xsiveone

She's staying in Open Wheel!

http://www.sportsline.com/autoracing/story/9570913

http://www.speedtv.com/articles/auto/indycar/28823/

BrianCunningham

xsiveone

Now the IRL needs to unify with Champ Car. It's reported that Graham Rahal may be looking for a ride in Champ Car next season instead of GP2 because the team that he was looking to go to is leaving the series. Could you imagine Danica Patrick against Katherine Legge and Marco Andretti against Graham Rahal in the same series?

Rogue Leader

Hmm, because 4th Place in the Indy 500 is as good as a win. Shes talented, I'll give her that, but she thinks shes the hottest thing to ever hit racing. Check out many of her comments. Katherine Legge will eat her alive and doesnt have the attitude to match.

John Shiels

I don't know that much about Legge but why do you think that? Better record coming through the ranks?

69autoXr

I can't say I'm detecting much ego or attitude from her comments in that article. She says AGR "is going to give me the opportunity to win races". Sounds to me like the standard line when a racer switches teams.

AUTO_X_AL

A bit cliche' but hey she's still the hottest thing going 200mph+! Danica started out doing road courses it would be nice to see her doing more than just a few here and there. Patrick vs. Legge? In my book I would take Danica all day! On and off the track for that matter! But please folks can we get her out of that damn Honda? Give some good ole' fashion american power and then you really got something to write home about!

micro

nice

96LT1

I'm glad everyone is just "eating" this stuff up.

Word is "leaked" that female driver with good looks and "news potential" is possibly "defecting" to NASCAR on the heels of another publicized "defection".

The "news" story is good publicity for driver and good for NASCAR. Is it any surprise that a contract with a different/better team is announced shortly after.

She's got a good manager that knows how to play the angles and "they" are playing everyone of them. I'm not faulting her for doing it, just that the news media and the public at large is so easily "read" and played.

PA Z06

Does anyone else think B Rahal should feel slighted, he spent all the money on Danaca, ie bringing her through the ranks, and she finally starts to come into her own and jumps ship to Team green?

Wicked Weasel

Isn’t that part of life though? I worked at one company and gained a ton of experience and then left for a better paying job with more opportunities.

xsiveone

She has been better than Danica until this season. I think she won four races last year in Atlantics and she looked very impressive doing it. She's not doing very well though in Champ Car this year.

I think that Danica and her family did the best that they could to negotiate a new contract. She knows how valuable she is in ratings dollars to the IRL and IMO she was just playing the "NASCAR" card to get a new contract and get as much money as she could.

I think that Rahal's priorities have changed in a big way now that Graham is showing so much promise. He seems to be willing to do just about anything at this point to get Graham a ride in F1. It seems like everything else just doesn't matter.

96LT1

...and you would do anything different if you were in his shoes?

The one thing in racing that seemed to allude him was F1. Now his son has a chance...

xsiveone

No. I certainly wouldn't. That would be my focus in life if I were him.

I was just offering up a possible reason why Bobby Rahal is probably not that upset about losing Danica to AGR after bringing her up through the racing ranks.

96LT1

Point taken...

that and even if it did bother him, he is in a "no-win" situation. If he says anything that could even be construed as negative about the media's "darling"...

John Shiels

yep I'd be PO'd but he should have protected his interest with a longer contract option on his side before she new the demand.

I really don't think she could handle NASCAR for 500 miles or so they say it is a longer physically demanding race.

xsiveone

I don't even think that Rahal will be in the IRL next year, so I don't think it matters much if Danica wanted to stay in the IRL anyway.

Rogue Leader

Bobby did run F1 breifly in 1978 with the Wolf team, didnt get very far though.

As for my comments about Danica, Legge has a much better record (Danica hasnt won anything since her karting days, where as Legge has won in everything shes driven except ChampCar, Including Atlantics which she was in for 1 year with 4 wins while Danica went winless for 2 years), and yes this year has been tough for her but Shes also running a much tougher series. Foot to the floor oval racing that is the IRL is NOT nearly as tough as road racing, heck its not even up to the level of NASCAR, and ChampCars are much more brutal, unforgiving, and unwieldy than their IRL counterparts. Look at Danica's comments in many other articles, the basic gist is that she doesnt feel Rahal is throing enough cubic $$$ at her to win so she is going somewhere that will. While that is often the motivation for a race driver to move, Buddy Rice was able to contend for the championship in the same car, Vitor Meira for race wins. That and everyone else doesnt tell the world that in such a ridiculously self centered way, especially if you read other things she has said you will get that impression. If she had some race wins Id say otherwise, but the only reason anyone remembers her 4th at Indy is cause shes a girl. Who came in 4th in 2003??? I thought so!

Falcon

Hear! Hear!

That she's a girl and she got almost neekked in a magazine!

96LT1

I think he had a couple of races but no one would give him a full season. To have come so close and yet so far would have bothered me.