Danica Patrick, who has been a race car driver for years, feels as though she’s being penalized by an Indy Racing League rule for being petite. She also says that this would never happen in other sports.

Starting this season, the minimum weight for IRL cars will include the driver, and Danica is the series’ lightest at 100 pounds according to the 2007 media guide (which lists other female drivers Milka Duno and Sarah Fisher at 120 pounds apiece; Ed Carpenter is the heaviest at 165).

“If someone’s going to take the hit it’s going to be me. It’s disappointing the league decided to do that. In so many other sports, athletes don’t get penalized for being too strong, or too tall or too fast. (It’s) just your God-given stature is being penalized. What am I going to do, though?” 

Danica said she asked IRL officials about the reason for the change:

“They didn’t really have one.”

“I just follow the rules,” she said. “Maybe I’ll get more specific reasons somewhere down the line –”

Click below to read more.

IRL spokesman John Griffin said the rule was intended to reduce the difference between the lightest and heaviest drivers, which is a gap that can range from 75 to 100 pounds.

“We want to make absolutely clear this is not a Danica rule,” Griffin said. “You look at guys like Dan Wheldon and Marco Andretti, and they’re light guys.”

Griffin wouldn’t disclose the cars’ minimum weight but said drivers are broken into three weight classifications. The heaviest would have weight reduced from its car while the lightest would have a maximum 35 pounds of ballast added. Griffin said:

“It’s something that had been looked at and was in the back of our minds every year”

Danica admits to having had a slight speed edge from weighing less in a sport where lighter means faster. An Associated Press story in 2005 reported rival teams estimated she might gain nearly 1 mph because of her weight, and Sprint Cup driver Robby Gordon said he wouldn’t race her in the IRL until the series equalized weights as NASCAR’s premier circuit does.

Danica hopes to put the issue behind her by winning the season-opening Gainsco 300 at Homestead Miami Speedway on Saturday.

Post A Comment: How do you guys feel about this? Do you think the rule is fair or is Danica being penalized?

Source

Share This

- Click here to read more about: Celebrities, Danica Patrick, Fitness
- Related Posts... maybe

• Milla Jovovich: Slowly Working Her Way Back To A FitCeleb
• 25 Fittest Men In America
• Kate Bosworth Admits Her Weight Is Not Normal
• Nancy O’Dell Is One Fit Mama
• Maureen McCormick Is Keeping The Weight Off

Click here to return to the home page.