JR Motorsports signs Danica

Can't believe that I'm the first to post this. Looks like Danica is going to drive JR's Nationwide car in a few races.

http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/nascar/news/story?id=4622687

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Permalink Reply by Chuck on November 6, 2009 at 9:44am

Wow Gray, did Danica turn you down before?

You watch teams ebb and flow all the time, especially in open wheel racing. Buddy Rice had a magical half season @ R-L before Danica got there, and then fell off the planet (G-Force to Dallara switch anyone).
Yes, Kanaan is the better driver. I've watched plenty of races where both her and Kanaan were in the top 5 and you knew as long as he was there the best Danica could do was finish second. Doesn't mean she's holding AGR down, doesn't mean she doesn't have talent. Just that Kanaan's a better driver. There are a lot of people who wouldn't be able to best Kanaan in equal equipment, and you named 4 of them in your earlier post.

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Permalink Reply by GrayAntiMatter on November 6, 2009 at 2:51pm

doesn't mean she doesn't have talent. Just that Kanaan's a better driver.

There are many better drivers. Enough to fill an entire IndyCar field. And many of them are stuck on the sidelines due to lack of sponsorship.

Last time I checked posts around here, people loathed drivers that were in the field solely based on their ability to attract sponsors.

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Permalink Reply by GrayAntiMatter on November 6, 2009 at 2:56pm

And great point about the ebb and flow of teams. Rahal Letterman goes from Indy 500 winner with Buddy Rice to closed doors after their focus is Danica. AGR goes from IRL titles to struggling to be the best of the also-rans after Danica becomes their focus.

VERY good point. Thanks for making it. Sometimes its hard to wrap my head around just how bad she is, but having one of her supporters come out and try to make an argument usually reveals even more of her shortcomings.

Now, don't get me wrong, I don't think even she is bad enough to drag down Hendrick Motorsports, which JR Motorsports is just a satellite of, same as Stewart-Haas. She may suck, but even adding her to the extended roster can't kill that team. She'll bring in money that will help the talented drivers.

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Permalink Reply by Chuck on November 6, 2009 at 3:18pm

Aww Gray, she'll bring in money that will help the talented drivers. Not sure how you get whip that one out but then blame her for RL closing its doors.

I'd argue that Rahal folded because he was more concerned with Graham's career and they never caught up from the Panoz to Dallara switch. AGR is having trouble because you have two Andretti "Me first" attitudes there instead of one (Admittedly, having Danica's drama queen presence probably didn't help there).

The funny thing is it appears you think AGR would still have four cars and be incredibly successful without Marco "my Daddy owns the team," Mutoh "the classic ride buyer" and princess Danica the media darling. Without those drivers, AGR is a two car team and it has no where near the leadership required to compete with Penske and Ganassi on equal footing..
I don't give her a pass, she's obviously hyped as more than she is. But I don't villify her either. Image is part of racing at the highest levels anymore (male or female). I blame STP for gettign it all started.

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Permalink Reply by GrayAntiMatter on November 6, 2009 at 4:06pm

RL folded after her money had dried up. And I do agree that Bobby went on to focus on Graham's mediocre career (pretty fed up with Newman-Haas-Lanigan right now too) rather than his IndyCar team, so his IndyCar team closed shop.

I actually am under no delusion that AGR could field four cars without the name/ride buyers. At best they could field a three car team and even that might be a stretch.

If you're speaking of leadership among drivers then Kanaan is on trumps Helio but not Dario. Within the organization? No one is really on par with Penske. And even Penske couldn't put a full tmie third car together for a talent like Will Power without closing down his sports car team. Another sad comment on the state of IndyCar racing. Now that he has the ride I think Will Power is actually the best talent among the big five seats (3 Penske 2 Ganassi)

And funny you mention STP. I brought up the legacy of NASCAR drivers being fully different if David Pearson can run the full seasons while Petty is sitting on STP at a NASCAR forum recently.

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Permalink Reply by Chuck on November 6, 2009 at 5:11pm

Well, that much we at least agree on...I was referring to the organization @ AGR. Kanaan is a stud, but he's the only real leader at AGR and it looks like he's fed up trying to be a role model for Marco, Danica, and the stuffed driver's suit in the fourth car. They really need another leader OUT of the car to turn that team around.

Agreed on Power and STP. Petty isn't the hero he's made out to be if you have guys like Pearson being able to run the full season too.

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Permalink Reply by GrayAntiMatter on November 6, 2009 at 11:05pm

I think that was a huge part in the fall off of performance for Kanaan this year. I'm not a huge fan of his, but you could tell he was fed up with something, and it really seemed to be Marco and Danica that he was fed up with. All the coaching, helping, mentoring and they both treat him like shit on the track during the race day. I was surprised he even resigned with the team.

Permalink Reply by rpmscott on November 5, 2009 at 8:53am

Don't you remember the slam Robby gave her when he said she has a 100 lb advantage over the rest of the field.
A 100 lb's is a lot when a team is looking for ounces to make a car go faster. No love loss there with Robby.

I wonder what will happen the first time she goes stomping down pit road to get in someones face.

It is never ok to strike a woman.... not sure what I would do if she came at me throwing one of her little fits.
Maybe you could just turn her over your knee like a spoiled little kid right there on pit road...... Now that would be funny