Go Danica!

[PARAGON]

Petty: Racing not a sport for women

May 26, 2006

A woman's place is -- well, Richard Petty didn't go so far as to say it's not behind the wheel, but he doesn't think it's first over the finish line, either.

"I just don't think it's a sport for women," Petty, 68, told the Associated Press. "And so far, it's proved out. It's really not. It's good for them to come in. It gives us a lot of publicity, it gives them publicity.

"But as far as being a real true racer, making a living out of it, it's kind of tough."

This isn't new. In her recent book, "Janet Guthrie: A Life at Full Throttle," the first woman to drive in the Coca-Cola 600 recalled the reception she got in 1976 (then the World 600).

"When I shook hands with Richard Petty I thought I'd get frostbite," Guthrie wrote. "Later, he would be quoted as saying of me: 'She's no lady. If she was she'd be at home. There's a lot of differences in being a lady and being a woman.' "

Petty has come to appreciate her efforts, and even though NASCAR would dearly love a Danica Patrick of his own, he's sticking to his guns.

"His position is not going to change because that is who he is, that is part of who he is," said his son, Kyle Petty. "That's how he was raised, when he was raised, the era he was raised in."