Ramenth:
While she is more than a little annoying, and does play up the cheesecake angle far too much, it should be remembered that she was in Indycar before coming to Nascar. In Indycar, she actually did win a race, and actually did finish fifth in points one year.
Defend her all you want to. Winning one race in how many started still doesn't define the "success" the media has heaped on her ad naseum.
Nascar is NOT the be all and end all of racing;
Actually, I can't stand NASCRAP. Don't watch it. But I like watching Sportscenter to catch all the highlights for the games I missed. The constant Danika this and Danika that gets old real quick compared the other drivers who have more sweat equity and success in
any racing series. She's the "star" that NASCAR -and IndyCar before - and the sports media is trying to hype to bring in viewers. Considering ESPN is carrying the races her "star" power is to hype her up as much as possible to bring in viewers. Racers with a lot more talent and a stronger fan base are all but ignored in the hype.
she has done well in Indycar; and while she may not be the fastest driver, she is a legitimate driver, and does have ability. She is part of the Tony Steward race team, and out qualified her team mates to end up with the pole, and her teammates are not exactly inexperienced or untalented.
Winning the pole hardly qualifies as successful, considering one is out there alone and one just needs to be the fastest
that day. Front Row Joe won how many poles in his career versus how many actual races? While I liked Joe Nemechek as a driver back when I actually cared about NASCAR (about 20 years ago) I don't remember him getting anywhere near as much press from all his pole positions.
Most of the photo shoots were in the off season, not during the race season, and happened while she was running in Indycar.
Hardly matters. It's still a media image.
Look how much Juan Pablo Montoya has accomplished in Nascar, in comparison to his success in Indycar and Formula 1. Nowhere near as impressive. Seems like the open wheel drivers (with a few exceptions) have a hard time making the transition to Nascar stockers, and it isn't based on gender or effort. Tony Stewart chose to sign her, and while the press coverage will be good for the team, if she were a no talent, Stewart probably wouldn't have signed her.
You're right, prior success doesn't translate into current success. Given her one win in IndyCar you'd think she'd do better than an average finish of 28th-29th in a limited season in NASCAR (oh, and don't forget her one pole.)
I don't know if she will win a Nascar race, ever be in the points championship race, or even win another pole, but I do think she is a legitimate driver
That's your opinion.
Kyle Petty won some races, won some pole positions, too. He even has the name Petty. The media then jumped on him for not holding a candle to his father's and grandfather's success. Kinda like how they jumped on Little E to carry in his father's footsteps. Now that's he's shown he isn't the driver his dad was it's interesting to see how the media have either turned on him when they
do talk about him.
and has every right to be in Nascar, or whatever series she races in.
I don't remember saying she didn't.
The Kardashians (and Paris Hilton, and....) references are out of line
Again, that's your
opinion. Mine differs.
the Kardashians are for all intents and purposes, useless human beings. Patrick has had some racing success, and has just won a Nascar pole. World of difference.
Kostas
Paris Hilton has also released an album, been in movies, and owns a line of successful perfume. Compared to Patrick that would equate to be about the same amount of "success."
The idea is, though, is that it's all a cultivated image by their handlers. The PR people say you need to do this to gain more exposure and Patrick decided to get in a bikini or two to put her image out there. Not as a race car driver but as a bikini model. Makes me wonder which she'd rather be. From the looks of this thread I see people being "fans" because of T&A, not because she's in a fire suit reading to go racing.
Much like the Kardashians and Hilton, though, I'm saying that Patrick's image is media cultivated. Do you really think she'd be doing the cheesecake shots if she had more success as a driver? Or do you think it's about the racing venues playing up the T&A side to keep people in front of the TV, coming to the races, and buying more garbage memorabilia? If she was as successful as a driver as she is a bikini model do you really think they'd need to get her out there for the bikini shots and play up the angle of an attractive woman in racing?
If she was as ugly as sin and won every race she entered do you think they'd be playing up the T&A as much or simply let her success as a driver do the talking for her?