Woman racer says give NASCAR a break

By Mike Mulhern
Media General News Service
Published: May 1, 2008

Patty Moise was a regular on NASCAR’s Busch tour for almost 10 years, and drove in six Cup races along the way. Popular and personable (enough to get a few TV jobs), she never quite made it over the hump, but she was competent, rugged and dogged about it, running her own team for a while.

“Danica (Patrick’s) win was great, totally cool,“ Moise said. “She’s been knocking on the door. It shows there’s no reason a woman can’t do this if she’s got the skills and the right background and the right opportunity.

“Either I did not have enough skills, or I couldn’t put myself in the right position. Danica has been with one of the very top teams. And there hasn’t been an opportunity like that in NASCAR.“

Should NASCAR and its teams and sponsors be pushing harder to get women in good rides?

“I found it very promising that Tony Stewart would go down to Mike Wallace’s daughter, Chrissy, and kind of endorse what she’s doing,“ Moise said. “And I thought Chrissy did a good job at Martinsville. She finished on the lead lap, and for a first-time effort, that’s pretty good, even for a guy.

“We forget that NASCAR is the most competitive series in the world. I think Juan Pablo Montoya has done a great job. But look at some of these other top guys, even guys who have won championships, and it’s been no piece of cake.

“So you’ve got to give a break to NASCAR. And in its defense, they don’t have a big group (of women racers) to pick from.

“I’m sure a lot of team owners would like to talk to Danica right now, but why would she want to come down here?“.

Especially after watching the struggles that Dario Franchitti and Sam Hornish Jr. are having in trying to make the transition from open-wheel racing to stock cars.

“From all the places NASCAR and its Cup owners are looking, if there were some women kicking hard, then it would be a logical step to give them a shot here,“ Moise said. “That is probably as much of an issue as anything.

“For women who have had the opportunity to race, they’re not going to be backing off any more than the guys would. They’re going to race like everybody else; give everyone as much respect as anyone else. We don’t think any different than the guys.

“It might be a nice marketing opportunity (having a female driver), but in the end they also want their cars to run up front. And there are only a handful of drivers running up front on any given day.“

Even some of the toughest guys in the business, such as Mike Skinner and Ron Hornaday who have had rides with top owners, have yet to win a Cup race. Skinner, a Truck champion and a regular, has been running Cup off and on for 19 years, more than 250 races, without a win. Hornaday, also a Truck regular, with 34 Truck wins and four championships, has likewise never won a Cup race.

So is it asking too much for a woman to win in NASCAR?

Moise demurs.

“Remember Robin Dallenbach? She and Wally have three kids, two boys and a girl, and all three are racing,“Moise said. “And Katie (11) is kicking butt in quarter-midgets.

“But the thing is, Katie sticks to it.

“The girls have to come up just like the guys do — pay their dues, and then keep moving on.

“Me, I came in from road racing, never having done an oval-track race in my life. And my first oval was against guys like Dale Earnhardt and Darrell Waltrip.

“And I was doing it with my own little team, and my own little pitiful amount of money — and that’s not really the way to try to do it.“