You can understand where The King Richard Petty is coming from. Every week we see Danica Patrick finishing 27th, 29th, 31st etc. And never in the top five. Ever.
Of course, if you’re Danica Patrick, or anyone else for that matter, you’re not going to take trash talk like that lying down either.
“I just think that it’s funny how he said that I can qualify but I can’t race, because those of you who actually watch what I do would know that I can’t qualify for crap,” Patrick told the media today at Kentucky Speedway when asked for a response about Petty’s critique yesterday.
“So it’s a little bit funny.”
In an interview on Speed Channel, Petty said of Danica:
“She’s not a race car driver. … She can go fast, but she can’t race. I think she’s come a long way, but she’s still not a race car driver. And I don’t think she’s ever going to be a race car driver.” adding: “just a marketing machine.”
Obviously, he has an issue with Danica’s celebrity status, and how much money she makes marketing all those products that she pitches. And he has a point, she does make what seems like a zillion dollars hawking a bunch products despite actually being bad at what she does for a living. However, Petty seems spiteful. And he should remember: “don’t hate the player, hate the game.”
“I really don’t care, I don’t,” Danica Patrick said.
“It’s true that there are plenty of people that say really bad things about me. I hear about them, or I read them, or read them on Twitter – people want me to die – but at the end of the day, you just get over that kind of stuff and all you can do is trust that you’re doing a good job.”
Although Danica Patrick isn’t exactly getting it done on the race track, she certainly sounds grounded there. She seems to understand the double-edged sword that comes with being a big celebrity, and she isn’t complaining about it.
Paul M. Banks is the owner of The Sports Bank.net. (“Quasi-endorsed” by Philadelphia Eagles Coach Chip Kelly) He’s also an author who also contributes regularly to MSN, Fox Sports , Chicago Now, Walter Football.com and Yardbarker
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