I’ll drive that damn car and smack the frak out of any mofo who says any woman who wins is b/c women are tiny.

Knobs.

Actually, sexual dimorphism in humans is quite limited when compared even to other primates, and seems to have a large cultural component.

Yet it was enough for patriarchy to develop organically from it.
http://www.amazon.com/Cannibals-Kings-Cultures-Marvin-Harris/dp/067972849X

I lived in Beijing for about a year. Most Chinese drivers participate in what could best be called “free-style driving” (hat tip, Amy Tan). A friend from NYC came to visit, and we took a shuttle bus downtown. After about 2 minutes on the road, he turned a noticeably paler face to me and said, “Manhattan cab drivers are pussies.”

It would certainly make professional racing more interesting to have a few Chinese drivers involved…

The ethnicity of the participants one would have to research…

Auto racing (of all flavors) is another one of those (almost exclusively) white male sports.

Other examples include golf, tennis, hockey, skiing, cycling. Of course, there are often notable exceptions

Not sure about the other sports, but participation in competitive international skiing is certainly not almost exclusively male, except for nordic ski jumping and flying (and therefore nordic combined). All of the alpine/boarding disciplines have been gender integrated for decades or since inception. Biathlon and cross country have been gender integrated since the Late 70’s.
In North America, skiing participants have been predominantly Caucasian and Native American , and the trend transfers to the elite level, but the Caucasian dominance is obviously not the rule for Iran and Japan.

Gender equalists: Don’t rejoice yet, as the usual funding disparities and general sexism still exist, though maybe not to a visible degree for a layperson.

Here’s a link that covers every international sanctioned race in most disciplines since the mid 90’s, and incomplete records back as far as the 50’s. The genders are specified. The races you would have to research independently, as many of the countries that excel border Asia, or have other indigenous populations

http://www.fis-ski.com

When I was first climbing, one day a week I’d climb indoors at the gym, and one of the guys I climbed with always climbed with women. I asked him why one day, and he said it’s because women are better technical climbers. He said men tend to rely on muscle especially up to intermediate levels, and since most women couldn’t “cheat” and do that, they tended to have better technique. Climbing with women gave him a chance to learn from that, and better his own technique. He had a point, climbing is far more about technique than it is about muscle.

So, if fans don’t like her it’s because they’re sexist. If they do like her, it’s because they’re sexist.

Because obviously, it must be only one way or the other, and all people must behave and think exactly the same. No possible way that human social dynamics really aren’t as childishly simplistic as you’re trying to make them out to be, right?

All this bitching about Danica’s weight is sour grapes. Helio Castro-Neves was so tiny that the only thing holding him down from being blown away by a stiff breeze was his driving suit.

It should also be noted that the only other three-time most popular IRL driver was also a woman. No possible way that there’s an element of “oh, look at the cute little woman playing a man’s game,” right?

So, if fans don’t like her it’s because they’re sexist. If they do like her, it’s because they’re sexist.

Dan, Grand High Emperor of Bananas Foster, is one tough feminist to please.