“My Favorite Thing” – Jay Leno Huge Fan of Mean Complaints Against Thin & Lean Danica Patrick

Even since Danica Patrick entered the Cup Series scene and won the pole at the Daytona 500, fans and drivers have debated whether her lighter weight is an advantage. In a recent episode on CNBC prime’s Jay Leno’s Garage, Patrick was behind the wheel of a racing car with Jay Leno when she talked about the matter.

Clearly, she shut down all rumors.

Recently, she took an Aston Martin Vulcan with an AMR pro kit for a spin, a car worth a whopping $2.5 Million. The car boasts an enormous, 820-horsepower, coming from a 7.0-liter V-12 engine. Of course, a car made specifically for track would rock some pretty jaw-dropping number, especially in the downforce department. And the Vulcan doesn’t disappoint, producing 890 pounds of down force at 98 Miles-per-hour.

Compare that with the Le Mans-winning Vantage GTE racecar, which produces 694 pounds of downforce at a similar speed. Now, Jay Leno talked about the weight issues right before stepping in the beast-0f-a-racecar. In fact, he describes it as his favorite thing.

He said, “My favorite thing is when you started racing, guys would go ‘Well no she’s too light’. And then, ‘hey she’s so light, it’s a weight penalty’. I just watched you turn the whole thing on its ear.”

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But, did the weight really give her an advantage?

Danica Patrick, being lighter, possibly had no effect at all

Well, one doesn’t have to understand physics to know that a lighter object would be easier to accelerate in racing. In fact, teams invest millions to reduce weight and gain tenths of an advantage over other cars. And Patrick being much lighter, combined with her car, resulted in her being at least 40-pounds lighter than everyone else.

Naturally, everyone was worried about whether it helped her.

Plenty of analysts and drivers pointed out that it matters very less in tracks like Daytona.

“Her car might get up to speed a little quicker, but once it gets there, it’s not going to be any faster,” As ESPN analyst Andy Petree said, “I don’t see that being an advantage (in the Daytona 500).”

Even NASCAR Senior Vice President of Racing Development and Strategy, Robin Pemberton agreed and told ThatsRacin.com, “When you are trying to race anything, there is a balance between the weight you need and whether it’s a balance between left and right-side weight or overall weight.”

“When you go to places like Daytona, it probably means very little.”

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So, do you think the weight actually gave her an advantage?