No kind words for Danica Patrick

UPDATE This local Nashville newspaper article talks all about Danica Patrick. Did Dario Franchitti win the Nashville race? In all fairness, the paper did have another article about the race itself. 07/17/05 Dario Franchitti distanced himself from media darling Danica Patrick on Saturday night after the Indy-car race at Nashville Superspeedway. Franchitti didn't care that the rookie led nine laps on her way to seventh in the Firestone Indy 200. "There were a lot of guys out there who did a better job," he said.

Franchitti didn't like the way Patrick moved over on him during their side-by-side battle on the lap 138 restart. She had timed the green flag to grab the inside line heading to the first turn, although Franchitti eventually denied her the lead.

"She got a small block on me, which I was surprised about," he said.

Patrick also gave second-place finisher Sam Hornish Jr. a strong battle, which the two-time IRL champion didn't appreciate, given that Franchitti was pulling away from them. "She made (the pass) a little more difficult than it needed to be," he said. "It wasn't fun because I saw Dario's car getting smaller and smaller as we were running side by side. But it was clean racing." More at Indy Star