Girl Power

With good reason, Richard Petty is affectionately known as The King, both for his second to none performance on the track during his career, inclusive of seven Daytona 500 wins, but due to his decades of ambassadorship for the sport of NASCAR off the track. 


Richard Petty

Off the track, Petty made sure he never missed signing an autograph for an adoring fan, and has been a help to anyone who asked for it around the garage area.

As a kid, I considered Petty, racing in his famed Petty Blue 43 STP Pontiac, a hero, and with that in mind, placed him in the inaugural Hall of BAHL class.  I have had a handful of personal experiences with King Richard, and he has always been as advertised; friendly and approachable.

As we prepare for Speedweeks 2014 at Daytona, Petty sort of stepped in this past week in negative comments he made about Danica Patrick, the only female driver on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Danica Patrick

While Danica Patrick took the high road in response to Petty's comments, many media outlets have called Petty out, even hitting him with the term sexist. 

Petty commented when asked if Patrick could win on the circuit said "only if everyone else stayed home" and that her popularity was a "female deal". Certainly, while we know Petty to be a good natured good ole boy who would not seek out an opportunity to launch personal attacks, he is off target with these comments and should be called to task on them.

In two separate stories, writers at The Orlando Sentinel sure did, with lead sports columnist Mike Bianchi calling Petty a hypocrite.

Bianchi, for once, has a point.  While Patrick is taking all the advantages that come from being the only female driver, coupled with outstanding looks, this is nothing other drivers would not do if given the chance.  As Bianchi points our, the Petty name carried a lot of weight for Kyle as his career emerged.  Others have benefited from having the "name", from Dale Earnhardt Jr to Chase Elliott.

Some drivers have their own sponsors, which get them rides they may have secured on their own driving abilities.  Paul Menard comes to mind.

None of the above mentioned drivers are poor racers.  To the contrary, but they take advantage of the cards they are dealt.  I call that capitalism, something my fellow republican Petty should well recognize.

Is Danica Patrick the second coming of Buddy Baker? Heavens no.

But is she a skilled driver who continues to practice her craft seeking to incrementally improve as she adds seat time.  While she has had issues, she did win the pole for the 2013 Daytona 500, finishing eighth in her #10 Go Daddy Chevrolet.  She gets collected in wrecks more than the average racer, but few seem to be her fault.  There are some tracks she could potentially win on, but there are 10-15 drivers in the field every race that, save restrictor plate racing, have virtually no shot to win.

2014
The Great American Race
Daytona 500

The King would have been much better off to keep these thoughts, which he is welcome to, to himself.  Petty rarely makes the wrong call around the race track, but this time, I think he did.

Maybe Petty was being a sport for NASCAR to stir up some controversy, as ticket sales continue to slump.  It would be grand if Danica pulled the Go Daddy Chevrolet for Stewart Hass Racing into victory lane on after The Great American Race on Sunday.

I will be there watching.

No War On Women At Daytona

During the last election campaign, we were led to believe by the Obama campaign and the mainstream media that Republicans were waging a war on women.  Obviously, as usual with this group who seek to demonize, ridicule and discredit their opponents, nothing could be further from the truth.

That does not mean they were not successful in creating the false narrative.  In threatening a potential domestic policy described as limiting to women with respect to health care issues, women became terrified of a retracement of women's rights eclipsing reality.  The left, with a complicit media assisting, were relentless in their attack on the issue, which was personalized for many women.

Although the right is certainly against abortion, the base of these attacks were outside of that argument, utilizing an orchestrated attack on contraception, starting from a seemingly out of left field question to GOP primary contender Mitt Romney.  It is recognized that there is a divide with respect to abortion between many women who hold their right to chose dear and those who think the rights of choice end when a human life is conceived. A Mitt Romney victory could not immediately impact the abortion debate, although it was presented it could.

Knowing the falsity of the attacks, the right was somewhat bewildered on why the left would keep running with this seemingly non existent issue.  We had the misfortune of being introduced to Sandra Fluke, and got a very strange campaign ad from a television star few had heard of.

As we examined the aftermath of the re-election of Barack Obama, we found that this false issue actually resonated with women voters.  Polling shows that women were much more concerned about getting contraception, with several options reasonably priced at retail outlets such as Wal-Mart (WMT:NYSE), than losing gainful employment, watching their housing values plummet, rising gas prices and a declining standard of living.

Welcome to the low information voter, or ones who cannot decipher the truth amongst the waves of propaganda.

There is no war on women from the right, and we champion women with great respect.  They are our grandmothers, our mothers, wives, daughters, girlfriends, friends, bosses and co-workers, neighbors, customers and teammates.  They are leaders, champions, and competitors who provide a necessary guidance in all of our lives.  In one of my employment capacities, the director of the department is a woman. We could not and would not want to live without women.

Women play vital roles in the fabric of society. It was women who led the way in the formation of the Tea Party, as noted in a recent column. Women also excel in inventions and innovation, noted in recent years by Sara Blakely, a fellow graduate of The Florida State University, who invented a "body shaping" innovative product in undergarments called Spanx, now a billion dollar operation.

All Americans should champion the success of women, as their success is our success. 

Today, another opportunity exists to celebrate women as Danica Patrick won the pole position for the 55th running of The Great American Race; the Daytona 500.  Patrick recorded the fastest time in her Stewart Haas #10 Go Daddy Chevrolet and became the first female to win a pole for a NASCAR race.

Congratulations Danica!  Good luck running the high banks when they put the field under green on Sunday. No war on women. We will be at Daytona International Speedway, a place with scarce liberal infiltration, Thursday and Sunday, cheering you on!



Danica Patrick wins Daytona 500 pole positon.

Wicked Wreck at Vegas Claims Dan Wheldon

Dan Whledon, a two time winner of the Indianapolis 500, including in 2011, has lost his life in a horrific 15 car crash at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this afternoon. ABC had the race coverage:



Ironically, Wheldon was a part time racer this year, and was essentially unemployed after winning the 2011 Indy 500. Wheldon spoke with CNBC's Darren Rovell days after the 500.



Wheldon was set to take over for Danica Patrick, who is heading over to NASCAR full time next season. This racing is very dangerous, and even though the safety measures advanced in the recent years, particularly in the aftermath of the death of the legendary Dale Earnhardt at Daytona International Speedway in 2001, it remains so. Five time NASCAR champ Jimmie Johnson took a very hard hit last night at Charlotte, a hit made easier to absorb by the safer barriers and HANS device innovations.

Thoughts and prayers will be with Wheldons family; may he rest in peace.