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Catfight at Mid-Ohio

AP photo
By Andrew Cutler
July 22 2008
Here it is: video of the incident that has the U.S. motorsports community buzzing. After feeling that she had been nearly hit by Milka Duno while attempting to pass her in the Saturday morning practice session, Danica Patrick decided to stroll down the Mid-Ohio pit lane to talk to her about it.

While there are certainly no end of IndyCar fans who question why Milka is permitted to remain in the series given her lack of experince (and, usually, pace), there are just as many who are tired of Danica's "confrontational" style when it comes to hashing out issues with her fellow drivers.

Clearly, Milka is one of the people in that group, because she was having none of Danica's "attitude", and can be heard to exclaim that Danica was there merely to put on a "show" for the cameras.

Danica's comment at the end of this video makes reference to the IRL's Vice President of Operations Brian Barnhardt who, among other duties, is responsible for handing out any penalties that he deems appropriate. To this point, he has let the incident pass without any such measure.

Here then is video of 'highlights" of the Saturday morning practice session. At the 45 seconds remaining mark you will see Danica (in car #7) trying to get around Milka (in car #23). This is the incident that prompted Danica to seek out Milka afterwards.

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1438502022?bctid=1676369145

And now, here is the video of their "discussion", which has been playing on all the major US network and cable stations for the past few days.

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1439819601?bclid=1460782805&bctid=1676371890

 

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Catfight at Mid-Ohio
Posted by: Indy Racing League (IP Logged)
Date: 22/07/2008 05:08

Catfight at Mid-Ohio

Re: Catfight at Mid-Ohio
Posted by: IndyAndy (IP Logged)
Date: 22/07/2008 05:10

@sessions:

Sorry - I was trying to "merge" your thread with this one, but I somehow managed to delete it instead! confused smiley

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e114/IndyAndy/keepBourdais.jpg
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e114/IndyAndy/July08.jpg

Re: Catfight at Mid-Ohio
Posted by: sessions (IP Logged)
Date: 22/07/2008 05:24

No problem, just found the rag throwing worthy of mentioning.
Sounds like you enjoyed your Mid Ohio adventure, good for you.
I used to go every year from 95 to 2000. great place

Sessions



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2008:07:22:05:28:38 by sessions.

Re: Catfight at Mid-Ohio
Posted by: kleyton.cooper (IP Logged)
Date: 22/07/2008 23:13

Hands down, 'Flamenco Dancer' Milka Duno did not hold up Drama Queen Danica Patrick! But she sure showed her up --something Danica knows that the GUYS are afraid to do! Danica spits that venom as readily as Sarah sheds those tears. Donna Mae Mims, Denise McCCluggage & their cohorts never had to resort to all those 'photo op' hissy fit moments; but they were race drivers first and foremost -- no one had to cower in their presence. Danica's not exactly living up to all that hoopla she wants to command. And after this incident, I want to be known as Milkas #1 Fan!!! Dutchman

Re: Catfight at Mid-Ohio
Posted by: sessions (IP Logged)
Date: 23/07/2008 00:51

Danica could have convinced her followers that there are indeed some remnants of balls hidden in her coveralls had she gone around that table and tried to ram those towels down Duno's throat. She probably reacted wisely, cause Duno may have done her in.

Sessions



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2008:07:23:00:53:02 by sessions.

Re: Catfight at Mid-Ohio
Posted by: gturner (IP Logged)
Date: 23/07/2008 20:36

I hate to break it to you, kleyton, but if you're averaging 5.6 sec/lap slower than the car approaching you and you don't yield the racing line, you're definitely holding the other driver up. I'm sure Danica wasn't the only one affected, and I certainly don't see any problem with a driver walking over to another one and telling them to pay attention. As Robin Miller pointed out on Speedtv.com, Danica wasn't making a scene for Tv (there were no TV cameras there) or the crowd and had it not been recorded on a personal video camera it would have been a complete non-event.


This weekend is a shining example of why the IRL should be embarrassed that they ever gave Milka Duno a license. During that practice session her average lap was 7.4 seconds slower than Helio Castroneves. She was even 2.4 seconds slower than Marty Roth, who has no business being on track, either. In qualifying, she was 4.7 seconds slower than Buddy Rice. Bear in mind, Buddy is her teammate at Dreyer-Reinbold, so you know her equipment should be roughly equal to his. Despite that, she was slow enough that, had the IRL employed the old F1 rules, she would have failed to qualify for being outside the 107% rule.

If Milka is going to drive race cars, it should be in the KONI Challenge, Star Mazda Series, or (maybe) Indy Lights. As it is, she was in over her head driving in the Rolex Daytona Prototypes, and that's comparing her to the other "sportsman" drivers. It's a joke that the IRL decided to bend over backwards trying to coach her up and get her (and her CITGO money) into the IndyCar Series rather than making her prove she could at least drive a race car safely and competitively at a high level. Instead they pointed to results she "earned" in the Rolex Sportscar Series by spending as little time in the car as possible and letting the professional drivers (ie Andy Wallace, Patrick Carpentier, Darren Manning, and Ryan Dalziel) do almost all of the driving.

"Speed has never killed anyone, suddenly becoming stationary... That's what gets you."-Jeremy Clarkson



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2008:07:23:23:42:51 by gturner.

Re: Catfight at Mid-Ohio
Posted by: sessions (IP Logged)
Date: 26/07/2008 14:52

Amen,

Sessions

Re: Catfight at Mid-Ohio
Posted by: TheContrarian (IP Logged)
Date: 04/08/2008 01:47

Yes, Milka should not be in a car, yes the IndyCar series should not allow people like that to race, and finally, yes she was holding up Danica.

As I see it from the video of Danica following, and the "confrontation" a few things come to mind. One, it was PRACTICE. Practice! Danica needs to calm down. If it was qualifying, I can see being upset if blocked.

The confrontation was a joke. Danica was not there "just to talk". She was trying to be all bad-a$$ and got it thrown right back at her (and in her face as well...(Sm6)). To go up to Milka with that verbal tirade, why should Milka give her the time of day?

The whole Danica thing is getting old...very old. I wish she would concentrate more on maybe trying to win a race (fair and square and not out of luck), then trying to confront everyone that does not get out of her way or do what she wants.

...ok...I am better now. Had to get that out.

Re: Catfight at Mid-Ohio
Posted by: gturner (IP Logged)
Date: 06/08/2008 03:50

The question is how many times over the past two seasons has Milka blocked drivers in practice? I mean if Milka makes a habit of ignoring the quicker drivers and not giving way, then it's only natural that someone would eventually get angry enough to go tell her off. Given Milka's lack of pace, blocking is not only disrespectful, it's flat out dangerous.

"Speed has never killed anyone, suddenly becoming stationary... That's what gets you."-Jeremy Clarkson

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