Is Danica Patrick truly a menace to racing?

A while ago, Scott Dixon, the points leader in the Indy Racing League, remarked that Danica Patrick was a "menace" to racing. This was mostly in retrospect to what had happened at the Indy 500, where Patrick, who had been bumped coming off of pit row by Ryan Briscoe, basically approached him and his crew on pit row to vent. Patrick, who has been the poster girl for IRL ever since she broke in, has been decently successful overall as a driver, but has not visited the winner's circle very often.

The menace comment sent off a flurry of media commentary about Patrick and Dixon, and eventually this dissipated, as most things do. But then last week, Patrick did basically the same thing to another female driver, Milka Duno, after she felt that Duno was blocking her during qualifying. This discussion turned ugly quick, and Duno told her to leave her "area" after she claimed Patrick was rude and stepped up to her very defensively.

One thing is for sure--whatever positive spin Patrick had been doing for a while in terms of her own personal status as well as IRL, it is quickly turning into her being portrayed as a wannabe badass that is coming off more as a whiner than someone who really should be doing the things she is doing. Last week, Helio Castroneves finished second to Briscoe and has not won a race for a very long time, yet do you see him sulking or complaining about it? No--because he has class. I know Patrick still probably feels she has a lot to prove on the track due to her being a female, but that doesn't mean she has to prove it by actually acting like a jackass.

Bottom line: Dixon may have made an understatement.

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Is Danica Patrick truly a menace to racing?

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