NASCAR still looking for its Danica Patrick, Ashley Force
Quote selected text Published May 20th, 2008 in NASCAR News
It was a matchup NASCAR could only dream of: Melanie Troxel and Ashley Force going head-to-head in the first all-female Funny Car elimination round.
Troxel won the round, made it to the finals and ultimately claimed the title Sunday at Thunder Valley Nationals — making her the first woman in NHRA history to win in both its nitro classes. Troxel downplayed the significance of her matchup with Force, trying hard to remove gender from the historic moment.
“Everybody wants to make a big story about Ashley and I running against each other,’’ she said. “For me, it’s not about the other female out here. I think it’s pretty sad if we have to just compare ourselves against each other.’’
She’s right, of course. Female competitors are no longer a sideshow in most forms of racing, and Troxel’s championship proved women are succeeding at a consistent pace.
Except in NASCAR, that is.
As the most celebrated day in motorsports approaches this week, the differences in gender equality have never been more profound. Danica Patrick headlines a trio of three women who will compete Sunday in the Indianapolis 500, but NASCAR won’t have a single woman in its showcase Coca-Cola 600 later that day or in any of the NASCAR-sanctioned events spanning 10 days of racing at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
Three decades after Janet Guthrie became the first woman to race in the 600, NASCAR still boasts all-male fields at its premier Sprint Cup level. In fact, no woman has raced in the 600 since Guthrie, and the Cup series has not had a female racer since Shawna Robinson ran seven events in 2002.
“I don’t think it’s something NASCAR is really concerned about. A female driver is not something they really need,’’ said veteran racer Mike Wallace. “For a while, a lot of people thought it was a novelty. And I’ve had people close to me say ‘Girls can’t drive.’
“Well, maybe they can’t. But maybe there are one or two who can, and we just need to give them a chance.’’
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Maybe if Evernham hadn’t been porking the help, NASCAR would have their version of Danica or whoever by now!
Too bad Kelly Earnhardt decided to quit racing she was better then Jr atleast in late models.
The thing is (and I said then when Danica won) NASCAR Does Not need to force it. A lot of times when they try to force stuff like that it does not turn out like they planned.
I like how they say “Female competitors are no longer a sideshow in most forms of racing”, When they say most forms of racing they must not be including the IRL because everybody from their own announcers and drivers to announcers and drivers from other series go on and on about her SI issue. I mean Yes I’d ‘hit that’ given the chance but when I tune into a race I could care less about what Magazine she or anybody else has been In, and when they have the 90 year old announcer stumble and bumble over calling the race because every time she is on screen he has to talk about here SI issue, it does make her (and other women) the “sideshow” of racing.
Bottom line is From the time you get to the track on the start of race weekend till you leave it after the race, you are not a male or female, you are not white, black, blue, pink, purple, brown, yellow, you are not gay or straight or bi, you are a RACER and you are there to do one thing and that is RACE.
People say “Well if there is a good girl (or insert any other ‘minority’ in racing) there would be more fans”. You know what, I don’t want the fans to be fans if they are only fans because there is a Female or whatever driver, I want fans that are fans because they love racing, they love the passion and history behind the sport, those are the kinds of fans NASCAR and other racing series needs, not the “I’m a fan because they have a Black Female driver” kind of fan.
Well said Fisha btw my comment about Kelly was more about her honestly being a good driver atleast from what i saw at Concord Speedway which is now Concord Motor Sports Park
You guys are right. Miss Earnhardt was pretty decent. NASCAR has had Patti Moise and Shawna Robinson in recent history but things didn’t work out. Shawna used to race Kenworths or Peterbilts at one time. Geoff Bodine had Tammy Jo Kirk (I believe that was her name) in the truck series for a while. She was involved with motorcycles (with her dad) before that. I actually thought she’d do better than she did. I saw her race at the old Nashville track in the early 1990’s. The talent bar has been raised a lot the last few years, let alone the last 15. You just can’t have the a gimmick anymore. You need the talent and sponsorship dollars too. Patti, Shawna and Tammy Jo had some decent sponsors but sponsors want results. Winning is the name of the game.
Tammy Jo was a tough chick. Grew up in a motorcycle shop. Had a bra company as a sponsor when she drove for Geoff before he was Geoffrey. Shawna and Tammy Jo weren’t afraid to mix it up but peed off the other competitors that didn’t like the circus like atmosphere everywhere they went. Blamed most of the wrecks on them because they were females. Todd Bodine wrecks far worse than the ladies ever did, but he finally won a championship after 15 years of aggressive driving. Patti had some great looking legs and seemed too nice to be out on the track. I think her gentle nature worked against her. The Crocker story might have better ending someday. Now is not the time.
I actually met Shawna before she went cup racing at Concord Speedway. She was running a V6 motor in the sportsman division and finished fairly well. Considering she was racing against the likes of Jack Sprague, Freddie Query, Robbie Faggart and Tim Steele that made it even more impressive but too bad she didnt do as well in cup.