John Shiels

Danica Upset With Rule Change
By NATE RYAN,USA Today
Posted: 2008-03-25 12:16:37
An Indy Racing League rule change has Danica Patrick feeling as if she'll be penalized for being petite - which the popular driver said wouldn't happen in other sports.

Starting this season, the minimum weight for IRL cars will include the driver, and Patrick is the series' lightest at 100 pounds according to the 2007 media guide (which lists other female drivers Milka Duno and Sarah Fisher at 120 pounds apiece; Ed Carpenter is the heaviest at 165).





"If someone's going to take the hit it's going to be me," Patrick said Thursday. "It's disappointing the league decided to do that. In so many other sports, athletes don't get penalized for being too strong, or too tall or too fast.

"(It's) just your God-given stature is being penalized. What am I going to do, though? It's not my decision. That's the people higher up (who) made their bed, and they've got to lay in it."

Patrick said she asked IRL officials about the reason for the change but said "they didn't really have one.

"I just follow the rules," she said. "Maybe I'll get more specific reasons somewhere down the line --"

IRL spokesman John Griffin said the rule was intended to reduce the difference between the lightest and heaviest drivers, which is a gap that can range from 75 to 100 pounds.

"We want to make absolutely clear this is not a Danica rule," Griffin said. "You look at guys like Dan Wheldon and Marco Andretti, and they're light guys."

Griffin wouldn't disclose the cars' minimum weight but said drivers are broken into three weight classifications. The heaviest would have weight reduced from its car while the lightest would have a maximum 35 pounds of ballast added.

"It's something that had been looked at and was in the back of our minds every year," Griffin said.


Patrick admits to having had a slight speed edge from weighing less in a sport where lighter means faster. An Associated Press story in 2005 reported rival teams estimated Patrick might gain nearly 1 mph because of her weight, and Sprint Cup driver Robby Gordon said he wouldn't race Patrick in the IRL until the series equalized weights as NASCAR's premier circuit does.

Patrick hopes to put the issue behind her by winning the season-opening Gainsco 300 at Homestead Miami Speedway on Saturday.

"Let's just do that," she said with a laugh, "and then I'll say, 'Why didn't you guys do this years ago?' "

Gracious offer:

David Reutimann would give up running for a Nationwide Series championship - and a larger share of each race's purse - if the result was more money and exposure for the series' teams without Sprint Cup ties.

"The only way to truly help is to give them more money so they can hire engineers and pay for wind tunnel time," Reutimann said during a Nationwide test at Richmond International Raceway.

Reutimann, who is running both the Cup and Nationwide circuits for the second consecutive season for Michael Waltrip Racing, believes NASCAR should redistribute its prize money to Nationwide-only teams and perhaps limit Cup drivers from earning points.

"If that takes me out of a seat and gives someone else an opportunity, maybe that's not a bad thing because I needed an opportunity one time," he said. "My first race was here in Richmond with one car, one motor and barely enough money for a set of tires." Jason Keller, the career Nationwide leader in starts (428), has "mixed emotions" about points restrictions.

"The series needs Cup flavor," he said. "But David hit the nail on the head -- We do need more money."

wallyman424

there are also no other sports that pit males against females. she needs to stop being so foolish.

racing is about talent, not how heavy you are.

robvuk

I'm not taking a stand on this issue in either direction but talent is usually accompanied by physical condition too. They don't sandbag horse racing. For decades, they've been trying to convince the public that the driver is an athlete. Now they're just making that harder to distinguish.

mrc24x

"(It's) just your God-given stature is being penalized....."


I think she needs to step back and realize her own quote above describes what has been happening to the OTHER drivers until now.

bowmanized

She realizes now that her opportunity to win is way smaller. More Indy Cars, less weight advantage.

She's kinda hot though.

AU N EGL

Most race series have a minimum wt the car, driver and fuel must be. So why not Indy cars?

Miaugi

On the bright side now she can pack on a few pounds without feeling guilty!

John Shiels

she is done now with all the new competition.

folsomlarry

Larry

racerjon1

I am on the fence with this one.. I can see the issue of equal (or as close to equal) rules and understand why you want it.

Then I think of the people that are heavy, perhaps because they are not putting the time in at the gym, or the right foods in at the dinner table, and think, "wait, maybe they shouldn't have an advantage."

The quote above looks to me like they are giving some room to play with, and that if you get light through hard work, or get heavy through lack of work, you still may find yourselves on the outside edges of the bell curve.

I bet that what they have come up with does away with a huge advantage of a "natural" small stature (Danica) but doesn't give the farm away to the guys who end up putting on weight - lets say Tony Stewart...

If something isn't done.. then we will end up with the Indy 500 practice starting a week late because the Kentucky Derby jockies having other obligations the first week of May.


Jon K

Bugeater

Bleh.

When you finish a race on the podium you have to hit tech and drive your car over the scales. Whenever I do that, I tend to be in the car turning the wheel and hitting the gas pedal to make minimum weight. She can go pound sand.

heavychevy

I agree, how can you be upset over a rule that makes racing MORE even?

I think every racing venue should be this way, at least ones where the same format of car is being used.

Big boys need laps too.

BFoster

Yeah, but she is B-E-A-Utiful!

heavychevy

She's lil' old thing. That doesnt do anything for me.

Falcon

Don't they make the horse carry lead ballast if the jockey and saddle don't weigh a minimum amount?

robvuk

Well you might have me on that one. I'm not a horse player so I really don't know and that would surprise me if it's true. :o

xsiveone

I think that it's a fair rule and it will hopefully encourage other drivers to enter the series. Look at PT. He's nearly 200 lbs. That's double of Danica's weight. I remember PT trying to cut weight when he was with CART so he could compete with drivers like Cristiano da Matta. Cristiano claimed to be 5'3" and about 135 lbs, but I bet that he was closer to 120 lbs. I had a friend in high school that was 5'7" and about 140 and Cristiano seemed a lot smaller.

My point is that it doesn't matter if it's male or female. Some drivers are larger and some are very small. Justin Wilson is nearly 6'5". He's pretty lanky, but he's still big. Graham Rahal looks to be about 6'2" and he may not be done growing or filling out. Max Papis was a big driver too. He claimed to be 6', but I'm 6'1" and he's just as tall or a little taller than I am. He's also one of the most muscular drivers that I've seen. I bet he's at least 185. He could even weigh as much as 200 lbs and he looks to have a very low percentage of body fat.

What I think that this does is makes it fair for larger drivers. I don't want to see all the OW drivers in the series be 5'5" and 140 lbs and all the larger drivers go to sports cars or NASCAR just because of their size. As far as fitness, you won't see any fat drivers anyway in OW because it does require fitness to handle the g forces.

boerio

Danica is American open wheel racing's equivalent to Anna Kournikova.

Jeff

WNeal

I'd hit it

John Shiels

I think if someone else see's this you be hit with a new HANS!