The reality behind Danica's win

So, she "finally" did it, as she so eloquently put it. She finally got the monkey off her back, and a woman has won a race in the top tier. It has been accomplished.

And it was done, I would like to scream to high heaven, by brains.

I am not a Danica fan; I am not anti-Danica, either. If she can accomplish it, she can; if she can't, she can't. It may sound boring, but those are truly my beliefs: she is a racing driver, no more, no less.

Did I doubt Danica would ever win a race? Absolutely. Was I a critic? Hopefully in the constructive sense, but yes. Constructive, as opposed to un-, by pointed commentary about what both her strengths and weaknesses are, and how to go about capitalizing or minimizing them. Granted, I'm not a crew chief myself...but strategy is strategy.

Danica Patrick has never accomplished some mind-numbing, nerve-shattering move when the chips are down to win a race, in her career, as of the morning of the day the last CART race will be run, April 20, 2008. The Hornish moves in the final 2 laps of the 2006 Indianapolis 500-Mile Race have not been her forte, let alone the finish of the 1989 500. In head-to-head combat in this very race, she was not only not the fastest car, she wasn't the fifth fastest car. She was top ten, at best.

But that, gloriously, does not matter. What matters is that she and her crew chief played it smart. If you can't outrun them, outlast them; simple as that. When seeing an opportunity, adapt to it. That caution offered one, and they took it. And good on them: welcome to the world of Sun Tzu, where it does not go to the fastest or the strongest, but the best...based on what best means.

If this sounds all philosophical, it is: I love open-wheel motorsports because it allows philosophy in ways that Certain Other Forms of the Sport (COFS) haven't, since about February 25, 2001, one week after. Instead of people bitching that such and such was a "boring race run on fuel mileage," in open-wheel they ADMIRE such forethought. That it happened to be by the team of a woman who's been spread in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition, useful gravy for marketing.

The reality behind Danica's win is that they won through what is her strength: her ability to hit the marks time after time, smooth as ice. The numbing outside-bomb runs like Michael Andretti and Rick Mears pulled off in 1991, not likely (yet, anyway). The pulverizing domination of Mario Andretti in 1987, likewise...especially not in such a hopefully-fading-in-favor-of-innovation era of clone cars. Repetition, smoothness, calm; that's Danica at her best. And they hit the fuel mark exactly, and it paid off.

Do I think Danica is destined to garner a bunch of wins throughout her career? No, actually. I think the competition at the highest levels is only going to intensify, and I think it microscopically telling that the race she wins is the last divided race, between two fields. Put an oval-experienced Justin Wilson, Will Power, Graham Rahal or Oriol Servia in there with the Castroneveses, Kanaans, Dixons and Wheldons (and Andretti's, as soon as Marco reestablishes the form that saw him take second at Homestead)? I think the sheer weight of it makes the demand that either Danica raise her game (which was not raised with this win, btw)...or never win again. In this brave new world, I think wins, not just for Danica but for anyone, are going to become a lot more rare, precious, and if one entry continually wins time after time, it'll be because of the car side of the 50/50 equation. Like F1, in other words.

But this one time, they did it right: they played to her strength, downplayed her weakness. And she succeeded...which is a boon to anyone who has gotten tired of hearing about the drama of when she'll ever win, and would like everyone to be treated as what they are: competitors.

On to Long Beach, and the final end to the bloody Split. Here's to "...a better world, with better people living in it."

Hurrah for the men of the cast-iron chariots.