Wheldon defends AGR autograph boycott.

After all four Andretti-Green Racing drivers failed to attend last Friday's IRL drivers autograph session at the Milwaukee Mile, current championship leader Dan Wheldon has defended the actions of his team whilst continuing to insist that there is no ill will between the IRL's most successful team and the IRL's most popular driver.

Even though Wheldon became the first Briton since Graham Hill in 1966 to win the Indianapolis 500, much of the post-race attention was centred on rookie sensation Patrick, whose inspiring fourth place showing was the best ever for a female driver at Indianapolis.

While Patrick's soaring popularity has seen a sharp rise in TV and attendance figures for many of the IRL races held since Indianapolis, rumours of resentment by her rivals has never been far from the surface. On Friday in Milwaukee, as the IRL chose to make a separate queuing line just for Patrick, all four AGR drivers failed to show up for what has become a mandatory part of the race weekend.

Caught in the midst of it all, Wheldon stated clearly that he had no issues with Patrick and that the decision not to attend the Milwaukee autograph session was down to the team owners and not the drivers themselves.

"What you've got to remember is what Danica has done for the sport," said Wheldon during the IRL's weekly teleconference call. "She was a big part of raising those TV ratings for the Indianapolis 500. What you have to remember is the Indianapolis 500, the TV ratings that compared to the Coca-Cola 600, which isn't the greatest for NASCAR. We totally blew those guys away so from that standpoint, you have to be very, very grateful to Danica.

"I will also say the other 32 drivers on that grid that raced in that race put on a show that really I think captured the attention of the media, too," added the Englishman pointedly. "Sure, Danica was in there and doing very well. There was a lot of overtaking in the race. There was a lot of exciting kind of moments captured by ABC. That's just not one person that does that.

"But I think she's also brought a lot more fans to the racetracks, filled those grandstands more and more. There are not often races we go to now where you can actually see seats left open. I think she's handled it very, very well.

"She's better than any other female I've seen. I've seen other championships trying to hype up their female driver now. I guarantee you, you could put any female against Danica, and Danica would blow them away. That's what's very special about her. She's very determined. Certainly when we're on track with her, I don't treat her as a female, and none of the others don't. She's another driver that's very, very quick that we want to beat. I give her lots of credit and love having her around."

Although direct questions regarding last Friday's incident were not permitted, Wheldon chose to clarify a couple of things as best he could.

"As far as the autograph sessions, any time that your boss either tells you 'yes' or 'no', you have to respect their decision. It's no different to a lot of the drivers at the Formula One race. I'm sure a lot of them wanted to race, but at the same time, in fact, a guy I know, Kimi Raikkonen, he was desperate. But when your boss tells you 'no', you're an employee of that particular team, and you have to listen to what they say."