Danica Patrick becomes the first woman to win a Indy race!

Mattlill2000 · Post by **Mattlill2000** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 9:41 am

Patrick takes first victory at Motegi

By Matt Beer Sunday, April 20th 2008, 04:03 GMT

Danica Patrick, Andretti Green, Motegi pit stopDanica Patrick used a fuel gamble to take a historic victory in the delayed Motegi round of the IRL IndyCar Series.

The Andretti Green Racing driver took the lead with just two laps to go as the rest of the front-runners had to pit for fuel, and became the first woman to win a major American open-wheel race.

Patrick had run on the fringe of the top six for most of the race, as Ganassi's Scott Dixon and Penske's Helio Castroneves dominated the event.

But AGR's decision to bring Patrick in for an additional fuel top-up at the end of the final full course yellow paid off spectacularly, allowing her to take a remarkable last gasp victory.

Castroneves led the first half of the race - which was postponed by a day due to poor weather earlier in the weekend - with Dixon, Dan Wheldon (Ganassi) and Tony Kanaan (Andretti-Green) in close pursuit.

Dixon jumped into the lead during the second pitstops, and was then able to pull away from the field, leading by as much as six seconds.

But the final yellow on lap 142 eliminated his advantage, and left all the teams in a fuel mileage quandary.

While most hoped in vain for additional yellows, Patrick, Castroneves and Vision Racing's Ed Carpenter all chose to make an extra stop just before the green, but only Patrick was able to conserve enough fuel in the final 51 laps to make it to the flag without a final splash-and-go stop.

She duly rose to the front as Dixon, Wheldon, Kanaan, Castroneves and Carpenter all had to pit within the final six laps.

Castroneves was able to rejoin fastest and take second place, five seconds behind the victorious Patrick, with Dixon completing the podium.

Wheldon and Kanaan claimed fourth and fifth ahead of Carpenter - who had charged back into the lead group after earlier being delayed in a pitlane tangle with teammate AJ Foyt IV.

Ryan Hunter-Reay finished seventh for Rahal-Letterman Racing, with Foyt's Darren Manning in eighth and Ryan Briscoe surviving a late brush with the wall to take ninth for Penske. The Australian had vaulted from the midfield to the lead group by topping up his fuel under an early yellow and consequently having a rapid second stop, but fell out of contention for the win when he scraped the wall in the closing laps.

Townsend Bell claimed the final top ten spot for Dreyer & Reinbold.

While Patrick celebrated a momentous victory, two of her Andretti-Green Racing teammates had less happy afternoons. Second row starter Marco Andretti spun into the wall at the first corner of the race, while local favourite Hideki Mutoh could only finish 11th after spinning in the pit exit and almost crashing into the pace car.

Provisional results:

Pos Driver Team Laps
1. Danica Patrick Andretti-Green 200
2. Helio Castroneves Penske 200
3. Scott Dixon Ganassi 200
4. Dan Wheldon Ganassi 200
5. Tony Kanaan Andretti-Green 200
6. Ed Carpenter Vision 200
7. Ryan Hunter-Reay Rahal-Letterman 200
8. Darren Manning Foyt 199
9. Ryan Briscoe Penske 199
10. Townsend Bell Dreyer & Reinbold 199
11. Hideki Mutoh Andretti-Green 199
12. Buddy Rice Dreyer & Reinbold 198
13. Jay Howard Roth 192
14. Roger Yasukawa Beck 134
15. AJ Foyt IV Vision 103
16. Vitor Meira Panther 92
17. Marty Roth Roth 44
18. Marco Andretti Andretti-Green 0

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mCowboy · Post by **mCowboy** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 11:19 am

Good for her. She's hot, but don't know if I like her personality that much, from what I've seen her in couple of interviews...

antarctica_moon · Post by **antarctica_moon** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 7:25 pm

mCowboy wrote:

Good for her. She's hot, but don't know if I like her personality that much, from what I've seen her in couple of interviews...

Yes, she's not the most pleasant person. But I guess she needs to be that way in order to survive in a "man's" sport. She's definitely a very talented driver, and quite hot too.

mCowboy · Post by **mCowboy** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 9:42 pm

I've seen her throwin some childish tantrums on the team radio and after a small crash couple of times during a race that didn't believe my ears...

Mattlill2000 · Post by **Mattlill2000** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 10:24 pm

Maybe she needs a spanking from Mosley.

...........................................

norwich · Post by **norwich** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 10:32 pm

Good for her. What's the difference between Indy and Formula 1? It all looks the same to me.

Mattlill2000 · Post by **Mattlill2000** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 11:03 pm

Indy and Formula 1

Their both top end open wheel racing cars but the similarity ends there. In Indy Cars, all racers use the same car and engine which teams try to tweak up. In F1 its all teams design and race their own cars and there are about 6 different engines. Indy Cars are considered to be a B class series to Formula 1.

norwich · Post by **norwich** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 11:16 pm

Mattlill2000 wrote:
Indy and Formula 1
Their both top end open wheel racing cars but the similarity ends there. In Indy Cars, all racers use the same car and engine which teams try to tweak up. In F1 its all teams design and race their own cars and there are about 6 different engines. Indy Cars are considered to be a B class series to Formula 1.

I see. Do Indy drivers usually "graduate" to F1 drivers, or are we comparing apples and oranges? Do F1 drivers earn much more than Indy drivers?

Mattlill2000 · Post by **Mattlill2000** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 12:46 am

Indy Drivers may graduate into Formula 1. Many have with mixed results. The latest is Sebastion Bourdais with Toro Roso. I think the top F1 drivers may earn almost as much as 10 times more than Indy drivers.

norwich · Post by **norwich** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 1:47 am

Sorry if I'm pestering you with my questions but car racing has always been a mystery to me and you guys are a great source of information

Why do Indy drivers graduate to F1 drivers with mixed results? Are F1 cars more difficult to drive and why? Are they faster? Why is there more prestige in F1?

norwich · Post by **norwich** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 2:47 am

Ok, I googled Indy and F1. Indy is an American thing and F1 is European/international. So it's like American football and soccer

(don't shoot me...)

Mattlill2000 · Post by **Mattlill2000** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 6:32 am

Thats pretty well it. For example they both race at the Indianapolis Speedway, (or at least F1 used to) and the Indy Cars use the Oval circuit which is very American and the F1 used another ciruit type track on the same site. Indy racing used to be about on par with F1 years and years ago, but infighting caused them to split into 2 different series and almost killed pro open wheel racing in the States. Only this year have they made peace but it will take years and years to bring it back to its former glory.

antarctica_moon · Post by **antarctica_moon** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 8:46 am

Mattlill2000 wrote:Thats pretty well it. For example they both race at the Indianapolis Speedway, (or at least F1 used to) and the Indy Cars use the Oval circuit which is very American and the F1 used another ciruit type track on the same site. Indy racing used to be about on par with F1 years and years ago, but infighting caused them to split into 2 different series and almost killed pro open wheel racing in the States. Only this year have they made peace but it will take years and years to bring it back to its former glory.

That's good knowledge. Is NASCAR considered beneath contempt by open wheel drivers? But aren't their salaries just as high or higher than theirs? Are the open wheel cars faster than NASCAR?

Mattlill2000 · Post by **Mattlill2000** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 11:13 am

When NASCAR and Indy Cars race on the same oval track, the Indy Cars average lap speed can be as 50 MPH faster. However with the internal battling of the rival Indy Series, NASCAR has taken the crown of being the Premier race series in the States with former Indy racers and a few ex-F1 racers in the series now. A lot of racing purists frown at NASCAR because they have rules which lessens real racing for entertainment and thats where NASCAR is number one in world........A racing/entertainment package. Probably every race series in the world is envious of NASCAR's spectator counts.

antarctica_moon · Post by **antarctica_moon** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 10:36 pm

Mattlill2000 wrote:When NASCAR and Indy Cars race on the same oval track, the Indy Cars average lap speed can be as 50 MPH faster. However with the internal battling of the rival Indy Series, NASCAR has taken the crown of being the Premier race series in the States with former Indy racers and a few ex-F1 racers in the series now. A lot of racing purists frown at NASCAR because they have rules which lessens real racing for entertainment and thats where NASCAR is number one in world........A racing/entertainment package. Probably every race series in the world is envious of NASCAR's spectator counts.

Thanks - you're very knowledgeable about car racing.

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