Is NASCAR ready for Danica? Is Danica ready for NASCAR?
Written by Dave Woolford | | news@toledofreepress.comThe Danica Patrick show was just about to get interesting with one of those sleazy Go Daddy commercials ready to air when an IndyCar race broke out.
Darn.
Or, as they might say in the South, where Patrick could be headed, dadgummit.
It’s hard to imagine NASCAR’s good ol’ boys fixin’ to share the stage with a female race car driver, none of whom have ever been successful in them their big, ugly ‘ol stock cars, but the rumors persist and Patrick is riding them for all the leverage she can muster as her current contract with Andretti Green Racing will expire at the end of this season.
She is IndyCar’s chosen one. She is IndyCar’s only one. From a marketing perspective, there won’t be another one of her gender who will be nearly as appealing.
Patrick has it all — sex appeal, intelligence, swagger.
Her IndyCar record is not all that alluring with only one win in 75 starts since joining the Indy Racing League (IRL) in 2005. But a little more makeup, a different camera angle, something to wear that’s sexier than a fire suit and who will care how many races the two-time Sports Illustrated Swim Suit model has won?
She’s fast and she’s capable whether she’s strapped in or strapless.
The debate is whether Patrick is ready for NASCAR or, just as importantly, if NASCAR even desires Danica.
There’s absolutely no question that the IRL needs Patrick in the worst way. It has failed to develop its own American-born leading lights since its inception in 1995, so why not a pinup? The closest the IRL got to creating its own home-grown star was Sam Hornish, Jr., of Defiance, before he dashed off to NASCAR full time last year.
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series has 43 drivers weekly in its respective fields whom it attempts to promote in some fashion with at least 20 worth mentioning as potential race winners. The IRL is lucky to get 20 participants at each of its races following the Indy 500 and maybe about 10 could be billed as prospective winners. Among those would be Patrick, who is in some of the league’s best equipment with team owner Michael Andretti leaving the tutelage of his son, Marco, to help Patrick map out a course to Victory Circle.
NASCAR shouldn’t be ready to divide its publicity in half, with at least 50 percent of it sure to go to Patrick if she joins up. The IRL apparently is OK with giving Patrick as much as 90 percent of its marketability. The other participants in the series? Go fish.
Patrick could be considered an overhyped attention seeker with few accomplishments to her credit. At least her counterpart in that regard in NASCAR, Dale Earnhardt Jr., has won a total of 18 Sprint Cup Races, though none since winning at Michigan International Speedway last year, that breaking a 76-race winless streak.
This is not about gender equity. It’s about Patrick and NASCAR not being a good fit at this time. Neither is ready for the other.
Patrick says she wouldn’t make the jump unless it would be to a team that has qualified winning ability right now. It would seem the only feasible avenue for her if she were to go stock-car racing would be to start at the NASCAR Nationwide level. It would quickly prove she was in over her head. Out of her league.
Can’t you just see the diminutive Patrick in a huff stomping down pit road at, say, Bristol to cuff a competitor after a race for not living up to her expectations as she’s done on many occasions in the IRL?
Three-time defending NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson, asked recently if Patrick should become a good ol’ girl, said, “Come on over, although not until you’re ready. And trust me, you’re not ready.”
Even if you might have issues with Johnson, trust him on this one.
Think about all of the IRL drivers who tried to make an impression in NASCAR with more flattering credentials and aptitude than Patrick and didn’t succeed; didn’t come close.
The iconic NASCAR king, Richard Petty, trying to be as diplomatic as possible, recently stated, “I just don’t think it’s a sport for women, and so far, it’s proved out … It’s good for them to come in. It gives us a lot of publicity, it gives them publicity. But as far as being a real true racer, making a living out of it, it’s kind of tough.”
Celebrity status works well in most racing circles when it comes to promoting your product, NASCAR included, but success is the overseer that will eventually judge you. Patrick needs the IRL, and the IRL is in desperate need of Patrick, it’s only real marketing mechanism.
NASCAR needs Dale, not Danica, to get pointed in the right direction again.
This writer should stick to reporting on something he knows. Perhaps he would fare better in the ball and stick sports.
This comment was posted on July 17th, 2009 at 6:43 amAs somebody who recently relocated from Toledo to Nashville I can assure you that we don’t talk that way in the South. You are eating too many moon pies and drinking too much RC Cola.
This comment was posted on July 17th, 2009 at 8:32 amDanica, Schmanica!
Danica needs to stay in the IRL. NASCAR has one more “also ran’ prima Donna now than it needs.
This comment was posted on July 17th, 2009 at 8:44 amNASCAR is certainly ready for the “flash” Danica would bring, but she’s most assuredly not ready for NASCAR, for several reasons.
1) As Michael Andretti has commented, there are over twice as many races & almost no time off – is she ready for that tough a schedule? No.
2) Nobody has ever made the jump from open-wheel cars straight to NASCAR’s top series & been successfull – to even have a chance you must start in series’ like ASA, ARCA & Nationwide to learn how to handle a car that weighs over twice as much as an Indy car & comparatively speaking, has the aerodynamics of a brick. Is Danica willing to drive the other series @ least 2-3 years before she goes to the “Cup” series? I rather doubt it. And she should ask Mark Martin what happens when you move from ASA to Cup too fast.
3) Danica’s just too little. Sure, she’s in great physical condition, but she only weighs about 100 lbs. & NASCAR drivers can lose as much as 15 lbs. in a blistering hot car – I very seriously doubt that Danica could even finish the Coca-Cola 600 @ Charlotte, even several laps down.
Indy cars are about finesse driving, not so much physical size or strength – NASCAR cars you have to fight with for 3-4 hours, no matter how good your crew is @ making adjustments. Also, Danica has her “image” & marketability to protect – what would happen to that when she gets spun out by far more experienced drivers, crashes on her own because she mis-judged the car, fails to qualify on speed & has to use car-owner points, finshes 40th, 35th, 29th, etc., if she even finished @ all?
I’m betting all the talk about Danica moving to NASCAR is just to up the bidding price on her next IRL contract. I like her a lot & hope she’s smart enough to stay in the IRL, where she has become more consistent & has a realistic chance of winning @ every race. I tend to think she is smart enough to “market” herself, but know that she has no chance jumping straight to the “Cup” series.
This comment was posted on July 17th, 2009 at 11:31 amDanica, drives more like a man than half of NASCARS,pretty boys do. She would do very well indeed !In fact, I’d even apply as her personal advisor on any topic she requests !!!An Irish beauty to be sure !!
This comment was posted on July 17th, 2009 at 12:53 pmWhile I might agree Danica would be better served to stay in the IRL I would like to take exception to the condesending tone of this article. I was born in Tennessee an still live in Tennessee. My wife who is originally from Ohio is probably more “Country” than me. Have you even looked at the birth places of most of the drivers who are now active in Nascar? There are very few “good ole boys” left. I think there are more drivers from California than Tennnessee and North Carolina combined. Perhaps you should take that into account before your next story. I really don’t think you can call California boy Jimmie Johnson a “good ole boy” from the South.
This comment was posted on July 17th, 2009 at 3:43 pmRidiculous. In all my years following racing, I have yet to see anything special about NASCAR. They are machines, they go fast. Danica can drive fast. There are just as many open wheel racing wash outs as there are NASCAR wash outs. Some people don’t succeed for whatever reason. We won’t know until she tries. Maybe NASCAR is more physical, at the expense of intelligence. Open wheel is the opposite, intelligence with less of the physical required. I am thinking that is the real issue here. Fans trying to make excuses for NASCAR, pro wrestling on four wheels. And drivers, raised to be macho and afraid the whole enterprise will be exposed as something else entirely.
This comment was posted on July 17th, 2009 at 8:05 pmFirst off, DWM, you are an idiot. Going from open wheel to NASCAR is like going from a Go cart to a tractor, handling-wise. And if you think there are not developed strategies and intelligence used in NASCAR, you obviously know nothing about racing. But I’m sure you are just one of those European ass-kissing hoity-toity pseudo-intellectual snobs that hate NASCAR because they are supposed to, and doesn’t want to get made fun of by your latte buddies. That is the real issue here. And of course, does anyone remember Shauna Robinson? She used to race the Busch (now Nationwide) Series in the 90′s, and of course that’s where Danica would start. She is NOT the first woman in NASCAR. DWM, please never voice an opinion again.
This comment was posted on July 18th, 2009 at 11:17 amMy 2nd rant is “NASCAR needs Dale, not Danica, to get pointed in the right direction again.” Any true follower of NASCAR will tell you that Dale Jr. is the most hyped-up, overrated driver out there, and people are getting sick of him. There’s plenty of good drivers being overshadowed. Clint Bowyer, my driver, being the perfect example. Started in the Cup Series in 2006, made the chase in 2007 and 2008,finished in the top 5 both years, and even though this year isn’t going quite as well (doing better than he should with a brand new team and getting caught up in multiple wrecks this year), so many people still have no idea who he is, and he constantly does better than Dale Jr. And I’ll tell ya, if Joey Logano can jump into the cup series with a world-class team, then Danica can too. But Joey also raced Nationwide for a year to prepare him. I’d rather see Danica than Juan Montoilet, who up until this year, was nothing but a hazard on the track.
Oh and by the way, I was born in Georgia and raised in Alabama, lived in Nashville for a spell, you “southerners” out there getting offended by this ain’t proud enough of where you’re from if you get offended by a yank saying “fixin”. Take it as a compliment because language is boring up here. And Anita, I lived in Nashville, there’s about as much southern heritage there as there is in Toledo. Take it from a Georgian.
This comment was posted on July 18th, 2009 at 11:23 amHey Mr. Dirt: I grew up in Mississippi and I don’t think I ever heard anyone say “dadgummit”.
This comment was posted on July 22nd, 2009 at 8:34 am“Dirt” sez:
“Going from open wheel to NASCAR is like going from a Go cart to a tractor, handling-wise.”
John Andretti, one of the few who ran the Indy 500 & the Coca-Cola 600 on the same day once put it this way – going from the Indy car to the NASCAR car is like going from driving a Corvette to driving a Greyhound bus.
I know for a fact he’s right too – the cars are so drastically different that no matter how much talent you have, until you have 100′s & 100′s of laps in each type car, on many different tracks, you haven’t got a clue as to what the car will do in any given situation.
As I said before, Indy cars require finesse driving, while NASCAR cars require physical strength / endurance. You can “trim the wing angle” on an Indy car, which has more aerodynamic downforce than the car weighs – above 150 mph, you could literally drive the car on the ceiling if you had a room big enough – the air-pressure on the wings pushes the car down to the surface that much (basically airplane wings reversed).
But the “COT” in NASCAR weighs over twice as much & has the aerodynamics of a brick – as I said, no matter how good your crew is @ making adjustments, you’re going to have to fight an “ill-handling” car for hours, like it or not. In practice sessions & qualifying too, before the race even starts – try this setup, try that – this didn’t work, let’s see what that setup will do, etc. In NASCAR it’s not about a minor wing adjustment to get the car to corner better or go faster on the straights, it’a about suspension & tire-pressure adjustments – you can’t change the aerodynamics of the car.
Again, I like Danica a lot, but I know a LOT about different forms of racing & while she’s doing well this year in the IRL & I expect her to improve, she doesn’t have a “snowball’s chance in Hades” jumping straight over to the NASCAR “Cup” Series. Corvette to Greyhound bus & over twice as many races for a 100 lb. gal? I don’t think so.
This comment was posted on July 23rd, 2009 at 9:37 am“Corvette to Greyhound bus & over twice as many races for a 100 lb. gal?”
Well, brother, you just described Kasey Kahne :)
This comment was posted on July 24th, 2009 at 1:33 pmI hope she stays in the IRL. Danica is only 27, she can focus on NASCAR later in her career as accomplished Indy Car drives Like Franchitti, Hornish (who won everything in Indy Car) and Montoya (after F1 of course). She needs to put up some solid numbers in Indy Car racing, maybe even get lucky and win a 500.
The other side of the story is why no one who starts out in NASCAR ever tries the open wheel series. Even the star drivers like Petty and Earnhardt never quite tried the faster race car. Thats is why you could never compare them to the the Foyts or Andretties of the racing world.
This comment was posted on July 24th, 2009 at 11:23 pm