Quit Whining, Dick Breath
This story is kinda old, but I’m just getting this blog started, and this item really pissed me off. At the end of the 2005 season for the Indy Racing League, driver Paul Tracy [warning: Paul’s stupid site has music running in the background] was complaining about the weight advantage Danica Patrick [warning: even dumber, this site has the music, too, plus it’s all Flash bullshit, no non-flash site, except the store of course] enjoys on the track.

Danica is about 5’ 2” tall and 100 pounds, sopping wet. Paul, on the other hand, is seven or eight inches taller and at least ninety pounds heavier. There’s no question about it, Danica does enjoy an on-track advantage due to her weight.

Under IRL rules, the minimum weight for the car applies to the car sans driver. So both have cars with the same static weight, but in race trim, with driver on board, Paul's car is almost 100 pounds heavier. That doesn’t sound like much, but it translates directly into lap time.

So, there’s absolutely no doubt that Paul's basic assertion is true. On the other hand, as far as I can recall, it has always been true in the IRL rules. So why does Paul suddenly get upset about it when Danica comes on the scene? Is it because she actually competes for the win, rather than loping around the middle of the field?

So I’m sitting there, listening to him whine about it on SpeedTV, and the more he goes on about it the more it pisses me off. He knew the rules going in. Nobody changed them in midstream. Small male drivers have the same advantage. So, Paul, if it really is the weight that bothers you, if you’re really dedicated, really a hardcore professional, you’ll have your legs amputated and replaced with carbon fiber prostheses. Alex Zanardi has already proven it can be done.