If this guy wants an apology he sent the letter to the wrong place. Yeah i seen his name in the letter but i choose not to give his name the time of day. We are all entitled to our opinion and that’s all it is. I don’t like what he writes but you don’t see me crying for an apology.

PJ, I don't think it is the whining he is alluding to.
It is the mob mentality of publicly berating those who disagree with a certain point of view if it doesn't align with theirs.

A quote by Ashley Force.
“It’s an exciting time, you know, with Danica winning. There are a lot of women in a lot of different motor sports and we’re getting our practice, we’re getting our experience and we’re making our way toward those wins. It’s a good week for women and it’s exciting for the fans to finally have a woman winner in Funny Car".

Will Danica "return the favor?" as the saying goes.

__________________
Remember when we were YOUNG and couldn't wait to grow up? ...WOW, what the hell were we thinking??

Greg......sit down for this,

I totally agree with you.

I have done it before in the politics section, rationalizing that that was a place for the s&%t to fly, then after time realized that I too was part of that mob.

Usually I stick up for the underdog, and frankly, realizing that I was in on the pig pile, decided to refrain from commenting there anymore.

You are right. A particular point of view should not open the door for a person to be humiliated by others publicly.

And ya' got a right to your POV........

REX

Rex, I didn't fall off my chair.
I saw your previous post and agreed with it 100%.

Whats next? Tom and Jerry (the cat and mouse) agreeing?

Hey...they DID get along from time to time! Then one of them would do something silly to the other and the battle would be on once again. Those two ended many an episode buddies. Why do I know so much about Tom and Jerry? Could it be the countless hours of building Lego (R) dragsters and after-school cartoons? Hmmmmm. Of course, a certain TV personality once argued that I didn't know anything about building race cars, either.

I'm still awaiting a private message from the author.

Why?

You cannot teach a pig to sing, it wastes your time, and annoys the pig.

REX

I thought the thread in the lounge congratulating Danica was us showing our support for what Danica had done? The part that made some people upset was when some in the media was stating she was the first female winning a major auto racing event, I see nothing wrong with our views.

Shannon and others,

This is a message board and as such is populated by many people with strong opinions. I have seen many such opinionated folks on many message sites over the years and in the BBS world prior to the acceptance of the web as a viable medium.

I have been involved with news and press people as long as I can remember due to some close family members being in politics and a few national politicians being family friends. I moderate several message sites and am highly involved in internet based cultures and technology, in addition to drag racing.

Although some here will certainly differ and tell me to locate my tail pipe, I absolutely believe the "problem" is not the string opinions, not Danika, Askley, or any other successful racers. The problem is not NHRA or IRL, or NASCAR or other series. It is not even money, which is often the root of much coverage (for better or worse).

The problem is quite simple and is a concentration of the following:

For decades the term Drag Racing has been utilized by mainstream news and media interchaneably with street racing.

Drag Racing, for better or worse, has been associated with stereotypical "bad boys" and absorbed into mainstream America ala "American grafitti".

Drag Racing has been, and for years was, sponsored by tobacco companies and tobacco is the current whipping industry of everything bad (according to the news media).

I believe that the simple introduction of Mongoose and Snake Hotwheels did more for the acceptance of drag racing in the average American home than any other single factor since the inception of the sport, (I can justify this position but not in a brief message board post).

What we need is:

Letters of encouragement to our local news and media outlets. If they "missed" something there is a much better reason to check it out than insinuating that somebody screwed up.

Perhaps the Force camp might want to contact a national morning new show as a follow up to Ashley's victory and even invite Danika along? Perhaps these two ladies can place the history of women in racing in the proper perspective, and reveal the real history to the general public while promoting participation in sanctioned motorsports. Certainly the two of them combined make an all star cast and any morning show would be lucky to have them.

What is said on message boards should stay on message boards, in general. It is a place for all of us wannabes and armchair QBs to throw the bull, have some fun, and spout off a bit. Nitromater is a wonderful site, well run and well attended. To dis Nitromater in light of opinions (or e-pinions), is simply non-productive and unfortunately diminishes the experience for us all.

The entire news industry is in turmoil with print advertising rates dropping and antiquated publishing procedures being usurped by new technology.

This is a great site and I thank Shannon for publishing this letter and hopefully something good will come from this current "flap".

Post in Question Removed

EDIT: I dont get it.

Not in this life...

__________________
Shift for Brains!!!!

That quack doesnt actually write for a paper does he? Man, that was crazy. Granted I know we dont command the coverage we all think we deserve and I understand that but man that was a little over the top. And Shirley may be a capital B but that still doesnt dispute the fact she's already done it.

Well IRL evidently supports the misinformation

IndyCar.com

HAHA!

__________________
Rumors are made by people who just want attention from the person they made it about.

Really? "Patrick, competing in her 50th IndyCar Series race, became the first female to win a major auto racing event on a closed-course circuit".