Op-Ed: Has Our Lady Speed Racer Given Us a New Paradigm?

"I think Danica is such a fantastic person, and I’m thrilled for her that the monkey is finally off of her back. We have all believed in her, and she proved today that she is a winner. Frankly, I think this is the first of many."

The beautiful female Indy race car driver from Roscoe, Illinois finally took home her first victory trophy on April 19th, 2008, crossing the finish line first in the Japan 300 on the 1.5-mile Twin Ring Motegi track, the first gal ever to win an IndyCar Series race. The race watchers from the small town where Danica Patrick received her first speeding ticket, going 65 in a 45 mph zone in her black Mustang Cobra, roared their appreciation for their new hometown heroine. Patrick’s strategy in this tough race was to conserve fuel better than the earlier race leaders, and that was the strategy that paid her off by yielding to her her first victory, as she beat pole-sitter Helio Castroneves by nearly six seconds. Patrick has been racing Indy cars since 2005 when she was 23 years old and, until this weekend, has had to answer relentless questions about her level of racing skill. Patrick has many fans, and some of those fans don’t necessarily care how well she does when she gets behind the wheel on a race track. She has posed seductively in men’s magazines and in a skimpy bikini for Sports Illustrated, although she has never posed in the nude (yet?). She is a certifiable natural beauty. Feminists despise Danica Patrick. She uses her looks for financial gain and is unashamed of being male eye candy. She unabashedly competes fiercely in a male sport but never puts down men for unfairly trying to psyche her out in a male-dominated field (I hope that you, dear reader, catch the reference to the antics of The Hillary in politics when she first was getting rocked by what is typical harsh attacking in her chosen—and male-dominated—field.), never condemns her beloved sport for conspiring to keep talented gals like herself out of its prestigious inner circle or keeping her from using her skills make the big money. And in the wake of her first victory—a victory that would have given the lie to the aforementioned condemnations had she ever been foolish or shallow enough to make them—she did nothing to endear herself to the feminists. First off, Patrick did not raise the trophy high over her head and then intone that this victory proved that women can do anything men can do and do it better. Instead, she cried in the Winner’s Circle and her great commentary on her landmark victory was to say “Thank you” and to credit her male crew with helping guide her in her chosen strategy. But then, in a post-victory interview, she dared to say, “A lot of women hadn't really proved on a consistent basis that they could be a good driver and always run up front...there had been times when they had done well but not consistently...[W]hen you have 100 guys come through, finding one good one, the odds are a lot better than 100 girls since it takes a lot longer for 100 to come through...The odds are against us. But I grew up with never really using guys as a reference.” Danica Patrick had, even before this historic victory, become an icon in the racing world: a female sex symbol running with the males. And while there are guys who aren’t big IndyCar fans but are big Danica fans for what some would call the “wrong” reasons, she really has and has had the authentic support of the vast majority of male racing fans, who have been pulling for her to win one and have generally believed that it was only a matter of time. Chauvinism seems to be far, far away from the circles in which she turns (pun intended), as another iconic racing name, that of Michael Andretti, summed up when he said: "I think Danica is such a fantastic person, and I’m thrilled for her that the monkey is finally off of her back. We have all believed in her, and she proved today that she is a winner. Frankly, I think this is the first of many." Perhaps our beautiful lady Speed Racer has provided many a baselessly angry and antagonistic with the dose of Reality that they have long needed. That would prove to be her greatest victory of all. I wish her many more wins.