A Reason to Celebrate

There are a number of critiques that can be leveled against Danica Patrick, particularly from a feminist perspective, for the ways that she has used sexuality as a means of promotion … or even for her initial comment of “I feel like a wuss for crying” during her first interview after winning the Twin Ring Motegi race in Motegi, Japan, this past weekend.

However, I’d like to put all that aside for now (though I suppose by bringing it up I may not have entirely done that; still …) and focus, as a sports fan and an Indycar fan, on celebrating Patrick’s victory. I was riveted and excited late Saturday night watching the last two laps of the race, hoping that Patrick’s fuel would not run out after she took the lead from Helio Castroneves. I was ecstatic when the fuel didn’t run out and she won.

Additionally, while I’ve already seen many accounts that, to one degree or another, have devalued the win by pointing out that she won because the other leaders ran out of fuel (for instance, check out the comment of BobbyLabonteFan1 among comments here), I would argue that the very aspect of the race that they are using as a detraction is a point in Patrick’s favor. I’ve watched enough Indycar races to know that many times when it comes down to which car can go faster over the final laps, the race becomes as much, if not more, about the car as the driver. I may be a great driver, but if my car isn’t up to speed, the other racer often wins. This case was different than that. In this case, the patience that Patrick showed in falling well back of the leaders in order to conserve fuel over the last 50 laps of the race is a credit to her as a driver. This was not a matter of being on radically different pit times and the numbers working in her favor. She had to drive appropriately for the strategy to work and that’s exactly what she –as a driver—did.

Too often in sports emphasis is placed on the fastest, the strongest, the highest, the farthest, etc. While those are worthy of recognition, in the process other important characteristics of excellent sport performance go unacknowledged, even when these characteristics play significant roles in the performances. Rather than using this victory as an opportunity to detract from Patrick’s accomplishment, I’d suggest using it as an instance to recognize the many aspects of sports performance that help accomplishments happen. Some feminist perspectives ask us to look at how some forms of achievement are often given greater cultural weight and authority than others, in ways that reinforce inequities on the basis of gender. With that in mind, we might have even more reason to celebrate that Patrick won by driving in accordance with fuel strategy in the manner that she did than we would had she won by simply having the faster car.

So, way to go, Danica Patrick! I hope that she can keep it going through Kansas, Indianapolis, and the whole Indycar points championship!