[vincesanity82]

It wasn't that long ago - barely two years - that Ford, Dodge and Chevrolet seemed to be trying to be the first Detroit car manufacturer to get a female driver to victory lane on NASCAR's Busch or Nextel Cup tours. But over the past year, that competition has been pushed to the back burner. Maybe that goal was a little overly ambitious. Nevertheless, Detroit seems to have given up on the effort, at least in any meaningful sense. So it seems odd that NASCAR team owners and sponsors have all but bailed out of the game. But Toyota is now part of the big mix in NASCAR, and will it pick up the ball here? Les Unger, Toyota's national motorsports manager, said that finding a woman who can handle a wheel in NASCAR is daunting - and a very expensive proposition. Unger, part of a large Toyota contingent in Indianapolis for last week's forum on women in motorsports, said that the first woman who can prove she can really cut it in NASCAR could reap a marketing whirlwind. But no one seems even close to doing for NASCAR what Danica Patrick has done for Indy-car racing. -- Winston-Salem Journal

Winston-Salem Journal | Diversity Stalled: The push by NASCAR to have competitive women drivers appears to have fallen by the wayside

[simple simon]

time for me to be totally un-pc .......... and i dont give a hoot

i blame the women for most of it .......... there .... i said it ...... and i dont regret it a bit

look, id even tell you what i would do in their position ......... pay attention ladies

try and start a racing circut ........ go to all the companies with products out there trying to target women and try and get sponsors for teams and races ...... plenty of such companies out there i bet we could think of 100 in less then an hour without much trouble ........ all you need is a small circut to try and showcase the female drivers talents ....... it doesnt have to compete with NASCAR ....... make it semi-affordable ....... $200,000 teams or something like that ....... i bet the woman that wins that circut would get called up to BGN ..... maybe even some others

im sorry, but it just seems i hear people sitting and complaining and not being very pro-active

ok ....... there's my un-pc rant for now ......... lemme have it (i suppose, even though i believe every word i typed)

[3fanforever]

It probably won't be too long, but I think the first full time female you'll see in the Nextel series will be Chrissy Wallace.
She's been winning races down at Hickory and elsewhere (she was the first female to do so in the history of Hickory Motor Speedway), she's already got merchandise with her name on it, she's been on NASCAR Now and she's got the backing of the entire Wallace family.

I watched the "Nextel Prelude To A Dream" on HBO from Smoke's Eldora Speedway, and during one of the breaks they interviewed both Mike and Chrissy Wallace. This was right after she one at Hickory. Mike was beaming with pride, which I'm sure Rusty and Kenny are also. And Chrissy did a great job during her part of the interview.

So...she can drive a race car and win, she looks pretty darn good, she'll sell lots of merchandise, she has name recognition, they're building a website just for her, the press is starting to notice her, and she can do a good interview. Sounds like she's on her way to me.

[PettyBlue]

I am all for female drivers.Where is my drill with a wood bit and the female showers at the track?lol.

[Racer Duck]

Simon, I don't think sponsorship is the problem. as you said, there's hundreds of companies out there who would sponsor a gal driver and be standing in line to do it.

the seemingly insurmountable object is performance, sustained performance. Erin Crocker won a WOO race and got ushered right into the triple A league (CTS & BGN), but she stunk up the place. others like Patty Moise and Shawna Robinson have had good careers in NASCAR, but really never achieved the success many believed they should have. I'm sure Chrissy is a bright spot on the horizon for women drives, but she's gonna have to do more, and do it better than her predecessors. and she may still fail.

I know we've had long discussions on this subject, both on GTG and elsewhere. I also know, not one female drive has put her finger on the magic button to NASCAR stardom and pushed. lots have tried, some have even come close, but none have succeeded. if I knew how to make them succeed, I'd have a stable of beauties tearing up the tracks right now.

[simple simon]

Originally Posted by Racer Duck

Simon, I don't think sponsorship is the problem. as you said, there's hundreds of companies out there who would sponsor a gal driver and be standing in line to do it.

well ok, but i didnt want to come right out and say that women cant drive

[Racer Duck]

Originally Posted by simple simon

well ok, but i didnt want to come right out and say that women cant drive

yeah that's suicide in the making. they can drive.

I trust them to drive well (except maybe when their distracted by the cellphone or eye shadow). and I know from my experience with paying someone's speeding tickets, they can drive fast. but they can't seem to translate all that into winning races. so I guess it comes down to "they aren't built that way"...


(there's some obvious rabbit trails in this post, can you find them all?)

[SpaceCadet]

Originally Posted by simple simon

well ok, but i didnt want to come right out and say that women cant drive

Many women cannot drive - not all. There is a very small talent pool to choose from compared to men. There are simply not a lot of women who want to be race car drivers. They want to marry race car drivers. Sexist - maybe. But since I'm a woman, oh well. Go to your local kart or midget track and take a look and the number of female drivers in the under 10 age bracket, though. Lot's more girls. Changes will be coming in a few years, I bet.

[Racer Duck]

Originally Posted by SpaceCadet

Many women cannot drive - not all. There is a very small talent pool to choose from compared to men. There are simply not a lot of women who want to be race car drivers. They want to marry race car drivers. Sexist - maybe. But since I'm a woman, oh well. Go to your local kart or midget track and take a look and the number of female drivers in the under 10 age bracket, though. Lot's more girls. Changes will be coming in a few years, I bet.

don't think so .. seems like there were always girls who ran faster than the boys in grade school, or threw the ball better, or climbed a tree better or rode a bike better. but as they approached womanhood, they "slowed down" or something. bottom line they couldn't run, throw, climb or ride anymore. never understood that...

[3fanforever]

Originally Posted by Racer Duck

I'm sure Chrissy is a bright spot on the horizon for women drives, but she's gonna have to do more, and do it better than her predecessors. and she may still fail.

So far, this 20 year old's been doing pretty good, far from failing I'd say. The real test will come though, when they move her into the Bush series, whenever that happens. And I believe it will eventually happen. Then we'll see whether she sinks or swims. But it sure seems like they're getting her ready for it because they're putting allot of time and effort into her racing program.

[LSC9901]

OK I'll take my chance at getting beat up on by the girls. Just how many women are there in Male dominated sports ? Off the tip of my iceberg I can't think of one woman playing MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL ........ It's not just about racing. There is no question there are some physical differences. I believe stamina is one of those differences. Yes there are women in sports and I'm not saying that there will never be one in NASCAR. In fact I'm sure we'll see them long before the stick & ball game sees them. Fact is we are not there yet. i don't think it is a gender issue, I just think the right one has not yet impressed the right owner and sponsor. When it happens she'll be in the big show.

Who will she drive for ???

[SpaceCadet]

Originally Posted by Racer Duck

don't think so .. seems like there were always girls who ran faster than the boys in grade school, or threw the ball better, or climbed a tree better or rode a bike better. but as they approached womanhood, they "slowed down" or something. bottom line they couldn't run, throw, climb or ride anymore. never understood that...

That may be the case most of the time, but it only takes a few to start things rolling. There are lots of male dominated careers that women are taking interest in and racing is just one more career path. Will you see equal numbers? No, not ever. But one of these young girls will be the "Danica" of NASCAR. It would be nice if she were able to do for racing what Mia Hamm did for women's soccer. But your "they just aren't built that way" observation is probably more true than I want to admit. These up and coming female stars will have a tough row to hoe, for sure. They need to know their cars, they need to have enough brains to carry on an intelligent conversation, and they cannot sleep with their crew chief, car chief, engineer, owner, team mate, sponser, officials - nobody involved in their career. She must have credibility. Somebody will fit the bill eventually. Maybe. I guess. I hope.

[Quality88]

I'll say the same thing anout this that I did in the diversity thread.... If they want female drivers in NA$CAR then they need to find female drivers that are talented enough to make it into NA$CAR, otherwise shut up.

[LSC9901]

Originally Posted by Quality88

I'll say the same thing anout this that I did in the diversity thread.... If they want female drivers in NA$CAR then they need to find female drivers that are talented enough to make it into NA$CAR, otherwise shut up.

Obviously that new wife of yours didn't see you type that statement !!!

[SpaceCadet]

Originally Posted by Quality88

I'll say the same thing anout this that I did in the diversity thread.... If they want female drivers in NA$CAR then they need to find female drivers that are talented enough to make it into NA$CAR, otherwise shut up.

Ouch. I'm not sure who needs to shut up, but I"ll assume you mean NASCAR. And here's another problem female drivers face - even talented ones, which are out there. At the local track Saturday, the only female driver was running very strongly up front. She was blatently spun out by one of the few thugs on the track that think aggressive is the same as talented. Usually when the tape is reviewed and it is seen that the move to spin was deliberate, the bonehead gets sent to the back. In this case, the young lady was sent to the back of the pack. She was beyond furious. She pulled up in front of the starter's tower and voiced her displeasure. She was told to get in line or take it to the pits. She took off and flew around the track, under caution, pulled in line behind the moron, and rammed him a few times but good. The race director screamed at her to park it for the night, obviously the correct call. The race restarts. The same idiot makes a valient effort to put the class of the field in the wall as he is attempting to pass on the outside. The better driver was able to swerve enough to just lose a spot or two. He rallied back, again passing on the outside, cleanly and clearly having position on the jerk. This pea head moves up the track and just plain puts the other car in the wall. The clean driver, male, was put at the back. Again, no penalty for the other guy, now responsible for two wrecks. The "good" driver comes up from the back, under caution, and rams the POS driver. Sound familiar? He is not benched for the night, it is not even addressed by the race director, as if it didn't happen. And the comments I heard all around me referring to the female driver? "She must have PMS, she must have had a fight with her boyfriend, she must have broken a nail" etc... Comments about the male driver? "You show 'em, dude! Way to go! Don't take any crap!"... You get the drift. Hopefully you see the problem here. Had I been the female driver, the only part of my car remaining visible would have been the number on the back because the rest of the car would have been firmly embedded in the race directors behind. And as for the "she's got PMSer's" in the stands - it illustrates a big problem. The race director inadvertantly favors the male driver. The spectators - please, anyone can see the prejudice there. How does a female driver combat that? How does she change the perception of her in a sport dominated by males who are still upset about women getting to vote? I don't see much of that attitude on this board, so I certainly mean no offense to anyone here. How do we change that perception? How does a female driver compete with that attitude without being told every time she opens her mouth that she's whining or making excuses, a la Danica Patrick and Dan Wheldon conflict? A huge double standard exists and it's going to take a very unique woman to be able to change the attitude towards females in racing. The talent is out there, but is the courage to put up with all that comes with being a trail blazer there, also? Maybe not. Holy crap, didn't mean to be on a very big soapbox, I'm not even that much of a women's libber, so I'm hopping down now.