on, her finishes don't reflect the way she runs unfortunately. She'll get a win soon enough. I hope soon.

Answer 6

I don't think she's a poor driver, but I don't think she is as good as she gets credit for. Of course, she's only liked as much because of her gender... Anyway, last night at Texas was a great example. You put a driver in a good program: good team, good car, money, the works, and they should win. Danica can't make the final step. If that was Hornish in 3rd last night, he would have passed at least TK because he's aggressive and he has that instinct. Sometimes I think that she is a good example of what's it like when an owner puts any decent driver in fast, reliable equipment. The driver can get up there but they can't hold their own. I don't know if she lacks the killer instinct or what, but all last night, she'd get right up there with everyone else and fail to do the next thing PASS and RACE. She just couldn't hold her own. Oh, and I don't think only one win will prove her racing abilities. Multiple wins will do it.

Answer 7

She is talented (anytime your racing fulltime for a good team in any top racing series, your talented), the problem is that the media and fans added way more than necessary on Danica, almost acting like she would show that women can race, and win just about every other race.

I think so many people look down now at Danica, is not only because she "didnt meet or exceed expectations, but she has acted like a ***** at times. I have seen some situations where she got herself into the trouble, and pretty much blaming everybody for it.

If she fesses up that she screwed up, instead of blaming everyone and everything, she would get more respect than she is getting now.

Answer 8

IMHO: Danica is the byproduct of a "political spin" that got away from the perpetrator.

The IRL (now called ICS) needed fans and, in his infinate wisdom, Rayhall brought her in, spread-eagled her across a car and published it in "Men's Magazines" to accomplish the feat.

When the "rednecks" couldn't get the response that they were anticipating from her (they're all SURE that if she would only meet with them, they'd show her how a REAL man would treat her,) they started to pick on every minor infraction they could imagine. (A typical redneck response.)

I honestly don't understand how she puts up with it all. She's a very good driver, otherwise she wouldn't be in the AGR stable, believe me! The ONLY interest Michael Andretti has (for Danica and his team) is winning.

I try to ignore most articles about her, as they are mostly prejudicial rants.

Answer 9

I am sorry, but ditto to what Edward S. wrote.

In a field with a limited outstanding drivers, Danica still doesn't rate....it not about being a women or man, but simple about finishing consistently in the top 5, and winning a few.

Fans will say she always in the top 10....but when most races are only starting 18 cars and and she is finishing 8th, she is only finishing about 55% better then start field. In NASCAR that would be a driver finishing in the 23rd position - aka Juan Montoya (sorry about the jab, but I couldn't resist :-) )

Answer 10

She is a very talented driver. Her detractors in the public have little appreciation for her accomplishments.

She does have some problems off the track. She never gives enough credit to her sponsors and pit crew. This does not diminish her talent but will hurt her career. After her first big race at Indy, Letterman and the gang were trying to make her a star. She did a lot of blabbing about problems with handling. I saw her on the ESPY award; she was gorgeous but a bit short on personality.

I see her face when I shop at my Meijer's store in Illinois. They should be a good sponsor for her.

Danica and Marco have nearly identical cars and both have superstar potential. It takes a while to get the experience and business relationships usually needed to move to the next level. I hope they do.