Danica Patrick Wins Her First IndyCar Race

And, of course, some tools are tinkling in her corn flakes . . . Danica Patrick’s first IndyCar win in the Japan 300 was more a triumph in public relations than auto racing. It didn’t happen as the result of a final lap, wheel-to-wheel battle, one that many close observers of the sport feel she will never win. It instead was more a battle between the race engineer’s computers on the Andretti Green team and that of her rival Helio Castroneves’ Penske Racing team. It was a matter of who would get the best fuel mileage in the final handful of laps of the 200-lap race. Both drivers had made their final pit stop on Lap 148, and when race leader Scott Dixon was forced onto pit road for a final splash of fuel, it became an opportunity for both Patrick and Castroneves to win – in a fuel mileage battle. Castroneves is the IRL points leader and was racing with that in mind. Instead of gambling on running out of fuel or making a pit stop which would have had him finishing farther back in the field and scoring fewer points, Castroneves instead lifted his foot off of his gas pedal just enough to save fuel and reward Patrick with the victory. The win was the result of a well-calculated move – pure and simple. (H/T - Yahoo!) Okay, the author of this snark-fest - Bob Margolis - is a douche. Drivers win races on fuel mileage all the time. Richard Petty did it, Jeff Gordon did it, Tony Stewart did it. Why is it lame for Danica to do it? Sounds to me like someone was rejected by the hot, popular girl in high school.