Danica Patrick!, Takes Daytona 500 Pole Options

[veltror]

Still think that there is a bloody obsession with this gooseberry puddin

[URY914]

Ok, this tread is a year old. She didn't make the Daytona pole this year. I mean she didn't qualify on the pole. It remains to be seen if she ends up working the pole. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

http://motorsportstalk.nbcsports.com/2014/...partner=ya5nbcs

It seems NASCAR rigged the pole winner again this year so they could get the maximum about of press out of it.

For all you wankers that want this thread to end, I won't post on it again unless she wins the race next Sunday. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/av-943.gif)

[bulitt]

Does Nascar hand out numbered plates to each car, or do they draw them out of a hat?
Do they take the plates back after qualifying then hand them out again before every practice, race?

[URY914]

Does Nascar hand out numbered plates to each car, or do they draw them out of a hat?
Do they take the plates back after qualifying then hand them out again before every practice, race?

It depends on who they want to win the pole. That driver gets a "special" one.

[billh1963]

Perennial loser

It didn't matter the team. It didn't matter the circumstances. And it certainly didn't matter who was behind him. All that mattered to Kevin Harvick Sunday was the outcome. That outcome was a dominant victory.

Just as important as the result, however, was the process.

The win was Harvick's first with Stewart-Haas Racing having joined the organization this season following a lengthy divorce from Richard Childress where he had been for the previous 13 years.

Harvick announced in November 2012 he was leaving RCR to join the team co-owned by good friend Tony Stewart, which made his departure prolonged and sometimes awkward.

The decision to exit RCR was multilayered.

Harvick clearly had grown frustrated with what he perceived to be the preferential treatment Richard Childress afforded his grandsons, Austin and Ty Dillon. That frustration was most evident last October following an incident between Harvick and Ty during a Truck Series race at Martinsville where Harvick referenced silver spoons as the catalyst for his leaving.

What the assertions of nepotism leveled did was mask a remarkable 2013 season Harvick produced. He would win four races, and for the third time in four years finished third in points. All the while RCR struggled to find the same level of performance with its other teams, which ultimately underlines the main reason Harvick left.

More than anything Harvick yearns to win a Sprint Cup championship. Yet RCR hadn't claimed a premiere series title since 1994 with Dale Earnhardt, and as the focus shifted to the Dillon brothers that possibility seemed increasingly unlikely.

Whereas SHR won the championship three years ago, and with a close-knit relationship with Hendrick Motorsports, which supplies cars, engines and technical data to SHR, concerns about the quality of equipment would never be in doubt.

At Harvick's request SHR recruited and ultimately signed Rodney Childers to lead the No. 4 team. The pairing of a superstar driver with a mastermind crew chief created high hopes, but also questions whether those expectations could ever be adequately fulfilled.

"There's been a lot of skepticism as we've gone through the offseason," Harvick said. "Honestly you hear it, I paid attention to it during the offseason obviously, but as we've gone through the first few weeks, you try to put yourself in your own little world."

he payoff came to fruition sooner than most thought.

Throughout the weekend the No. 4 Chevrolet was pegged as the car to beat. The speed Harvick demonstrated in practice drew the attention of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Brad Keselowski, each of whom said it was Harvick's race to lose.

As predicted, Harvick rolled.

On the day he led 224 of 312 laps, withstood several late-race restarts, and then fended off Earnhardt, still riding a wave of momentum from his Daytona 500 triumph the week before. The win was a Phoenix-best fifth for Harvick and his third in four races.

"Just a huge credit to the team really, the organization and everybody who has been a part of this process as we've gone through the winter and over the last couple months of last year," Harvick said. "... I'm just the lucky guy that gets to drive the car around the racetrack when they're dialed in like they were today. Luckily we were able to put it all together."

Although it may have a new beginning with a new team, for Harvick it was an all too familiar ending.

****

As Harvick celebrated his 24th career victory his SHR teammate fell on the opposite side of the emotional spectrum.

For the second week in a row Danica Patrick was a victim of an accident she did not create when the she made contact with the spinning car of Justin Allgaier. The damage while not crippling was pronounced and would later puncture one of Patrick's tires, inducing her into another spin.

"Just sad. I'm so sorry, God. All we have for luck is bad. God."-Danica Patrick

Patrick has now crashed three times in two races -- albeit two not of her own doing. More so, her encounter with Allgaier in the garage post-race it makes one wonder if she is feeling the pressure to raise her performance level.

By any gauge Patrick's rookie year was disappointing where -- with the exception of the Daytona 500 -- she was largely uncompetitive. While no one is expecting a breakout 2014, there was hope with more experience Patrick could escape her struggles of a year ago.

Thus far the early returns suggest not.

At Daytona the magic she had last year during Speedweeks was absent. A rule requiring her and Stewart to start at the rear of the field in both the Budweiser Duel and Daytona 500 following an unapproved engine change left Patrick upset.

Frequently, she bemoaned her situation, criticized the fairness and openly questioned why she should even bother competing in her qualifying race. This outlook was in stark contrast to Stewart. The owner/driver was unmoved about NASCAR's judgment, understanding that because of the draft and fluidness of racing at Daytona, it made little difference where he lined.

Not much changed at Phoenix, where Patrick lagged throughout the weekend. In qualifying she posted just the 33rd-fastest time, and in Sunday's race her average running position was 30th.

Patrick also got swept up in an accident that she neither started nor could have easily avoided.

"Just sad," she radioed to her crew following her second spin. "I'm so sorry, God. All we have for luck is bad. God."

However, had she been running better at the time and not in the back where trouble lurks and inexperience reigns, her day would have probably ended differently. Patrick, instead, was 25th and a lap down when the initial contact with Allgaier ensued.

The underlying issue is that this is Patrick's fifth year of running stock cars and her second full season in Cup. Not to mention, she drives for one of the sport's premiere organizations with championship-caliber equipment at her disposal. Accentuated by the fact Harvick was in Victory Lane celebrating his first win with his new team in just his second race.

Which means, while Patrick's aggravation is understandable to some degree, the excuses of why she's not improved are starting to ring hollow.

[0396]

When will this tread end?

[ablesnead]

why should it...it someone is interested enough to write a response..the thread serves a purpose ...even apparently for you

[0396]

why should it...it someone is interested enough to write a response..the thread serves a purpose ...even apparently for you

Come to think of it...you are correct. I guess I should simply 'bump' other postings just for the heck of it with out adding any real 914 real value. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/piratenanner.gif)

[FlatIV]

This is just my opinion......... If you don't want to see this train wreck don't watch.... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[0396]

This is just my opinion......... If you don't want to see this train wreck don't watch.... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Your correct. That's why I don't venture into the sand box section. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[URY914]

http://www.motorsport.com/nascar-cup/news/...ire-after-crash

[URY914]

http://www.motorsport.com/nascar-cup/news/...-turn-it-around

[rhodyguy]

well…a tire going down, the driver pushing it and the hitting the wall business is a new one.

[bcheney]

So much negativity about Danica...get over it... She probably isn't leaving any time soon...and she might just help Nascar bridge themselves to greener pastures...unless of course Jr. Wins 6 more races this year and becomes Cup champion...then all the fans will come back and fill the stands at every race in 2015 and dozens of new sponsors will stand in line to fund more teams long into the future.

[billh1963]

Danica has faded from view....just like Tiger Woods is fading from the golf limelight. In a couple more years people will ask, "Danica, who?"

[carr914]

Danican't

[SLITS]

This is better than watching WWE. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon8.gif)

[0396]

why should it...it someone is interested enough to write a response..the thread serves a purpose ...even apparently for you

Free bump (IMG:style_emoticons/default/piratenanner.gif)

[URY914]

So much negativity about Danicka...get over it... She probably isn't leaving any time soon...and she might just help Nascar bridge themselves to greener pastures...unless of course Jr. Wins 6 more races this year and becomes Cup champion...then all the fans will come back and fill the stands at every race in 2015 and dozens of new sponsors will stand in line to fund more teams long into the future.

Brian loves Danica. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wub.gif)

[ThePaintedMan]

Yup, she ain't leavin... but neither is Paul Menard, Stenhouse or probably a number of other drivers who haven't won a race yet, or may never. Yet no one bitches about them. The fact is, though she may not be one of the legendary drivers who you'll always remember, she's still one of the 43 at the top of the class, whether you personally like it or not. And makes a lot more money than any of us.