You absolutely can NOT take Richard Petty's remarks as an accurate assessment of modern NASCAR's attitudes toward women. Keep in mind this is a 60-something blue collar country guy mouthing off -hardly representative of the people participating in the sport today. I think the chagrined reaction to that comment by NASCAR and many of its fans speaks for itself.

As for my own experience, I can honestly say I feel FAR less discriminated against at a race track than I ever have at a pro football game (by which I mean, barely discriminated against at all). Something like 40% of NASCAR fans are women, and I think that has a lot to do with the sport's culture. Bottom line, as long as you know your stuff (as a fan) and can do the job (if you're employed by a race team), no one cares about your skin color or your gender. Obviously you're going to have a few fringe types who will have a problem with anyone who's not a white male, but A) you'll find those types in any group, and B) they're a vast, VAST minority. Women work at every level of motorsports, as team owners, crew members, pit road reporters and as drivers. The head of GM's racing division is a woman (encouraged by none other than Dale Earnhardt). Our local short track stopped having its promotional beauty pageant way back in the 70's because, as one track promoter told me, they didn't like the message it sent. Meanwhile, the goons at Fox's NFL pre-game show ogle their "weather-girl" and call themselves enlightened.

Please don't allow your bigoted stereotypes of rural Southerners (of any race or gender) to cloud the facts.

Geez, I can't type my way out of a wet paper bag today, "spades."

Indy couldn't have hoped for a better representive to break the gender barrier. Sometimes being the first entails patience and good humor and Ms. Patrick seems to have those qualities in spandes.

Also, she's really hot!

All the jokes about men not asking for directions and getting lost are true.

...probably not. Why should he? Jokes about PMS are every bit as common as jokes about men not asking for directions and getting lost. Mature adults can handle it.

When people complain about 'shrillness' in feminists, it's this kind of story that tends to fuel their argument.

Look - the guy made an absurd comment. It wasn't too too horrible, and Danica had the intelligence to see that, and the grace to simply laugh it off. She knows the guy and wisely decided to respond to him based on the totality of his actions and words, and not just a thoughtless thing he said during an interview.

I"m all for fighting for women's rights and that includes trying to rid the world of sexism and injustice. But it's important to pick your battles. We don't need to fall on our swords for every single unpleasant but essentially harmless remark. Carpenter made himself look/sound stupid. There wasn't exactly a dogpile of guys leaping on and saying "yeah! PMS driver lady, get out!" I'm sure he's slapping his forehead now, totally bummed at how many news magazines are picking up the story to fill their insatiable need for 24x7 controversy. Let that be his punishment, and the end of it.

Reports have said that Danica is considering jumping over to NASCAR, so the error isn't so egregious.

is there a developing theme

The bottom line was that men needed to solve the problem by helping more with the kids and housework.

My point about Patrick not being a NASCAR driver is that NASCAR still is old-school sexist, if we can use Richard Petty's recent comments as any indication: http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060526/SPORTS18/605260374/1066/SPORTS18.

"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."

Doesn't Patrick race Indy cars? That's not NASCAR, I don't think.

Is it National PMS Anxiety week, or something?

It's the latter.

Actually, it's just that time of year: the time when journalists across the nation get irritable and bored and start stirring up phony controveries or just flat-out making shit up. Remember the alarming increase in shark attacks? Total bullshit. This is what happens every year. They call it the silly season.

It usually doesn't start until closer to August, though. Must have something to do with the moon.

Well,well,the idiots have to say something don't they?Just wait until there are six or seven Danicas and their cycles are synchronized.Then they'll really have something to worry about!

...then Nascar has come farther than many of us thought.