I had great fun last Spring when Danica Patrick performed well at Indy. I have long maintained that car racing isn't a "sport," in the athletic sense, but my car-racing friends (I have too many) strongly disagree with me. I even tried a logic test on them:
1. Sport entails physical prowess (a legitimate, if questionable, assertion)
2. Women do not possess the physical prowess of men
3. A woman is competing at the top levels of car racing
4. Therefore, car racing isn't a sport (unless Danica is a freak of nature or Indy is fixed or some other improbability exists).
The car racing fan's response? "She ain't racing in NASCAR, and that's far more physically brutal than Indy."
Well, it looks like that might change soon:
After being shown up all summer by Danica Patrick and her fourth-place finish in the Indy 500, NASCAR wants a female star. Whether 24-year-old Erin Crocker can be that is unclear, but we're going to find out -- she will drive full time in the Busch series next season.
Even before she crashed last week in her first-ever Busch qualifying effort, her team owner, Ray Evernham, urged patience in her development. Still, she wouldn't have that ride if she hadn't already impressed Evernham, who was the crew chief for three of Jeff Gordon's championships.
She won't fail for lack of quality equipment, the universal lament of female NASCAR drivers. Evernham is one of the savviest owners in the business.
Link.
The keyboard is wet from my drooling.
