News-Record.com

That's odd, until you go down to number 10 this could be a list of drivers who have won something as well. (Though what Eliseo Salazar won escapes me for now, but you get my point).

Danica huffing and stomping around Michigan didn't do anything for me.

I have asked this before, has Danica ever won a race on ANY touring series? I'm not counting Mommy and Daddy buying her the fastest go-kart for their hometown track when she was 10.

Mark,

No, In the seven years Danica has been in the pro series, she's never won a race. She's in the IRL only because she has "girls." To put it more bluntly, she's a novelty hired by the IRL to bolster sagging attendance & interest in that league.

I know you're being cynical here, Jon, and that's fine. But there's also a lot of truth in what you said.

Would we talk at all about IRL if Danica Patrick weren't racing? Nope, except for maybe the Indy 500. Seriously: Have you thought more than once about Sam Hornish Jr. or Helio Castroneves or the Andretti that nearly won this year's 500? I haven't.

Mark, Salazar only won once in IndyCar -- at Las Vegas in 1997 -- and I believe it's his only win in a major series. I'm not even sure I'd call that a win in a major series. The IRL was awful in those first few years after the split because most of the best teams were in CART. Tony Stewart and Buzz Calkins were the only things worth watching. Salazar never won in Formula One.

And your question was answered before. But I'll give it to you again: Danica hasn't won in IRL, didn't win in Toyota Atlantics or Formula Ford. She had a handful of second and third place finishes in the two feeder series. Before she went overseas she was racing karts.

But your bigger point is dead on. She doesn't belong on this list. I'm not sure what ESPN's definition of a "meltdown" is, but how seven of the "Top 10" could occur in the last 10 years is beyond me when drivers have been racing cars for more than a century. I guess anything that happened pre-Sportscenter is ancient history.

I found Nigel Mansell's little tirade after the 1994 Indy 500 more entertaining than Danica this week. I also don't think Biffle's and Busch's girlfriends belong on there.

Oops, typed all that up while others were answering.

But John, I was paying attention to IndyCar long before Danica and will be long after. I actually think Marco Andretti (He's the one that almost won) can be a much bigger star for the IRL than Danica, if they hang on to him. Kid looks like he's got grandpas driving ability and he seems comfortalbe in the spotlight.

Here's cynical for ya: ESPN's parent company, ABC, showed the race. So including Danica is a two-fer: It's Danica, and it's plugging your coverage.

Does anyone know what exactly she did?

To give ESPN some credit, nothing beats the Yarborough-Allison brawl. Anyone know if there's footage online of the race and the aftermath?

I need to rephrase: Has anyone OTHER THAN JONATHAN paid attention to open-wheel racing since Indy?

I don't understand the affinity these Hoosier natives have for the second-biggest race of Memorial Day Sunday. ;)

Now you're really trying to get me riled up. :)

Actually ABC didn't show the race. I'd planned my whole weekend around getting to watch Michigan because it's historically one of the best IndyCar races of the year -- some old timers still pissed at Tony George will tell you it's better than the 500 -- and I don't get to watch as many of the races during the season as I'd like.

But because of a rain delay and not wanting to pre-empt the evening news, ABC bumped it to a 2 a.m. tape-delay on ESPN2. I was pissed. Could you imagine if they had done that for a NASCAR race at Charlotte?

Danica got mad at her team when her car ran out of fuel on the last or second to last lap. As I understand it, the onboard telemetry went out on the first lap of the race and her team wasn't able to gauge her fuel mileage properly after that. She tossed her helmet and stomped off to be by herself for a minute. One of the cameras caught her sulking a little while later.

What about the Kurt Busch slapping his butt at Jimmy Spencer at Indy? Or, Tony Stewart throwing his booties at Kenny Irwin? Or, Kevin Harvic pulling his truck right up at the NASCAR trailer after the race, which caused him to be suspended for the next Cup race? And there are more than just these that are better than Danica's foot stomping escapade. How about Bobby Labonte throwing his helmet at his own car? That's better than stamping his feet.

So did anyone watch the ESPN piece?

My no-cable-having-self didn't. But I'm curious if it was worth anything.

How about water bottle throwing incident between Earnhardt & Wallace Bristol...