Matt Clark: What's your take on Danica Patrick?
Kyle Petty: I've said it from the very beginning; she's just a marketing machine. That's a fact, Jack.
Clark: She's hot...
Petty: Yeah, she's hot. She's a hot commodity and rightfully so. In a market where everybody that crawls into a race car on a Sunday afternoon in Cup racing is male; she's the female. I don't have a problem with her being a marketing machine - more power to her.
Clark: Where's she at as a driver?
Petty: That's where I have a problem. Where fans have bought into the hype of the marketing, to think she's a race car driver. She can go fast, and I've seen her go fast. She drives the wheels off it when she goes fast.
Clark: ...but has she learned to race?
Petty: She's not a race car driver. There's a difference. 'The King' (Richard Petty) always had that stupid saying, but it's true, 'Lots of drivers can drive fast, but very few drivers can race.' Danica has been the perfect example of somebody who can qualify better than what she runs. She can go fast, but she can't race. I think she's come a long way, but she's still not a race car driver. And I don't think she's ever going to be a race car driver.
Clark: Why?
Petty: Because I think it's too late to learn.
Clark: Then what makes a difference between a good driver, and a great driver?
Petty: If I knew, I'd be a great driver. I was not a great driver, and I'll be the first to admit it. I was a journeyman driver. Just like in the NFL or any sport, there are journeyman players. ...
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| Danica Patrick is seen before a practice session on June 14 for the Quicken Loans 400 auto race at Michigan International Speedway. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio) |
From one journey person to another Kyle?
ReplyDeleteYou didn't read the whole interview, did you Robbie? You might have noticed that part where he admitted as much.
DeleteDid he refer to himself as "Not a racecar driver?" I guess with 800 more starts then an avg. finish only 5.5 spots better is the cutoff then huh? LMAO
DeleteInteresting.. I don't remember Kyle Petty being much of a race car drive either. Or marketable for that matter. At least Jr. and Danica have that going for them.
ReplyDeleteYou didn't read the article either did you?
DeleteThe freakin' guy says right in the article that he wasn't a great driver, and that he was a "journeyman driver." Even if he didn't, he's being interviewed about Danica, and I'd say his perspective about anything related to stock car racing is relavant. An expert in any field isn't necessarily the best at performing in his field. Most coaches in every sport can't do what their players can do, and probably never could. Does that mean they can't coach, or critique someone's ability in the sport? Kyle's ability as a race car driver has nothing to do with his opinion about other drivers.
DeleteFinally....someone in NASCAR, or with high NASCAR connections, has actually said it out loud and a truer word has never been spoken. I wonder if any of the other booth or side show guys will chime in with their unvarnished opinion....probably not.
ReplyDeleteKyle Petty is a has been wannabe with nothing in his racing pedigree but a name. He's got more problems than Danica. The guy has a problem with women drivers... time to can him from the broadcasts!
ReplyDeleteKyle won more races than a large percentage of current drivers. He always said he was no Richard Petty, but he did have a successful career.
DeleteHe has a slightly better career avg finish then Danica with 800 more starts
DeleteWrong! It's not female drivers who are the subject. It's one "driver" who can't race. Danica is not a racer and Kyle is right. She's strictly a marketing machine. Oh sure, she won an Indy car fuel mileage race. It still goes in the record books as a win even though there was no racing skill involved.
DeleteKyle was honest about his own racing skills. He has 8 cup level wins. How many has Danica had?
Nothing wrong about the comment, you can find both drivers stats at Racing Reference and with 800 more starts Kyle has a 5.5 better placement in racing with a TON more experience.
DeleteHe has nothing against women drivers. He says she just can't race. I completely agree...she's always one of the first to spin out at every race. Kyle was awesome back in the early to mid 90's. His Mello Yello Pontiac was hard to beat! If you think Kyle is a washed up has been, take a look at his stats...way better than a lot of the drivers today.
ReplyDeleteROTFL.
DeleteHe's been making exactly the same comments since her first race. Danica has led laps in the Indy 500 and won at that level. If it was any male driver, that would not be dismissed. Kyle's consistent disparaging comments make it clear that he is NOT willing to accept any woman in NASCAR and that makes him unqualified to comment on the sport.
Won one race. Ever. No top 5 finishes in the Cup series. Tell me, who would hire a driver like that?
DeleteNo Top 5 finishes in Cup. That's a laughable statement in it's self. She's a ROOKIE in a series that she has no background in at all. She came from a different world & type of racing. Kyle grew up around STOCK CAR racing all his life, but, was LOUSY. He had a few wins in EIGHT HUNDRED STARTS. So that makes him OR you qualified to judge her abilities ? She may have not won a ton of races in the IRL, but, she DID run in the Top 5-10 CONSISTANTLY. Kyle has never done ANYTHING consistently, except kiss Brian France BUTT.
DeleteAnd how many Cup starts or Cup wins for that matter to be able to judge Kyle`s driving career?
DeleteDanica is in a car, Kyle is in the booth. Enough said.
ReplyDeleteNot really. Danica is a moment in time. There are a lot of people "in the booth" who could drive circles around Kyle and Danica.
DeleteWhat was your point?
LOL.... pot calling the kettle black.
ReplyDeletePut both of them in a sack and see which one shakes out first.
ReplyDeleteKyle is right on. He admits he wasn't a great driver, but he can say he knows what it is like to drive with and be around great drivers and so his opinion carries weight.
ReplyDeleteI noticed that Danica is always in the "wrong place at the wrong time" and involved in more than her share of wrecks. Seems like the good drivers tend to avoid these some how.
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ReplyDeleteSo in 829 professional cup starts the Hippie has a whopping 21.3 avg finish. Danica in her rookie season with only 26 cup starts has an avg finish of 26.8. Now she most likely will not surpass him in wins, but IMO will end her career with a better avg finish then Kyle Petty. He is just sour that Dale Jr has twice as many wins in half as many starts, hence him always cracking on him. Bitter old dude, even the wife left that loser. Richard also said she did not belong in cup. Further proof that Kyle does not know anything he did not hear his daddy say.
ReplyDeleteYou sound bitter...
DeleteWell excuse me if I take what Kyle Petty says with a grain of salt. Everytime he opens his mouth he either has to check with Larry McReynolds to make sure it is correct or just have him correct his statement due to a lack of knowledge of the sport.
DeleteKyle IS bitter. He FAILED at racing. He got sold out by his Dad, in the company & publicly acted like a spoiled brat. He FAILED at being the rock star that really wanted to be.. Now, he's HUGE FAILURE at being a Broadcaster. The ONLY things that he IS successful at, is being a male chauvinist pig & a Brian France Butt Kisser.
DeleteToo, since he took the place as the Head Butt Kisser to the France Family, from hid Dad, he nor anyone else wants to admit that if not for Big Bill France, R. Petty would've been a failure on the track too. He had the ONLY illegally funded & Detroit Mfg. backed team in NASCAR & was allowed to keep all of his DIRTY 'wins". That's a winner ? More like a WHINER.
Kyle will always have a better average finish than Danica, a proven washout in Indycars before she arrived in NASCAR who averages a crash every three to four starts. Attacking Kyle Petty's career to defend Danica is dishonesty. Danica is talentless; her lone credential to race is her gender.
ReplyDeleteD-A-N-I-C-A = Doesn't Anybody Notice I Cause Accidents.
DeleteA lot of people don't realize that Kyle's first competitive race was at Daytona. I'd like to see anyone else do that. He under rates himself. He competed for a championship one year in the Mello Yello car.
DeleteActually, he finished 5th twice in the championship in the early 90s. Something Danica will never do.
DeleteKyle should stick to what he is good at, lining his own pockets with that Victory Junction cash, a tidy $ 1.5 million surplus at last count but in 'desperate need' of funding. What a crock and what a crook. What a tool.
ReplyDeleteKyle finally said what needed to be said long ago about the over rating of an "also ran". If your not embarrassed to wear a Danica shirt in public that's OK, real race fans are embarrassed enough for you.
ReplyDeleteDadi put me in a kar and I finished an average of 21st every race. Makes me an expert.
ReplyDeletePerhaps they should have interviewed Richard. His remarks would have carried more credibility.
ReplyDeleteKyle is right on. He's never been afraid of NASCAR, and says what he thinks, right or wrong. NASCAR is a stock exchange business, and use Danica (and some male drivers too) to boost their ticket sales, and TV ratings. People need to realize that this is the way it is, and the way it's going to be. The old days of good racing without the "Sanctioning Body" making the rules to promote their business,is gone. Like it or leave it, it is what it is.
ReplyDeleteI have all the respect in the world for Kyle and I like that he's candid about his own abilities, not just critica of others'. Would He have made it in NASCAR without the Petty name? I guess the same could be asked about Dale Jr and that "Earnhart" calling card... and the same is true with Danica's gender. Would she be in NASCAR (or in any of the other series she's driven in), if not for the novelty of an attractive woman being in a man's world?
ReplyDeleteI do believe that Patrick has a slight advantage if she is wise enough to take advantage of it; her boss and teammate is hands down one of the greatest race car drivers of this generation regardless of what type of vehicle he straps himself into. Its easy to say she's not a racer today... but only time and determination can decide whether or not she can ever turn into one.
Let face it. NASCAR is not about winning anymore. It's about getting your sponsor noticed and Danica is better at that than anyone right now. Any team out there would love to have her on their team because she would attract big sponsorships. Just like Junior.
ReplyDeleteCertain drivers are in their cars because of family names, sponsors that demand that they be in there and people that are promoted just be cause of who they are. Not because they are the best racers in the country. People are just angry because he's called it like it really is. Menard is there because of Daddy. All the Earnhardts, Wallaces, Labontes, Bodines, etc. are their because of a brother, father, uncle. Then there's the people that are there because the sponsor wants them. If Carl Long was in the Go Daddy car, how long would he be allowed to finish as poorly before he is removed. No matter how poorly she does, she gets coverage. Mike McDonnel or Josh Wise would love to have his name mentioned and car/sponsor shown for a Top 30 finish.
ReplyDeleteDanica is a marketing gimmick? What a redneck hypocrite. Mr. Petty would never have had a ride were it not for his dad's marketing machine behind him, and he's so stupid he says that stuff with a straight face.
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ReplyDelete"Petty: She's not a race car driver. There's a difference. 'The King' (Richard Petty) always had that stupid saying, but it's true, 'Lots of drivers can drive fast, but very few drivers can race.' Danica has been the perfect example of somebody who can qualify better than what she runs. She can go fast, but she can't race. I think she's come a long way, but she's still not a race car driver. And I don't think she's ever going to be a race car driver."
ReplyDeleteClearly, neither is Kyle....#hasbeen
That is a misleading headline. When taken in context, he is correct. The way the headline is written it is made to look like an insult, which it isn't. To be able to drive fast is a talent in itself, it takes skill to fling one of those cars around at qualifying speed. Saying she is not a good racer is true, not an insult.
ReplyDeleteKyle Petty won 8 out of 829 races he entered. Thats a staggering .0096 win percentage. Hardly the ability to run his mouth.
ReplyDeleteA great article and some interesting comments. The bottom line for me though, is not whether or not you like or respect Kyle, but rather, when it comes to Danica, she is definitely not a a racer and it shouldn't take an expert racer to recognize it. It's really hard to visualize her in the same class as Richard, Dale, David, Junior Johnson, Jimmie, Cayle, Bobby and the likes. Maybe sometime she will score a top ten or so in a fuel race.
ReplyDeleteLet me point something out, people... Danicant spent the last 2 yrs driving Jr Motorsports #7 car in the Nationwide Series...Did she not...? And WHAT did she accomplish in that car OTHER THAN DESTROYING IT *COUNTLESS* times...OR.... finishing LAPS down...? TAKE THAT SAME CAR, THIS YEAR.... THAT SAME CAR HAS REGAN SMITH IN IT... AND HE HAS WON RACES WITH IT AND IS LEADING THE POINTS IN THE NATIONWIDE SERIES... WITH THAT *SAME* CAR THAT DANICANT COULD DO NOTHING WITH!!!!
ReplyDeleteKyle should give himself more credit. He was the 1992 Champion with chase points. :)
ReplyDeleteKP is spot on about Danica. And has nothing to be ashamed of in his own career. Go back and compare his stats driving Petty equipment vs. other owners. You might be surprised. He was never great, but very solid and championship caliber outside Petty equipment. And one other point, that avg. finish took a major hit the last eight yrs of his career.
ReplyDeleteThe one thing I've always liked about Kyle is that he is both honest and also very humble. Also, theres not too many still active within the sport who have been around it as long as Kyle. His whole life has been pretty much NASCAR from playing in the infield as a kid, and crewing on The Kings team in the 70s. Funny how people only bring up his driving career stats as a basis that he shouldnt express an opinion.
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ReplyDelete