Simona de Silvestro and Danica Patrick
A few — well, more than a few — questions after yesterday’s Indianapolis 500, dominated by Dario Franchitti:
What happened to Penske? Everything leading up to the race was the sole property of Penske cars, with everyone else relegated to Happy To Be Here status. However, the moment Jack Nicholson waved the green flag, most everyone and everything under Roger’s command transformed from kingpins to the Keystone Kops. Huge mistakes on pit road; subpar on-track performances. Why? Granted, you would have had to have been perfect to be within shouting distance of Franchitti, whose performance was flawless. But still, an odd off day. Especially on the biggest day of the year. No offense to Kurt Busch, but when he’s the star performer in your stable, something is off-kilter.
Why is there such a performance gap between Ganassi and Penske compared to all other teams? Yesterday (as far as Penske is concerned) notwithstanding, it is a rare occurrence when anyone other than a Penske or Ganassi driver isn’t atop the podium. Why? The car hasn’t changed in years. The cars are identical from team to team. There is no manufacturer advantage. Granted, Ganassi and Penske boast a stellar lineup of talent behind the wheel. But they don’t have a monopoly on this. So why the disparity? It’s not good for the IRL, which right now needs all the competition it can muster in order to get some attention on the national sports scene.
Who will Dreyer & Reinbold put in the #24 car? With Mike Conway sidelined for the year, someone needs to drive the Dad’s Root Beer float. While there are any number of qualified pilots, the best choice would be Ana Beatriz. She’s proven her mettle in both the Indy Lights series and with the big boys & girls. She’s demonstrated genuine potential to be in the upper echelon of open wheel. And there is the instant added publicity offered whenever a woman takes the wheel. C’mon D&R. Do the right thing.
Speaking of such… Yesterday heralded the continued gender integration of open wheel racing, in the same manner as NHRA has been. In the latter, whenever Ashley Force Hood or Karen Stouffer are in the staging area the thought isn’t “oh, there’s a woman.” It’s “oh, there is a top-notch driver.”
The issue facing Simona de Silvestro, as well as Beatriz and, yes, Danica, isn’t their lack of a Y chromosome or lack of ability. It’s not driving for Ganassi or Penske. Should their respective teams pick it up, the novelty will fade as the quality shines.
That said, female drivers will always have an instant edge in popularity over their male counterparts. For some reason, the media fails to grasp this fundamental, reacting in horror whenever slammed for slamming Danica or whoever. In its bleating how all drivers should be judged equally regardless of gender, it invariably overlooks multiple factors such as, oh, the quality of team for which they drive. As an example, has Sarah Fisher ever driven a car capable of winning? No. How, then, can we know what her true driving ability might be? We can’t. All we can do is wonder.
Switching over to Danica, she started at Rahal Letterman — second tier team — and from there moved to Andretti which has been struggling to be in the same ballpark as Penske and Ganassi. Consider her teammate Tony Kaanan. It’s been a long time since he has won. Has he forgotten how to drive? Is he an overrated hack? No. And neither is Danica.
It’s difficult to escape the conclusion that an alarmingly large number of writers covering auto racing do so not from the aspect of sport, but rather from the unholy trinity of entertainment, pop culture and personality. None of which can drive a car or turn a wrench worth a lick. These writers don’t know the sport itself, from either the mechanical or competitive aspects. And it shows.
Bob Dylan said it best when asked about whether he noted what critics said about his work: “You can’t listen to critics.” Listen to those who know by doing, or at the least have obtained genuine knowledge by listening to those who know by doing. Making things personal via obsessing over personality is journalism done on the cheap. Actually, it isn’t journalism at all.
Okay, off the soapbox and back to racing.
About Andretti Autosport… Considering the miserable time all members of said organization had at the cathedral of speed during practice and qualifying, the race results were very positive. Kaanan’s charge from the back was especially noteworthy. However, this alone doesn’t negate the fact that there are issues at AA needing to be addressed. IRL could use someone stepping up to challenge the Penske-Ganassi stranglehold. Who better, from the PR aspect if nothing else, than Andretti?
So what’s next for the IRL? In the immediate future, it’s Texas this Saturday night. This race needs to be a good one. Usually the host to awe-inspiring action and fantastic finishes, last year’s event was a snoozefest with zero excitement. Given how this coming Sunday finds NASCAR at poke-along Pocono, Texas is a golden opportunity for the IRL showcase itself. Here’s hoping it won’t blow it. Long term? To be discussed at a later time.
P.S. A personal note: thank you to everyone for your condolences over my mother passing away last week. Very much appreciated.
