Indy Winner Questions Unfair Advantage

When Robby Gordon complained about Danica Patrick's unfair weight advantage under IRL rules, the IRL fans were quick to dismiss him because, after all, he's a NASCAR guy now. Well Robby is not the only member of the chorus of drivers who think the situation gives them a disadvantage:

Add another driver to list of those questioning Danica Patrick's weight advantage.
Three days after NASCAR driver Robby Gordon and IRL driver Tony Kanaan sounded off on the racing benefits of lightweight driving, Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon also spoke out about the unfair advantage of the 100-pound Patrick.

"It certainly helps that she's light," Wheldon said from midtown's Hudson Hotel. "If it didn't, we wouldn't try to run the cars to the minimum weight. There's a rule there that states that the car has to be a certain weight and the driver doesn't. That works out for her perfectly."

Not only does Wheldon believe there's an advantage, he thinks a rules change — installing weights in lighter driver's cars to make all cars equal, for instance — will occur in the near future.

"I think there will be [a weight mandate]," said Wheldon, who weighs 155 pounds. "There's such a difference. If you compare her to her teammate [Victor Meira, who is 141 pounds], it equates — over a lap at the Indianapolis Speedway — to about a mile an hour. So, with as close as the IndyCar series is, and equality between the different engine manufacturers and chassis manufacturers, I'm sure they'll do something."

I doubt if the IRL makes any changes to the rules at all this season. Why? Because they need Patrick to win. The IRL is struggling to appeal to people other than their hard-core fans, and a win or wins from Patrick would help raise their public visibility.

I'm sure they're hoping that Patrick will be the IRL's version of Jeff Gordon, a young, good looking kid with enough talent and good equipment to win a bunch of races and maybe some championships. What they don't want is the next Anna Kournikova, a young good looking kid who is reasonably competitive, makes the fashion pages and People magazine, but who can't win anything.

We'll see if the IRL is more interested in fair racing or publicity.