Wicked Weasel

I know it is last year's news, but do you think that Danica Patrick has a weight advantage?

She is 5'2" at 100lbs.

BTW here is a comment that she made regarding weight

"I don't think (my weight) plays that big a role," she said. "I can't control what size I am and how I'm built. The NBA doesn't lower the hoop for short guys."

Does she realize that being short in the NBA is a DIS-advantage while being light in an IRL car is an AD-vantage

Slalom4me

Well, you could take the arguement a bit further. All other things
equal, a female typically has a lower center of gravity than a male.
There is only so far a driver can recline, so it helps if nature places
more of your weight at floor level while seated.

However, females also have a higher percentage of body fat, ergo
less muscle mass than males. Add to this the difference in upper body
strength and so on. I'm sure that someone with more knowledge about
the physiological differences could continue to reel off more points. But
I feel safe in saying that pound for pound, a female is at a disadvantage
in a physical strength/endurance event.

My take is that she has good car control, she is gutsy, she is smart
and she has the Rahal team behind her. That why she is fast. Go
ahead and add some sprung, non-rotating ballast - it won't be fair
but she'll still be fast.

.

cgh1

Females are at a slight advantage over males as drivers of fast/race cars. Specifically for the reasons you mentioned (lower CG, smaller, fat weighs less than muscle, etc.) and that their circulatory & respiratory systems are made for giving birth - something that allows them to withstand more g-forces without blacking out (which is why tests show them physically to be better suited to fly fighter and test aircraft.)

Lastly, the argument could be made that they use less testosterone in decision making. But that arguably puts them at an equal disadvantage in that they can lack the competitive spirit due to the same hormonal discrepency. Personally I think this one's a wash at about the same level as the fat vs. muscle situation. It can take a LOT of muscle to drive a car so if it's missing, the weight advantage is likely offset by lack of strength and endurance. JMHO anyway.

As far as the whiners are concerned (umfoytmph humph hum), Lessen the advantage - GO ON A DIET!!!

AU N EGL

No advantage, cars have mininum weight they must achive. If the car & driver are under the min weight, then ballest is added to be at that mininum.

freefall

The venue I see it coming into play is multi-driver races, unless the car+driver weight it set using the lightest driver.

ghoffman

This true for most race series, but not IRL. That is the issue that Robbie Gordon was making.

0Randy@DRM

More power to her for being light. She is lucky that the rules are setup for her to do well in. The rules are what they are. Is it huge advantage for her to be light, yes! You don't see many big people in open wheel racing!

She's cute too!
Randy

StArrow68

Given that it is a disadvantage in most cases, the fact that she gets a slight advantage in an IRL car, then Go For It! Got to believe that as tired as I get after 25 minutes in a 1050lbs Formula Mazda on Sears Point that conditioning and strength are other factors that provide some offset. If she can beat the guys heads up, I'm all for it.
Randy

cgh1

Hear, Hear!!!

Aggressive, good driver, committed to the sport, AND cute & lightweight?!? Sounds like a GR8 combination to me!

If she's kickin' your butt, either move over or lose weight!
(of course that whole move over thing's gonna be doubtful... it is racing after all.)

MattW_VA

It is a little advantage, but it's within the rules so WGAF? It's the teams job to gain advantages that are legal, no?

meldog21

In go karts, being 100lbs would be an advantage over larger drivers.

With the weight and power of the cars she's driving it probably makes much less difference than any other aspect of set up, suspension, tires, aero, etc...

Dog

Wicked Weasel

yes it is the team's job to find advantaqges within the rules. When found it usually ends up with a rule change to make the playing field even again.

if HP and car weight are rules then I dont see why they dont change it to HP, car weight and driver weight. Then when someone loses to Danica they will not have an excuse....

ghoffman

Well, it is still a matter of setup, teamwork and driver, and of course some luck. If body weight was that important in IRL, then there is no way Tony Stewart should have been champ! He is now called Nascar's Michelin Man.

Wicked Weasel

isnt he like 200 lbs. I guess that is heavy for racing

sorry 170lbs 5'9.

I am looking to see the heaviest racers.....

Wicked Weasel

IRL

Driver Height Weight

1. Thiago Medeiros 6`3 178
2. Buddy Lazier 6`0 175
3. P.J. Chesson 5`8 175
4. Jaques Lazier 5`11 170
5. Eddie Cheever Jr. 6`0 170
6. Marty Roth 6`0 170
7. Sam Hornish Jr. 5`11 165
8. Richie Hearn 5`7 165
9. Ed Carpenter 5`9 165
10. Townsend Bell 5`11 165
11. Tomas Scheckter 5`11 160
12. Jeff Simmons 5`10 160
13. Dan Wheldon 5`9 158
14. Scott Sharp 5`8 155
15. Dario Franchitti 5`9 153
16. Scott Dixon 5`10 150
17. Buddy Rice 5`8 150
18. Roger Yasukawa 5`7 150
19. Alex Barron 5`10 150
20. Bryan Herta 5`11 150
21. Tomas Enge 5`7 150
22. Kenny Brack 5`7 148
23. Helio Castroneves 5`8 147
24. Patrick Carpentier 5`9 147
25. Felipe Giaffone 5`8 145
26. Tony Kanaan 5`5 145
27. Adrian Fernandez 5`8 145
28. Jeff Bucknum 5`8 145
29. Kosuke Matsuura 5`8 143
30. Vitor Meira 5`7 141
31. Paul Dana 5`6 140
32. Ryan Briscoe 5`7 135
33. Marco Andretti 5`6 135
34. Jimmy Kite 5`4 125
35. Danica Patrick 5`2 100

Wicked Weasel

NASCAR

Driver Height Weight

1. Jimmy Spencer 6`0 230
2. Dale Jarrett 6`2 215
3. Michael Waltrip 6`5 210
4. Tony Raines 6`2 210
5. Ryan Newman 5`11 207
6. Joe Ruttman 6`0 205
7. Ken Schrader 5`9 200
8. Kyle Petty 6`2 195
9. Elliott Sadler 6`2 195
10. Jeff Green 5`8 190
11. Jeremy Mayfield 6`0 190
12. Ron Fellows 6`1 190
13. P.J. Jones 5`11 190
14. Kevin Lepage 5`10 187
15. Bill Elliott 6`1 185
16. Joe Nemechek 5`9 185
17. Rusty Wallace 6`0 185
18. Carl Edwards 6`1 185
19. Robby Gordon 5`10 180
20. Sterling Marlin 6`0 180
21. Kirk Shelmerdine 5`11 180
22. Derrike Cope 5`7 180
23. Martin Truex, Jr. 5`11 180
24. Boris Said 6`0 180
25. Jimmie Johnson 5`11 175
26. Bobby Labonte 5`9 175
27. Greg Biffle 5`10 175
28. Carl Long 5`10 175
29. Joey McCarthy 6`0 175
30. Dave Blaney 5`8 170
31. Tony Stewart 5`9 170
32. Larry Foyt 5`9 170
33. Morgan Shepherd 5`9 170
34. Johnny Miller 5`10 170
35. Kevin Harvick 5`10 170
36. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 6`0 165
37. Terry Labonte 5`10 165
38. Jamie McMurray 5`8 165
39. David Green 5`11 165
40. Scott Riggs 5`6 165
41. Ted Christopher 5`11 165
42. Denny Hamlin NA 165
43. Ricky Rudd 5`8 160
44. Brian Vickers 5`11 160
45. Geoffrey Bodine 5`8 160
46. Casey Mears 5`8 158
47. Jeff Burton 5`7 155
48. Hermie Sadler 5`8 155
49. Matt Kenseth 5`9 152
50. Kurt Busch 5`11 150
51. Jeff Gordon 5`7 150
52. Kasey Kahne 5`8 150
53. Chad Chaffin 5`10 150
54. Brandon Ash 5`11 150
55. Scott Pruett 5`8 150
56. Mark Martin 5`6 135

MattW_VA

OK-some of those weights are just laughable. I've stood next to Jimmy Johnson and Tony Stewart before-No chance Johnson weighs and ounce more than 150, the guy is a smurf. Tony Stewart 170? Hahahahahahahahahaha

Wicked Weasel

Falcon

That's probably Stewart's weight when he was in the 6th grade.

Falcon

Kenny Schrader 200! WTF???????

Hell, I bet he's not a sausage biscuit away from a deuce and a quarter.