i know i never did get to nascar,but i started at 17,in the summer of 1980,well when the season started in mid april,i was still in high school..in 1983 i was "invited" to move to Charlotte to join a busch team,people called me a "natural' from the git go,i was sitting on the pole and setting new track records from the first night of competition,literally, the first night out,as a rookie,i set a new track record,won the dash,my heat and with the inverted starts on dirt tracks back then for the A main,with 35-40 car fields on a 1/4 mile track ,with a 20 lap A main mind you..i finished 2nd.
i didnt have time in go carts or quarter midgets or any of that stuff..i went out..i raced..i raced hard,clean and i won races right away and through out my time as a driver...my point to my seeming braggarting...
i sort of agree with Petty...not that shes not a race car driver...they all are...they were all champions in theyre lower classes,whereever they came from.but just like Dale Jr..she certainly is not what the hype makes her out to be..in no way shape or form..people hate kyle busch..but why?..he can be an ass yes..mouthy.selfish.childish..ect...but he can wheel a race car..he IS good no mater what you think of him..as is Jimmie Johnson,Jeff Gordon,Tony Stewart...but theya got guys like dale jr..he dominated the busch series...made keneth almost look foolish at times...but he just fell flat in cup...mainly after his crash n burn in the corvette on the road course...
who knows..i may well have fallen on my face too....but petty was ( if you watched the interview) compairing danica to his father,darrel waltrip,cale yarlboro,david pearson....and that is what he meant when he said she wasnt a race car driver... end of rant...