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"I don't feel insecure about
BEING GIRLIE,"
says Patrick. "I do as much media as I can because
I want this IRL series to be so kick-butt that
NASCAR goes, 'Huh?'"
Chubby Robby Gordon
Accuses Danica Patrick
Sports Illustrated said the struggling
"Robby Gordon accused..." Danica Patrick of
using the rules to her advantage since she weights
100* pounds less than he does. Like she changed the
rules.
But unlike Robby, Danica played by the rules.
Why, it was only a few months back that Robby's car
was caught running an unnapproved intake manifold
at the Dayton 500 (2/11/05) and the team was fined
$50,000 and docked 25 championship points. But that
didn't stop Robby. A couple of months later, his
car was caught running an unapproved deck lid at
the Martinsville Speedway (4/9/05) but they only
got a $5,000 fine this time. I guess Robby's
philosophy is point out the rules that give someone
else an advantage, but see how many rules you can
break on the side.
It's interesting why he waited until the eve of
the 500 to mention anything when he never
complained about Helio Castroneves (won Indy in
2000), or Buddy Rice (won Indy in 2004 at 150 lbs)
and Victor Meiro only weights 141 lbs or any of the
other drivers who weighed 30 or more pounds less
than he did back in the days when he was competing
at Indy.
So, a chubby Robby "Flash" Gordon, who calls his
web site "The online home to America's most dynamic
racer", wants special rules to help make him more
competitive. But, on the other side, men generally
have considerably more upper body strength for
endurance, something that is definitely an
advantage when handling 1500 pounds of race car at
over 200 miles per hour for 3 plus
hours. Shouldn't there be a rule to equalize
that also?
Teams are constantly looking for ways to use the
rules to their advantage. That's part of racing. I
think Robby was just looking for some publicity,
which he sorly needs. You see, IRL doesn't include
a driver in the weight of a car, but
NASCAR does. That still didn't help Robby at
the NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 which ran the same weekend
as the Indianapolis 500. He qaulified 25th.
It's rather a moot point on the big ovals which
dominate the IRL schedule, since the cars can be
held wide open virtually all the way around the
track.
"If the weight of the driver mattered that
much," Mike Hull, the managing director at Ganassi
Racing said, "we'd have a field full of Willie
Shoemakers."
2005 Indy winner Dan Wheldon said "A lot of us
have changed our training regimen for that," he
said. "I'm not lifting as much weight as I used to,
and I'm running like a son of a gun." Sounds like
Robby needs to get off his butt and consider losing
a few of those extra pounds, if he thinks it will
make that much of a difference.
Gordon's threat that he will not compete in the
(Indy) race again unless the field is equalized was
rather idol since he wasn't able to get a sponsor
and wasn't even planning to run this year. Sounds
like he's more of a whinner than a competitor
anyway and IRL is probably better off without him.
I'd bet that Danica could add 100 lbs of blubber to
her car and still wipe the pants off Robby. She's
just a better driver.
Seriously, this seems to be a classic case of
"driver needs a PR boost." Gordon, the driver Dale
Earnhardt Jr once called "stupid" - and who is
affectionately known by many in the garage as
"Reckless Robby" - simply could not resist taking
his ridiculous shot at Patrick. He owns his own
team because he can't get another Nextel Cup
ride.
Looking back in history, Janet Guthrie was the
first woman to race at Indy (1977) and she also
weighed around 100 pounds. Where was Robby then? He
was 8 years old and probably chowing down on double
cheeseburgers with a biggie fry?
* Danica weighs in at 105.
According to Nascar's driver profile on Robby
(sports.yahoo.com/nascar/nextel/drivers/39),
he weighs in at 180. Looks like he's going to have
to chop another 25 pounds out of his racecar if he
wants to compete fairly. But, who said anything
about fair?
* * *
Never underestimate the
power of stupid people in large groups.
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