Richard Petty or Danica Patrick?

Richard Petty has already accepted Tony Stewart's challenge to race Danica Patrick. (Stewart challenged Petty after he said that the only way Patrick could win a race is "if everybody else stayed home".) So the ball's in Danica's court now.

Richard Petty takes challenge to race Danica Patrick

If they ever do race, who do you think would win?

When she announced she was going to run NASCAR but had not yet raced, Richard Petty took the un-PC line of telling the truth that he thought she would struggle with the changes. He has now annoyed the media again by not giving positive comments to a woman playing in a man's game. It is the same thing that the powers that be could not handle when Limbaugh told the truth about McNabb.

We will see the same thing with the gay players that have come out as current or potential NFL/NBA players. The lamestreamers just cannot bring themselves to say anything but positive things if the person is in the right "group."

Lets face it, if Danica were not attractive she would not be nearly as popular as she is.

Maybe he will get revenge for Bobby Riggs?

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Anything can happen in a individual race. However, the smart pick today would be DP. There is a reason Petty quit. He wasn't good anymore and had other opportunities which were better than sitting behind the wheel.

Look at his last 4 years. He was like the golfers on the PGA tour just killing time until they can go play on the senior tour. He finished in the top 10 2 times in four years (2 of 112 races). He finished on the lead lap 7 times. Few racers would still have a ride at that point.

DP has been in the Bigs for 47 races. While her top 10s aren't much better, she has finished on the lead lap 13 times.

RP can only have gotten worse (endurance and reactions), DP already is enough to beat him. Given equal tech and pits, a mid 40s year old RP would have destroyed her. But 30 years later, he would lose (or at least be less likely to win).

Quote: endermike

Anything can happen in a individual race. However, the smart pick today would be DP. There is a reason Petty quit. He wasn't good anymore and had other opportunities which were better than sitting behind the wheel.

The thing is if it is just two cars the dynamic is totally different. Where DP would have an edge is the modern cars are different than in Petty's day. Where Petty would have an edge is a lot of this is in drafting and "team play" where two drivers agree to work together until the end. In Petty's day you were on your own.

Still on that idea, in Petty's day the manufacturers tried to do all they could to make their own cars better, culminating with the Dodge Daytona 500 and Plymouth Road-Runner Superbird (yes, that is the full and proper name.) Today a stock car is a stock car, it is all pretty much the same. And that is why it is so boring.

Quote: AZDuffman

... culminating with the Dodge Daytona 500 and Plymouth Road-Runner Superbird (yes, that is the full and proper name.)

Dodge Charger Daytona. ;)

Petty has many numbers which will just never be beaten. To beat them is, and I'm going to say it, an impossibility.

Teams matter. In this day and age, Hendrick is the man to beat. Johnson, Gordon, to a lesser extent Junior... Hendrick Motorsports is the apex predator. Even unrelated teams run Hendrick motors. He is simply The Man. But even so, just about any other team has a chance on any given Saturday night. The difference between a Hendrick car on pole and an upstart, one car team bringing up the rear is measured in fractions.

Petty lived at a time when people had unbelievable mechanical advantages. It was not unheard of for cars that had no damage whatsoever to finish several laps down. It wasn't unheard of for the leader to have lapped the field. I believe one of those old timers (maybe Foyt, maybe Pearson, I dunno) came back from 3 laps down to win the race. That is an impossibility today.

Petty, while an undeniable wheelman, owes much of his success to the 426 Hemi and MOPAR superiority. Transport a 30yr old Petty to 2014, and he'd be a contender. He would not be the legend he has come to be.

Taking an old man who grew up in high horsepower, low grip, mechanical race cars will not translate into the hyper horsepower, higher grip, aero sensitive race cars of today.

You could put Jimmy Johnson in one of Petty Enterprises current cars and he couldnt beat Danica. They just dont have the money to keep up with the top teams like Hendrick in the tech department.

Quote: Face

Dodge Charger Daytona. ;)

Whoa, you caught me good! But it is a pet peeve of mine when people insist the name of the care was "Superbird" only. Why would Chrysler call it a "bird" if not for the Road Runner? As some trivia these cars are worth a fortune today but were a hard sell in the day, some forced on dealers. A few lasted an extra model year on lots, and a few were "de-converted" back to regular Road Runners. If people only knew........

Quote:

Taking an old man who grew up in high horsepower, low grip, mechanical race cars will not translate into the hyper horsepower, higher grip, aero sensitive race cars of today.

Todays cars are a joke. Even in the mid-1980s the cars at least *looked* like what was in the showroom. But think today, when was the last time you noticed let alone cared what manufacturer was doing better? Racing used to "improve the breed" but NASCAR with their "all cars run equal" mentality killed that idea. The aforesaid CHARGER Daytona 500 (lol) was improved because Ford stole Petty when they improved their own Torino. The 1983 Thunderbird tore up the tracks because of better aerodynamics. What do you have now? "Car of Tomorrow" where you can barely tell what it is based on?

Rename it NAAR.

Quote: AZDuffman

Whoa, you caught me good! But it is a pet peeve of mine when people insist the name of the care was "Superbird" only. Why would Chrysler call it a "bird" if not for the Road Runner? As some trivia these cars are worth a fortune today but were a hard sell in the day, some forced on dealers. A few lasted an extra model year on lots, and a few were "de-converted" back to regular Road Runners. If people only knew........

If they only knew, indeed. They sold originally for mid $4k. Someone here can probably figure out what 4,000 of 1970's dollars equals in 2014, but it's a damn sight shorter than the $200,000 these things fetch today.

I wonder what car built today is gonna fetch "muscle car money" when my kid is grown...

Quote: AZDuffman

Todays cars are a joke. Even in the mid-1980s the cars at least *looked* like what was in the showroom. But think today, when was the last time you noticed let alone cared what manufacturer was doing better? Racing used to "improve the breed" but NASCAR with their "all cars run equal" mentality killed that idea. The aforesaid CHARGER Daytona 500 (lol) was improved because Ford stole Petty when they improved their own Torino. The 1983 Thunderbird tore up the tracks because of better aerodynamics. What do you have now? "Car of Tomorrow" where you can barely tell what it is based on?

Rename it NAAR.

Somewhat agree. I mean, what Chevy production car is there that's even RWD and comes with a 350ci V8? Answer: None. And even if they did, it ain't churning out no NINE HUNDRED HORSEPOWER.

The late 80's was the end of the "Stock Car". Other than the body seams and the rear wing, you could buy this exact dimension car at your local bow tie dealership



NASCAR was always "grassroots" racing. It harkened back to the moonshiner days and always had that "anyone can do it" feel. Now, it's like the world has turned inside out. The common NASCAR stock car is unattainable, while the hyper specific racing car can be driven off the lot.

NASCAR is the WWF on wheels. I am no longer a fan, they've chased me away. Richard Petty vs. Danica Patrick, racetrack or cage, who cares.

Quote: Sabretom2

NASCAR is the WWF on wheels. I am no longer a fan, they've chased me away. Richard Petty vs. Danica Patrick, racetrack or cage, who cares.

I hate to admit it, but I'm right behind you. They've changed the rules again for 2014, making the end of season just strange.

They need to make it a driver's race again. Lower the power, eliminate the aero packages, and make them muscle the car around like back in the day. It seems like too many races are being won by engineers nowadays.

I say the All Star race should be done in the '88 NASCAR cars. I guarantee the fan reaction would be astounding and it will completely obvious where NASCAR needs to head in the future.

In other news, I'll be a licensed NASCAR driver by the end of the month. Support your local short track!!

Richard Petty can not turn back the clock. Father Time gets everybody. I can remember seeing this man falling down in center field
in a NY Met uniform.

Same man who years before that made this great catch and throw in a world Series game. I was 14 at the time.

If you don't already know who I am talking about, you missed seeing one of the greatest to ever play the game.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUK9lG-7HTc

" In other news, I'll be a licensed NASCAR driver by the end of the month. Support your local short track!! "

So NASCAR no longer has a moral clause ? Seriously, keep you need for speed on the track. A certain young man you know wants you around at the finish line !

Quote: Face

I hate to admit it, but I'm right behind you. They've changed the rules again for 2014, making the end of season just strange.

They need to make it a driver's race again. Lower the power, eliminate the aero packages, and make them muscle the car around like back in the day. It seems like too many races are being won by engineers nowadays.

I think a lot of this started in the 1990s when NASCAR decided they needed to be a national sport and not a southeastern thing. Around this time is when they stopped referring to the car number and started just calling it the sponsor's car. Part of this made the races less for motorheads and more mainstream. It is absolutely bigger, but not the same product.