At Home With Danica Patrick

[dirtvert]

two words:

over. rated.

and it takes a professional photo shoot to make her look better than average.

[OffRoadie]

Originally Posted by spookydave

you would be shocked at the gram counting that goes on in motorsports.
Take a look at a sprint car sometime. Pretty impressive where and how they save weight.

Yes, they do gram count. They're trying to get every advantage they can. It doesn't mean that the weight difference constitutes a significant enough advantage to institute a rule change. If the other teams really wanted to, they could have hired lighter drivers if they thought it was significant. Then we would have a bunch of horse jockeys driving cars.

[Shu]

Originally Posted by TKCastle

She would of been the ana kornikova of open wheel racing if she didn't win a race. Her constant coverage drove me away from american open wheel racing. F1 is looking like it's going to be a tight season all the way to the last race. F1 has always been the pinnacle of racing and you need to have turns to show the skill.

Blame the media and promoters not her...the ONLY difference between her and EVERY OTHER driver is she is a women....they all have attitudes...they are all hyper competitive....there are also a few drivers that aren't much heavier then her....there are also a BUNCH of drivers who have not won in the same time frame as her 1st thru out open wheel racing....

[jcampbell]

In some of the qualifying, the difference in weight between Her and say a Robbie G was the difference between first and 20th. That's why all those guys said forget it and the sport almost died. That rule change is huge and will bring back some of the bigger drivers.

[OffRoadie]

You can't say definitively that it was solely because of weight. Of all other variables:
Chassis setup
Driver Skill
Engine Tuning
Aerodynamic Package
Weight

You really think weight made the difference in qualifying?

[jcampbell]

Originally Posted by OffRoadie

You can't say definitively that it was solely because of weight. Of all other variables:
Chassis setup
Driver Skill
Engine Tuning
Aerodynamic Package
Weight

You really think weight made the difference in qualifying?

75 pounds + to a car that light changes the qualifying run enough. You can figure that the car is probably 5% heavier with that weight difference. Lets just say that equates to 1% time difference, which I was under the impression its more than that. With the qulaifying being decided by hundreds of a second, that change in weight is huge.

[singleminded]

I don't think she is a goddess....but I'd hit it

Originally Posted by reflux

Am I the only guy on this board who does not think that she is a goddess? Yeah, she's good looking, but I've had some girlfriends that I'd consider more attractive (along with a few others that aren't...).

[spookydave]

Originally Posted by OffRoadie

Yes, they do gram count. They're trying to get every advantage they can. It doesn't mean that the weight difference constitutes a significant enough advantage to institute a rule change. If the other teams really wanted to, they could have hired lighter drivers if they thought it was significant. Then we would have a bunch of horse jockeys driving cars.

It's simple phsycis really. Newton figured it out for us in Newton's second law of motion. (I think that's correct, been over 20 years)
It's very easy to see the effects weight has on acceleration at any drag strip.
It was huge when I was racing a drag boat. It didn't go faster when I took out the weight (well under 50 pounds). But it sure went quicker. And that was only a 1,320 feet race. Just think, over 500 miles what it would be like.

[sdyeti]

Wow...bet you have a way with the ladies

Originally Posted by mr.hobbs

I'd rather kick her in the lady bacon.

[OffRoadie]

A drag strip is different. Since you say it's simple physics right, then you are aware than aerodynamic drag is proportional to the square of velocity, right? So if you screw up your aero package your penalty gets worse as you go faster. If you choose the wrong tires, you won't have traction to deliver power to the ground. If your chassis isn't setup properly, you won't get all of the available traction.

My point is that compared to all other factors that could play into qualifying, weight is probably a minor one. If all other factors were exactly equal, than weight might make the difference, but other factors are never exactly equal.

Originally Posted by spookydave

It's simple phsycis really. Newton figured it out for us in Newton's second law of motion. (I think that's correct, been over 20 years)
It's very easy to see the effects weight has on acceleration at any drag strip.
It was huge when I was racing a drag boat. It didn't go faster when I took out the weight (well under 50 pounds). But it sure went quicker. And that was only a 1,320 feet race. Just think, over 500 miles what it would be like.

[L8 APEKS]

Originally Posted by kbteachme

I agree. In a lot of sports like horse racing or mountain biking being light weight is a huge advantage. In auto racing, it's mostly about the car engine, aerodynamic design, and race crew.

Weight is crucial in auto racing. Even when I raced 944 Spec, if you had a lightened flywheel you were socked with a 75 lb penalty and had to add 75 lbs of ballast to slow you down, offsetting the effects of the lightened flywheel. This is just in NASA Pro Racing...totally grass roots compared to CART or IRL.

It doesn't seem like 50 lbs would make much of a difference, but it truly does. This is not the Bonneville Salt Flats where you're running flat-out triple digit speeds...obviously, aerodynamics are the governing factor here. But aerodynamics plays LESS of a role when you're constantly braking and then accelerating out of turns from "street legal" speeds. In road racing, it's about power to weight ratio, just as much as it is aerodynamics. Do you think they make up all the silly weight rules for fun?

Having a 50+ lb advantage is HUGE over time. It gives you an edge coming out of corners, tires wear more slowly, it's easier on the brakes...it really does add up. Not to mention, depending on where the weight is distributed, 50 lbs is MORE than enough to actually feel going around corners. I could feel the difference with just a 20 lb donut spare in the back of the 944.

[spookydave]

O Roddie, those cars drag race off every turn. At Indy that's 4 mini drag races per lap. Cars with a bad aero package or bad anything else don't even make it in the show. Those teams are moot.

I don't really follow Indy cars so much so I am here or there on any rule change. But given all is equal other then weight, the lighter car will get to speed quicker. 4 times per lap @ Indy, it wouldn't take much of an advantage to add up.

I wish I could post some photos of these wacky bolts I just made for a race team. They would spank me if I did. Lets say they put a lot of time into a lighter fastener that the avg Joe would think was a waste.

[freekengo]

Originally Posted by OffRoadie

A drag strip is different. Since you say it's simple physics right, then you are aware than aerodynamic drag is proportional to the square of velocity, right? So if you screw up your aero package your penalty gets worse as you go faster. If you choose the wrong tires, you won't have traction to deliver power to the ground. If your chassis isn't setup properly, you won't get all of the available traction.

My point is that compared to all other factors that could play into qualifying, weight is probably a minor one. If all other factors were exactly equal, than weight might make the difference, but other factors are never exactly equal.

How is the weight not a big issue especially when the chassis is the constant? Aerodynamics plays a big part, but weight is the number one variable. Tire compound is limited, aero packages are limited, chassis is limited, engine is limited, and the suspension is limited. The only major variable that I see in the IRL series is the weight of the driver. Why do you think that fuel load is such a big issue? Every race series is worried about the weight and where it is placed. Even a few pounds can make a significant difference when you are trying to make a corner at max speeds. NASCAR, IRL, AMLS, F1, and the rest of the major series, the biggest issue is weight. Especially when you're trying to shave off 100th of a second per lap. Just my 2cents

[Marauder]

Originally Posted by OffRoadie

You can't say definitively that it was solely because of weight. Of all other variables:
Chassis setup
Driver Skill
Engine Tuning
Aerodynamic Package
Weight

You really think weight made the difference in qualifying?

Weight does play a role, but so does driver skill.

Recently I went to a karting track with some friends. I was the tallest and heaviest driver, yet i was passing EVERYONE! LOL....they all said, damn, for a big guy I was sure fast! Of course I was just as fast as everyone else on the straights, but I passed then in the corners, since I knew how to carry my speed thru the corner and push the kart to it limits more than they did.

Paul Tracy used to be about the biggest guy in ChampCar, and back about 6 years ago he would be the fastest guy and win a bunch of races, and the weight of the driver wasn't taken into account of the car weight.

[speckledtrout]

Originally Posted by mr.hobbs

I'd rather kick her in the lady bacon.

mind if i steal that one?

[HollywoodHills]

Originally Posted by Marauder

Weight does play a role, but so does driver skill.


Paul Tracy used to be about the biggest guy in ChampCar, and back about 6 years ago
he would be the fastest guy and win a bunch of races, and the weight of the driver wasn't taken into
account of the car weight.

This i totally agree with that
I mean a lot of factors come into play not just weight
I'm hoping that she does well at the Grand Prix
even on the site you could enter to win a chance to meet her
which i think would be great

[wheels]

http://sports.popcrunch.com/the-50-h...s-of-all-time/

[dirtvert]

please. chris evert and katarina witt were in the top 5. those guys are high.

[wheels]

Originally Posted by dirtvert

please. chris evert and katarina witt were in the top 5. those guys are high.

ya kinda, just thought it applied, didnt say it was good