If NASCAR beckons, Patrick should respond. Immediately
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Racing Danica
You wouldn't want to challenge Danica Patrick in IndyCar, but can she handle a remote-controlled miniature racer? Apparently so.Two big-time racing circuits, IRL and NASCAR, would benefit greatly from Danica Patrick's presence in 2010. Patrick seems intrigued by the challenge presented by NASCAR. Danica Patrick is not just a driver on the Indy Racing League circuit. She is "a brand."
And that brand is . . .
"Determined. It's feminine and, hopefully -- I feel awkward talking about myself like this," Patrick said recently, "it's something beautiful, something fast and exciting and inspiring and something iconic that's never been done before."
That's not just a brand. That's a mission statement.
Patrick is a primary reason thousands of fans will be at Richmond International Raceway for tonight's SunTrust Indy Challenge. Patrick is not the IRL's best driver, but she is the driver whose name is most familiar to even casual sports fans.
The IRL needs her. It is not clear that Patrick needs the IRL any longer. She is in the last year of her contract with Andretti Green Racing, and her representatives are entertaining offers.
Operators are standing by to take the calls.
Will Patrick leave the IRL to drive on the NASCAR circuit?
She only offers hints. "As drivers, we like to challenge ourselves," Patrick said. "If we've done something well, can we do the next thing well?
"NASCAR has so many viewers and so many options inside and outside the car. It's kind of like the Indy 500 every weekend. It's a lot of fun as a driver to be part of something important and something people want to watch."
Patrick should make the jump to NASCAR for her sake and for NASCAR's sake.
Patrick needs to find out how she will do against the big boys and good ol' boys. She needs to find out if she can handle a stock car as well as she handles an open-wheel racer.
And NASCAR needs her.
NASCAR has grown mundane.
Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Newman, Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch and Kyle Busch are outstanding drivers. They might possess distinct personalities, but they do a great job of hiding those personalities.
The drivers look the same, drive the same and say the same things after a victory, except when Kyle Busch is smashing a guitar in the winner's circle.
Patrick would make NASCAR much livelier. She speaks her mind and does not hesitate to confront other drivers.
Every Sprint Cup race with Patrick would see an increase in interest and attendance.
But let's be clear about this. Her chances for success in NASCAR are slim. Recent IRL drivers who have moved to NASCAR have struggled.
Juan Pablo Montoya, former Indianapolis 500 winner and CART points champion, finally has become competitive in his third year in NASCAR. He's 12th in the Sprint Cup point standings.
Sam Hornish Jr. won three IndyCar points championships, won the Indianapolis 500 in 2006 and was a two-time winner in Richmond. In NASCAR, he's barely competitive and is 26th in points.
Dario Franchitti spent 2008 in the Sprint Cup series, drove in 10 races and did not have a top 20 finish. He returned to the IRL and is second in points this year.
"I think what it shows is it is difficult," Patrick said. "They haven't been driving for the best teams in NASCAR, either. How can you hold them accountable for not doing extremely well when they just don't have the resources?"
In other words, if Patrick goes to NASCAR, she's going to a top team. She understands that talent is wasted without the proper tools.
Patrick is a fine IRL driver, but her success comes with caveats.
She is fifth in the points standings, but did not lead a lap this season until last week in Iowa, the seventh race of the year. She is in her fifth IRL season and has won just one race. She has 15 top five finishes in 74 races.
This hardly portends roaring success in NASCAR.
That's not the point. NASCAR doesn't need her driving ability. NASCAR needs her popularity, her buzz, her brand. It is clear that Patrick wonders how she would fare in NASCAR. She is the rare person who has the chance to find out.
Such an opportunity should not be wasted.
Contact Paul Woody at (804) 649-6444 or
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Reader Reactions
If Danica Patrick has the ability to be successful in NASCAR—which I seriously doubt—then fine, give her a chance. But if bringing her to NASCAR is just a cheap publicity stunt, then it’s a bad idea. NASCAR has enough cheap publicity stunts already.
The best thing that could be done to improve NASCAR, in my opinion, would be for NASCAR to start running real Ford Mustangs, Chevrolet Camaros, and Dodge Challengers instead of the generic Car of Tomorrow. That would take NASCAR back to its true heritage.
Maybe what Mr. Woody is really suggesting is that people like him would prefer to write about people like Danica Patrick because that might help sell newspapers.
I grew up in Indy, have lived in the heart of NASCAR country for over 15 years, have either been directly involved in or around racing for over 40 years & I can confidently say that Danica doesn’t have a “snowball’s chance in Hades” of being successful in the top NASCAR series. I like her & want to see her do well, but she needs to stay in the IRL where she has a realistic chance of winning, or @ least running in the top 10 every race.
I believe all the talk about her possibly moving to NASCAR is just to bid up the price for her next IRL contract & if she were to make the jump to NASCAR, she’d have to bring sponsors with her - no existing team is going to beg her to move over. Danica would basically have to buy a ride & with a top-tier team, the cost would be astronomical.
Also, nobody jumps straight to the top series & is competitive - the only way you have a chance is to work your way up thru other series like ASA, ARCA, Nationwide - Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, etc. - they all had to do it. And while obviously physically fit, Danica’s biggest problem is her physical size - drivers can lose as much as 15 lbs. in a blistering hot car & she only weighs 100 lbs - 50-yr-old Mark Martin who only weighs about 130 could carry Danica around under one arm.
Indy cars require finesse driving, not so much physical size / strength - NASCAR cars weigh over twice as much & comparatively speaking have the aerodynamics of a brick - you are going to have fight with an “ill-handling” car for 3-4 hours, no matter how good your crew is @ making adjustments.
Danica is quite good @ marketing her pretty self & I have no problem with that, but she’d quickly tarnish her “image” getting “bumped” & sent spinning, failing to qualify on speed & having to use car-owner points & running laps down in NASCAR, rather than running towards the front in the IRL. And I think she’s smart enough to know that. At least I hope so & I’d love to see her win in Indy cars, which I think she can.
Danica’s move to NA$CAR would to the same for her as the crew chief change did for Jr. It would expose her true ability as it did with Jr. You can be popular and move a lot of product if fans like you and they think you might have the ability to be a winner. When it becomes apparent that you have average or less ability, your “brand” value will drop.
NASCAR needs a driver who will take risks and act professional afterward. Kyle Busch will take a risk to win a race, then he acts like an immature idiot.
Danica is not the answer. IRL fans are more sophisticated than NASCAR fans. They appreciate that a 5-1, 100 lb girl can handle a complicated machine. NASCAR fans will tell the little girl to go to the kitchen and cook Gordon’s eggs for him.
Hey racer, I wasn’t going to jump on Woody for writing this even though it’s so easy to do. It’s not really his fault. Ever since the Times-Dispatch laid off so much of their staff the ones that are left are asked to do things they don’t know that much about. Woody is better at football and average or below average at everything else. It’s a shame that we have to see that on a daily basis due to circumstances beyond Woody’s control.
Paul Woody should stick to writing about things he knows something about. . . as if anyone can figure out what that is.
The “Danica Brand” would become minimized at best when she is watching races instead of competing in them due to the fact she fell out of the top 35 in points. Better drivers with all the resources in the world can’t hardly compete in NASCAR right now (anyone remember Little E?)so how is a fifth place IRL driver supposed to survive for long?
NASCAR doesn’t need Danica. They have enough marketable drivers to go around now.
Danica doesn’t need NASCAR, that is if she doesn’t want to get killed in every race.
Tony Stewart was the best driver to make the hop from IndyCar to NASCAR, and he’s shown he can win in any type of car (NASCAR, Indy, USAC). He’s a special driver. I thought Sam Hornish would do better than he is doing in NASCAR, but the competition is just too tough right now. Dario got his butt handed to him in NASCAR, and he was supposedly one of the world’s best drivers. It’s a different beast in NASCAR. That doesn’t bode well for Danica going over there.
She’s not that exceptional of a driver in IndyCar, so why should she go over there to not make races? Money, I’m sure, but that will run out once they realize that she’s not that great of a driver.
Bottom line, it’s like a big fish in a little pond vs. a little fish in a big pond. She’s doing fine and getting endorsements in IndyCar, and she’s fairly competitive in a thin field, so she should stick around.
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