# Congratulations to Robby Gordon, officially achieves idiot status



## TeamM3 (Dec 24, 2002)

yep, she'll clean-up on those good ol' boys :jack: :tsk: I hope she does :thumbup: :rofl:

NASCAR Driver Says Female Phenom Has Unfair Edge
R. Gordon Says Patrick Can Go Faster Because of Her Weight

(May 28) - Robby Gordon accused Danica Patrick of having an unfair advantage in the Indianapolis 500 and said Saturday he will not compete in the race again unless the field is equalized.

Gordon, a former open-wheel driver now in NASCAR, contends that Patrick is at an advantage over the rest of the competitors because she only weighs 100 pounds. Because all the cars weigh the same, Patrick's is lighter on the race track.

"The lighter the car, the faster it goes," Gordon said. "Do the math. Put her in the car at her weight, then put me or Tony Stewart in the car at 200 pounds and our car is at least 100 pounds heavier.

"I won't race against her until the IRL does something to take that advantage away."

The Indy Racing League does not consider the weight of the driver in its race specifications. The car has to weigh at least 1,525 pounds before the fuel and driver are added, and teams in Indy have estimated that Patrick will gain close to 1 mph in speed because of her small stature.

Although her rivals in Sunday's race have said she doesn't have a huge advantage, pole-sitter Tony Kanaan told reporters he would like the Indy Racing League to look into the issue.

"Right off the bat, a guy my size is spotting her 105 pounds," Gordon said. "That's the reason she's so much faster."

Patrick has been among the quickest drivers since rookie orientation began on the famed 2 1/2-mile oval on May 5. Only a bobble on the first lap of her qualifying effort kept her from winning the pole, and she will take the green flag from fourth on Sunday, the best starting position for a woman at Indy.

Patrick was fastest with a lap of 225.997 mph to lead the one-hour "Carb Day" practice on Friday, the only time the cars got on the track during the week between the end of time trials and the start of the race.

She follows Janet Guthrie, Lyn St. James and Sarah Fisher to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, needing only to finish eighth or better to improve on the best previous finish by a female - ninth by Guthrie in 1978.

Patrick, however, is not focused on simply finishing in the top 10 or just staying out of trouble.

"I think I have a great chance of winning this race," the confident Patrick said.

Driving the 650-horsepower IndyCars for the first time this year, Patrick has improved in each of the first four IRL races, culminating in an impressive fourth place last month in Japan.

At Indy, she has been nothing less than a phenomenon.

Patrick would not be the first rookie to win here, although certainly among the least experienced.

Juan Montoya was the defending champion of the rival CART series when he won here in 2000, and Helio Castroneves was a two-year regular in CART and winner of three races before he took the checkered flag as an Indy rookie in 2001.

Still, Castroneves, who also won the next year, said he has no doubt Patrick could win on Sunday, particularly since she is driving a Honda-powered Panoz for the powerful Rahal Letterman Racing team that won here last year with Buddy Rice.

"She is driving for a great team and she has been fast every day since she got here," Castroneves said. "If she can keep her nose clean, she'll be OK. The only thing that might be a problem is you have to have patience and, sometimes, rookies don't have much patience."

Castroneves, starting fifth, and Marlboro Team Penske teammate Sam Hornish Jr., a two-time IRL champion and starting in the middle of the first row, also will be among the favorites Sunday as they try to give Roger Penske a record 14th Indy win.

Others to watch include all four members of Andretti Green Racing, including Kanaan, current IRL points leader Dan Wheldon, Dario Franchitti and Bryan Herta.

If one of them can manage to get to Victory Lane, it would be a very big day indeed for team co-owner Michael Andretti, who led more laps than any other nonwinner at Indy. His father, Mario, won the race in 1969, then spent 25 frustrating years trying and failing to win it again.

The two had so many things go wrong here that the term "Andretti Luck" became part of the Indy lexicon. "We've done everything in our power to put ourselves in a good position," Michael said. "Of course, this feeling doesn't mean anything. I've been here before in this position. We'll see what fate has in store."

And don't forget perhaps the most heartwarming story of the month: Kenny Brack. The 1999 Indy winner, nearly killed in a devastating crash at Texas Motor Speedway in October 2003, was called upon just last week to replace Rice, injured in a crash here on May 10.

Brack responded by posting the fastest qualifying speed of the month, 227.598 mph. Since it came on the second week of time trials, though, he will start 23rd. Nobody has won from that far back since Johnny Rutherford started 25th in 1974 and charged to the second of his three victories.

Still, Brack is confident he can be competitive in basically the same Honda-powered Panoz in which Rice won last year.

"Maybe I'll be a little rusty in traffic, but it's a long race," said Brack, who hasn't raced an IndyCar since his crash. "I think we'll be just fine after the first pit stop."

The third Rahal Letterman entry, Vitor Meira, making his fourth Indy start - from seventh - could be the dark horse in the race.

"Vitor also has great equipment and he's been flying all month," Kanaan said. "I think maybe he's a little under the radar."

Hornish has been perhaps the IRL's biggest star since winning his first series title in 2001, but he has struggled mightily at Indy. In five starts here, he has yet to finish better than 14th or even complete all 200 laps.

"The big thing is to make it to the end, which I have not done yet," Hornish said. "But we have a great team and two great cars and we've got as good a shot as anybody.

"If I do win here, it would be my 14th (career) win and it would be Roger's 14th at Indy," he added. "I think that would be very nice."

The big question going into Sunday, though, remains: What will Danica do?

Castroneves was asked if it bothers him that most of the questions he and other veterans have fielded this month have been about Patrick.

"It's good for the series, it's good for the sport," he replied. "When I came here they gave me the nickname 'Spider Man.' Maybe they should call her 'Wonder Woman."

05/28/05 17:22 EDT


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## beewang (Dec 18, 2001)

Perhaps Roby can cut 30 lbs of easy fat off from him to compete w/ Donica and "equalize" the playing field buy cutting he head off to save some dead weight :dunno: :bustingup :bustingup 

GD Male schuvenist pig  

Robby, You are a freaking race car driver, deal with it :asshole: !!


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## nave560 (Jan 31, 2005)

What's going to be next? Estrogen makes for faster reaction times? Women's concentration of body weight in the lower body makes for a lower center of gravity? Female pheromones interfers with the concentration of male drivers?


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## Pinecone (Apr 3, 2002)

Actually MANY lower weight racing classes have the drivers weight included in the specified weight.

Only then, he will be complaining that she gets 100 pounds of ballast to put where it will do the most good.


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## Robsa (Jan 20, 2005)

TeamM3 said:


> "I won't race against her until the IRL does something to take that advantage away."


I don't recall anyone wanting Robby Gordon to race for them in IRL. Since he was fired from RCR last year no one wants him in NASCAR either. He will be racing in the truck series in a couple years.


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## Chris90 (Apr 7, 2003)

The way his career is going, he must be hitting the Krispy Kremes hard.


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## SpeedFreak! (May 1, 2005)

Pinecone said:


> Actually MANY lower weight racing classes have the drivers weight included in the specified weight.
> 
> Only then, he will be complaining that she gets 100 pounds of ballast to put where it will do the most good.


This is so true, both point one and two... :thumbup: I certainly see the issue, though... it's a valid point when races are decided by 100th of a second... BUT... what a childish way of dealing with it! Any one who has ever watched Robby through out his career knows this is his way. He has always had a pretty bad attitude and a tendency to come off like he is making excuses. He probably doesn't even have a ride for the race (I'm working, so I'm recording the race & haven't seen the final line up) and this is his way of looking like there's a different reason for him not being there. 
From a racers point of view, though, I see NO reason why the drivers weight isn't included. That... is simply stupid! :dunno:


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## BMWRacerITS (Mar 17, 2004)

In the end, he does have a point...I think it makes more sense to include the driver in the weight of the car in order to better equalize the field. A smaller driver would STILL have an advantage, as the weight they add to reach the minimum could be optimally located, but the advantage would be much less.


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## SergioK (Aug 14, 2002)

Welcome to racing. That's the simple logistics of the sport, same as jockey's (horse racing). Like beewang said, "Deal with it!"


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## BMWRacerITS (Mar 17, 2004)

SergioK said:


> Welcome to racing. That's the simple logistics of the sport, same as jockey's (horse racing).


Actually, that's not normal in car racing. Most car racing, including F1, includes the driver's weight in the minimum weight equation. IRL is unusual in that they don't include the driver, so I don't find it all that unusual that some drivers would want the rules to be similiar to other series, particularly with the introduction of a very fast female driver with a 100 pound weight advantage. We are talking over a 6.5% advantage in car weight here...that would be the equivalent of forcing Nextel Cup cars to carry an extra 220+ pound passenger.

Obviously this can't be compared to horse racing, as there's no minimum weight for the horses either.


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## bmw325 (Dec 19, 2001)

BMWRacerITS said:


> In the end, he does have a point...I think it makes more sense to include the driver in the weight of the car in order to better equalize the field. A smaller driver would STILL have an advantage, as the weight they add to reach the minimum could be optimally located, but the advantage would be much less.


I guess- but if you take this to the logical extreme you could include excuses like "but she's smarter than the other racers and that's an unfair advantage", or has "faster reactions", etc, etc. Maybe heavier drivers have an advantage from more downforce. I think that any natural advantage or disadvantgae that an individual human being brings to a race should not be regulated-- that's the nature of racing or any competition.


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## BMWRacerITS (Mar 17, 2004)

robg said:


> I guess- but if you take this to the logical extreme you could include excuses like "but she's smarter than the other racers and that's an unfair advantage", or has "faster reactions", etc, etc.


It hasn't become an issue in the hundreds of other series, Pro and Club, that include the driver weight into the equation. Evidence doesn't support this "extreme" being a problem.



robg said:


> Maybe heavier drivers have an advantage from more downforce.


There's no MAYBE about it. More weight is bad, period. If weight were good, there would be no complaining and teams wouldn't spend millions of development dollars to make parts lighter and stronger in order to meet a minimum weight.



robg said:


> I think that any natural advantage or disadvantgae that an individual human being brings to a race should not be regulated-- that's the nature of racing or any competition.


Racing regulations, racers, and rulesmakers around the world disagree with you. IRL is in the miniority. That doesn't make your opinion wrong, but it definitely isn't the "normal" way that things are done in racing.

I think some people are letting a dislike of Robby Gordon or the way he complained cover their eyes to the idea that he actually presents a legitimate concern. I was amazed to find out that IRL weights didn't include the driver.


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## SergioK (Aug 14, 2002)

BMWRacerITS said:


> Actually, that's not normal in car racing.


What's not normal in racing? That one team has an advantage over another? You may kid yourself with that one, but not me.

I don't care if it's weight, technology, or the money factor, some teams ALWAYS have an advantage in one area over an other. That's racing.

Although, some series, such as the BMW Boxer Cup Series are indeed all equal minus the rider. I don't know of any other racing series where everything is exactly the same. :dunno:


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## BMWRacerITS (Mar 17, 2004)

SergioK said:


> What's not normal in racing? That one team has an advantage over another? You may kid yourself with that one, but not me.


Did I mention any other advantages? It's pretty standard to allow teams to work from an level playing ground when it comes to weight. This allows the other advantages to come from driver ability and car development and not just the weight they happen to be born at. Driver ability and car development are skills that must be learned and perfected...weight is something that is pretty uncontrollable. All of the guys and girls in IRL are in great shape, yet they vary in weight by over 100 pounds.



> Although, some series, such as the BMW Boxer Cup Series are indeed all equal minus the rider. I don't know of any other racing series where everything is exactly the same. :dunno:


Again, we aren't talking about everything. We are talking about weight. And I know plenty of series where the weight is exactly the same and/or measured with the driver in the car so as to not penalize a driver for being a certain size.

So did anyone actually hear the interview? Did they listen to the tone in which he answered the question? He wasn't whining, but simply answering a question asked to him about what he thought about how cars are weighed in the IRL. He later went on to answer "Danica" when asked who he wanted to win the race if he couldn't. The tone of the article doesn't portray the tone in which he answered the question. Spotting a driver a 6.5% weight advantage before the race even begins is a pretty big issue to be considered.


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## SpeedFreak! (May 1, 2005)

Look... there is no arguing the fact that Robby came off as a whining idiot... this is not debatable.
But to argue about the validity of the weight issue is STUPID. :tsk: To call that extreme and to equate that to all the other variables is STUPID. :tsk: Weight issues are not extreme... that's racing 101... the core... the most basic of basics. To expect all teams to run with the same weight including the driver is not only simple... not only does it work that way in most other racing... but it makes PERFECT SENSE. To argue that it doesn't... simply means that you want in her pants... now admit it.


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## elbert (Mar 28, 2002)

BMWRacerITS said:


> In the end, he does have a point...


I completely agree, most racing formulas include the driver in weight considerations. 
As a side note, until very recently CART didn't consider driver weight either. However, Paul Tracy (another pudgy ex-bonehead driver) complained that he weighed twice as much as daMatta, and got the rule changed.


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## elbert (Mar 28, 2002)

Robsa said:


> I don't recall anyone wanting Robby Gordon to race for them in IRL. Since he was fired from RCR last year no one wants him in NASCAR either. He will be racing in the truck series in a couple years.


Actually, I think he quit RCR to start his own team. He does own a desert racing trophy truck operation, btw (yes, I realize you meant the other truck series).


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## Robsa (Jan 20, 2005)

elbert said:


> Actually, I think he quit RCR to start his own team. He does own his own desert racing trophy truck (yes, I realize you meant the other truck series) operation, btw.


After further review it seems you are correct in that it was an amicable parting. Gordon had planned on starting his own team and told RCR early in the season that he was going to give it a try. This year he doesn't seem to be as aggresive with his own cars as he was with other teams stuff. Always heard away from the track he was a great guy but when it comes to racing he is a different guy.


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## elbert (Mar 28, 2002)

Robsa said:


> This year he doesn't seem to be as aggresive with his own cars as he was with other teams stuff. Always heard away from the track he was a great guy but when it comes to racing he is a different guy.


One of my friends is really into desert racing and has always been highly complimentary about Robby. He races to win no matter what, and has done some pretty silly things to get that goal. But as you said, now that's he's paying the bills, he isn't so adamant in reaching that goal


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## TeamM3 (Dec 24, 2002)

I'm not saying that the weighing situation is not an issue, I just think that' there's more to the story like getting his ass kicked by a girl, the weight situation has existed since the beginning of the IRL, a 100 lb guy coul have come in at any time

maybe he is sincere, but the timing is not in his favor, and to further state that he'll withdraw rather than race under the same conditions that have existed for years smacks of female fear IMO :thumbdwn:


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