NEWS: 23 Year Old Woman Looks To Win Indy 500

Hope her fuel can hold out

This caution may not prove beneficial for her.

Yes, I understand the variables. I still think its dull. Road racing or rally racing is much more interesting. What can I say, I grew up on Speed Racer..

Well fuck that...GO!!!

Fourth.

Any race that can end under a yellow flag is a bunch of bullshit.

oh well. dan wheldon lives a couple miles away from where i live, so the entire time, i was hoping that either he or danica would win.

Best finish ever by a woman.
First woman ever to lead the race.

She's a rookie.

Job well done.

I'm wasn't watching it, so forgive this question...

I know the yellow flag means they all keep their positions during a "caution" (right?)

Could she have won if they hadn't waved the yellow flag? Were they on the last lap? It kind of sucks if she was "forced" into fourth place.

Still awesome, though.

probably not. she was pretty much running on empty for those last few laps, which is why she gradually slid down several places by the very end

She was low on fuel and had dropped to 4th as the yellow came out, so she probably would not have been able to win.

Okay. Thanks.

It's a shame that fuel came into it, but regardless she raced a hell of a race. Fourth place is damn fine. She'll win one before she's done.

[Edited on May 29, 2005 by mamet]

Danica definitely showed what she's made of....great job girl!

It's sad that most of the focus is on the fact that she's a woman rather than that she's an incredible driver especially for a rookie. It's a "she's pretty good...for a girl... plus she's hot" type of mentality. Though at the same time it kicks ass to see a women do well at a male dominated sport so I dunno. It'd just be nice to recognize her as a talented driver rather than a spectacle.

I know your actual question of "could she have won" was already answered, but I figured I'd point out, she was almost out of fuel when the caution flags came out and if she had been forced to continue the last few laps at speed, she probably would have run out of gas and not even finished. She certainly would have lost even more positions as she would have been forced to run even leaner on fuel consumption.

That being said, if she hadn't stalled out in the pit or spun out toward the end, and been able to pit and refuel closer to the end of the race, I believe she would have won the race, as she was without a doubt the best driver on the track that day, apart from a few rookie mistakes.

And to address those of you who think that they're pushing the "she's a girl racer" instead of simply "she's a racer" aspect too far needs to be realistic. Regardless of gender, of course she is making a phenomenal rookie showing in the IRL. But the fact of the matter is, what she has done, is doing, and is going to do, is history in the making. In my opinion, pointing out the fact that she is an awesome female driver is simply pointing out the fact that she has had to overcome additional levels of adversity to get where she's at, and doesn't take anything away from her as a pure, badass, nerves of steel, driver. I realize some people do take and mean it to be, "she's pretty good for a girl", but honestly that's not what the majority of people mean by it. I was at the race on Sunday and when she took the lead, tens of thousands of people at the race exploded in cheers and applause. She had the entire Motor Speedway on their feet. It was pretty fucking amazing if you ask me.

To put it another way, if there had been a second caution, or a longer caution that allowed her to save that extra 1-2 gallons she would have won. When she was allowed to run "full fuel" mixture (at the restart and for a few laps after that) she was pulling away from Wheldon.
I am a longtime racefan who does some racing myself and I am convinced she had it won. Even better, she's driving the whole season with the same great team. She already came close to winning the race before indy, then indy and she will probably win some of the other ones later as the season goes on.
I am getting a big group of people together (many of whom are women who have never seen a race) to go see Danica when she races in the SF bay area in late august. Anyone in the bay area who is interested drop a line.
Also, I can tell you from the racing I do, it's incredibily strenuous. I am in top shape (I do triathlons) working out 2 hours a day, yet I feel exhausted after even a short 10 lap race. Imagine driving a rollercoaster around like 15 times in a suit on a hot day.
As for the stupid Robbie Gordon comment about her being too light, let me add this: the overwhelming majority of race drivers are very small and skinny (I'd say 80% are under 150lbs) so his comparison of his 205 lbs vs her 100 lbs as unfair is totally false. HE is the one outside the norm while most of her competitors are only 20-50 lbs more.