Richard Petty on Danica Patrick: 'I am not a sexist by any means,' comments were good publicity for sport - MotorSportsTalk

This kind of got lost in the shuffle of Saturday’s Sprint Unlimited, but it still bears repeating.

A week after Richard Petty said the only way Danica Patrick would win a Sprint Cup race was “if everybody else stayed home,” he reiterated Saturday before the Unlimited that he should not have been criticized for his comments.

And although he may be old school conservative, Petty even went so far as to insist that by no means is he sexist — which he was roundly accused of by fans and media — for making his comments about Patrick.

“What I said is what I said, and that’s what I believe, okay?” Petty told ESPN.com. “What’s unfair is the sexist part. If her name had been Danny, okay, nobody would have said anything about it. So y’all (media and fans) are bringing up the sexist part of it, not me.

“It was definitely not sexist, okay? Hey look, I’ve been married 55 years to the same woman. So I am not a sexist by any ways. I love women.”

It was at last week’s Canadian Motorsports Expo that The King, winner of 200 career Cup races and seven Cup championships, got tongues a-waggin’ with his observations on Patrick.

In addition to his comment about her chance to win a race, Petty added, “If she’d have been a male, nobody would ever know if she’d showed up at a racetrack. … 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.”

And that’s kind of what Petty did with his most recent comments Saturday. No matter if positive or negative, his comments both last week and Saturday still generated public comment and brought NASCAR a boatload of publicity and attention from both media and fans.

“There was nothing going on (in) NASCAR racing,” Petty said of when he made his comments in Canada. “Nobody was talking about Daytona,” he said. “Nobody was talking about nothing. Look at all the publicity NASCAR got and she got just for one little comment.”

Patrick thus far has not responded — yet again.

It would appear The King wants — and likely will get — the final word in this whole incident.

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In a continuing effort to help fans keep track of the on track action, SuperMotocross is in the process of developing and implementing leader lights for the unified series.

Currently Supercross (SMX) utilizes stanchions in the infield that are triggered manually by a race official. At least two stanchions are used in each race as a way to draw the eye to the leader, which is especially useful in the tight confines of the stadium series when lapping often begins before the halfway mark in the 22-bike field. This system has been in place for the past two decades.

Later this year, a fully automated system will move to the bike itself to replace the old system. At that point, fans will be able to identify the leader regardless of where he is on track.

The leader lights were tested in the second Anaheim round this year. An example can be seen at the 1:45 mark in the video above on the No. 69 bike.

“What we don’t want to do is move too fast, where it’s confusing to people,” said Mike Muye, senior director of operations for Supercross and SMX in a press release. “We’ve really just focused on the leader at this point with the thought that maybe down the road we’ll introduce others.”

Scheduled to debut with the first SuperMotocross World Championship race at zMax Dragway, located just outside the Charlotte Motor Speedway, a 3D carbon fiber-printed LED light will be affixed to each motorcycle. Ten timing loops positioned around the track will trigger the lights of the leader, which will turn green.

SMX’s partner LiveTime Scoring helped develop and implement the system that has been tested in some form or fashion since 2019.

When the leader lights are successfully deployed, SuperMotocross will explore expanding the system to identify the second- and third-place riders. Depending on need and fan acceptance, more positions could be added.

SuperMotocross is exploring future enhancements, including allowing for live fan interaction with the lights and ways to use the lighting system during the race’s opening ceremony.

Richard Petty on Danica Patrick: ‘I am not a sexist by any means,’ comments were good publicity for sport

SuperMotocross set to introduce Leader Lights beginning with the World Championship finals

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