NASCAR driver Danica Patrick decided to take the highroad this week when asked about the comments recently made by NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty regarding Patrick's driving ability.
Petty, a seven-time champion, said earlier this month that he doesn't believe Patrick will succeed in NASCAR and claims the only way she'll win a race is "if everybody else stayed home."
"If she'd have been a male, nobody would ever know if she'd showed up at a racetrack," Petty said, according Wheels.ca. "This is a female deal that's driving her. There's nothing wrong with that, because that's good PR for me. More fans come out, people are more interested in it. She has helped to draw attention to the sport, which helps everybody in the sport."
Petty's comments were made during an appearance at the Canadian Motorsports Expo in Toronto.
Patrick could have decided to bad-mouth the legendary driver but instead reiterated that she's dealt with people like Petty her entire professional driving career.
"People have said things in the past, and they're going to say things in the future," said Patrick, during NASCAR's Media Day in Daytona, according to Newsday. "I still say the same thing: that everyone's entitled to their own opinion. People are going to judge what he said, whether they judge it well or not, and I'm just not going to."
Patrick is winless in 46 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races. She did have one highlight during her rookie season however, winning the pole position for the Daytona 500.
The No. 10 driver for Stewart-Haas racing said it would be difficult to use Petty's comments as motivation because she already tries her hardest every time she steps into a race car.
"You can't try any harder in the car," Patrick said. "I think that's something that probably every driver would tell you when someone questions our effort level. You can't try any harder. You're doing everything you can.
Not everyone agrees with Petty's remarks about Patrick. Brad Keselowski, who won the 2012 Sprint Cup Championship, thinks the hall of famer went a little too far with his comments.
"He makes some pretty strong points, when you read his whole transcript, but it's a long ways to go out there and say someone will never win a race," Keselowski said, according to . "I wouldn't want to have my name behind that comment, so I think I would probably give that a little more time and see how that one plays out, because there are races where I think she could win."
Six-time Sprint Cup champ Jimmie Johnson feels that anyone looking to become a successful driver needs experience, male or female.
"You need at least five years to figure out what's going on, understand these cars and be competitive, regardless whether it's Danica, a male driver, whoever it is," said Johnson during the media event, according to Newsday.
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