danica, who??

ok. the indy 500. here we go.

the only reason that danica patrick is getting all this attention is because she is a woman, and women in racing is a rare occurance. have you heard anything about roger yasukawa, or tony kanaan at all? no, nothing. it's a man's sport, and YES, i consider it a sport - these guys are in top physical condition because, believe it or not, it takes a lot out of you to drive in the heat, with a fire-proof driving suit on, plus a full-faced helmet, for 3 plus hours. endurance running is considered a sport, is it not? very similar, i think. and there's more to it, especially in Formula 1, where the circuits are mostly street courses (through monte carlo for one) and designed tracks that sometimes take the driver through the woods (at spa, in belgium for instance.) there's the physics of drafting, as joey rightly pointed out, and the fuel/tire strategy as well as driver ability - the when to pass - inside, outside, which lap - all of these things, if you're into it, make for an interesting 2 hours. if not, that's ok - i've been known to watch a little baseball or basketball - even...hockey on occassion. and i did mention golf as the ultimate (to me) anti-sport (on another blog) guys in loud, clashing colored clothing, walking around (slowly, i might add) hitting a tiny ball every so often - i dunno, seems a tad more...sedate than driving 140 miles an hour with 20 or so other people doing the same right next to you. maybe it's just me though.

ok. enough. here's a little bit about danica, just because...
she started off in the toyota atlantic series, where she grabbed pole position for the race at portland - something no other woman had done. she also finished EVERY lap during the season - no easy feat there - male OR female. she finished 3rd overall for the season.
i'm not a huge IRL fan, but i will tune in (mind you not for the whole race - that shit's looong) to see if she makes it past lap 50.

alright, i'm out

late edit - after leading for a while, fuel conservation caused
her to slip back, to finish in (a very respectable) fourth place