Go Danika!

Well...dunno if "crushed" is the word I would've used. Her fuel strategy turned out to be the better choice. Danica did pass Helio two laps from the end to take the lead. It's definitely a "real" win, and long overdue.

Hottie, indeed. And tough as nails.

OK, I'll settle for "beaten". :-)

I also spelled her name wrong, oops. I shouldn't have any trouble with her last name.

Patrick

It's Hospenthal now.

Sure about that? Women, (and men), can each keep their birth name when they marry, take the woman's name, or use both as in "Hospenthal-Patrick". At least that was the rule in Texas 16 years ago.

I guess it makes things easier when the more likely than not divorce occurs.

In any case, her name is still referred to as "Patrick" in every media report I have seen on her. Much better than Hospenthal, imho. :-)

Pat

I think it's the same here in the USA.

Probably not in her husband's opinion...

I think in some/most states, they can pick any last name they want. I've known of a few couples that have picked a last name that's either a mixture of their two last names (more "mixed" than just hyphenating them) or just a completely unrelated name.

AFAIK, in any state you can use any name you want. IF the name you chose becomes the name by which you are known by your friends, business associates, etc. it becomes your legal name. You can use it to sign contracts, checks, etc. You may ask a court to legally change your name but the common law method is most often used.

IE: Leonard Sly became Roy Rogers, Marion Michael Morrison became John Wayne, Leslie L. King, Jr. became Gerald R. Ford, etc.

The only exception is using a name for fraudulent purposes, then it doesn't become your legal name

"Hospenthal-Patrick".

When I got married the first time, I changed my last name to my husband's. When I got divorced, I had to pay to change it back. Then I was single for 15 years. When I got married to my second husband, I told him that if he wanted our last names to be the same, he should change his.

We have different last names.

And we've been together nearly 25 years now.

Iva & Vixen

Make that, go Iva! ;-)

Pat

Good for you! I was discussing this with my wife the other day, decided my opinion was "Each keep your own name, give the boys the dads name and the girls the moms name".

They had onea them Texas guys on the news last night, he looked just like Hank (King of the Hill) brought to life. Amusing.

miker

Cool.

In Austin, there are so many former Californians and college students that it is not too bad. Go out to almost any small Texas town, and you will run into a Hank Hill in about 10 minutes, along with his friends..... :-)

Pat

"miker" wrote

Just don't hyphenate. Good lordy, that gets nasty. Ever try to fit "Julianna Esterhazy-VonClempenstein" into a 25-character user name field?

And what happens to the next generation when two hyphenates marry and have kids? And the generation after that? In a couple hundred years, people will have 1000+ names hyphenated together as a surname. Driver's licenses will be 25 meters long.

It will all be digital. Drivers licenses will have internal hard drives, but everyone will know they will become solid-state memory as soon as prices drop.

miker