Nascar media was abuzz with Danica Patrick's 30th place finish in today's Coca-Cola 600, completely ignoring Landon Cassill's 18th place finish for a vastly underfunded team.
"Wow, to see what she did out there, she made it to the end!" said local reporter Steve McCall. "Running almost every lap, only hitting the wall once, that's MUCH more impressive than a guy running a lap down despite not really having a sponsor."
"Did you see how she kept her composure the whole race?", mentioned writer Byron Holden. "I mean, she didn't flip out or punch her steering wheel at all! Its waaaay more interesting than a guy who was almost out of the sport fighting his way back with a scrappy group of outsiders!"
Patrick's run was heavily featured on Fox's telecast, with frequent updates and pit reports. Such exciting stories as "Danica keeping hydrated" and "Danica running 900 laps this weekend" were discussed in detail, instead of "Team that was virtually closed stays in contention" or "Driver who needs exposure gets it."
McCall, unable to interview Patrick due to the throng of national reporters, explained that "…she (Danica) has sponsors who already advertise with incredibly sexist and annoying commercials. We should focus on THEM, not a driver who desperately needs more exposure and funding to compete on a high level."
Cassill, exhausted after the long race, was left alone in front of his trailer, although one reporter asked him what he thought of Danica Patrick's performance.