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  • Danica Patrick’s ‘Little Victories’ in Strengthening Her NASCAR Career

    Danica Patrick’s ‘Little Victories’ in Strengthening Her NASCAR Career

    The words from last year continue on into the 2011 season for Danica Patrick. What she needs are “little victories,” things to remind her that she is progressing in NASCAR and learning more and more each weekend.

    In Saturday’s race, she did just that.[media-credit name=”Jared C. Tilton” align=”alignright” width=”217″][/media-credit]

    Taking the green flag from the fourth position, she dropped back while others paired up and moved forward with the field. As an inexperienced stock-car driver, the trust veterans had in her drafting skills was weak, most blasting by her within seconds.

    Frustration set in. Dropping like a rock to mid-pack, no one looking to pick up and push a driver with only 13 NASCAR races under her belt.

    “That just showed me (the two-car draft) is what you gotta do and that’s what they did up front all day.” She said after climbing from her race car, free of any wreckage of the day.

    While she finished 14th, a position not representative of how fast and competitive her car was throughout the race, it didn’t all end without a positive.

    Almost 30 laps into the DRIVE4COPD 300, skilled veteran Clint Bowyer gave her a shot.

    “You look for fast cars,” Bowyer said. “I’m telling you, when you’re racing in that kind of atmosphere, you got to find a fast race car and meet up with it. I knew she had a fast car, and we’d go to the front.”

    And he was right. Together they were completing 46 second laps around the two and a half mile oval, blazing fast compared to laps laid down in practice and qualifying.

    He pushed her car to the lead, passing cars that led the field through most of the race as they stayed paired up with each other.

    With that, she became the first female to lead a lap at Daytona International Speedway in a NASCAR-sanctioned event…a big accomplishment and “little victory” for Danica in the midst of only her second year racing on a partial NASCAR schedule.

    Bowyer hung onto the rear of her car for a good few laps before pulling away to cool the car down.

    “I was going to push her up to the front, and I did until I got hot and I had to switch,” Bowyer stated.

    Its believed that it was a problem between spotters that completely ended the draft between them.

    “I was yelling at my spotter, ‘Go find her spotter.’ And I guess he (Patrick’s spotter) didn’t think she needed to be doing that because he wasn’t paying attention.”

    That was when Bowyer joked for his spotter to throw her spotter off the stand.

    He ended his statements about the pairing with, “She did a good job, today.” Earning respect from veterans is one step in her NASCAR career, a very important one to accomplish to be competitive in future races.

    “I really ran up front most of the day. I’m probably not to the point where if I pull out, people are going, ‘OK, she’s going, I’m going.”

    She knows the process from rookie to veteran from her IndyCar career, though, the trust factor comes much more into play on a super-speedway where drivers depend on one-another to push them across the finish line.

    “That takes a while to earn the trust and respect of the other drivers. I’m not mad at that, it’s just going to take time.”

    With a repeat visit scheduled for the July Daytona race, that’s exactly what its going to take: time and effort to make friends within NASCAR outside of her teammates.

    Clearly, today many saw her as competitive and as having a fast car, but the trust issue is what it comes down to. Will she spin me out? Will she slow down and send me crashing into the wall?

    The questions that may haunt a NASCAR driver as they pull up on an inexperienced driver, or see one appear in their rear-view mirror are never-ending.

    While many may have wanted to give her the chance to hit the front of the pack, only a few took the risk.

    When it comes down to it, her next race in Daytona will be set up very similar, and if things play out the way they did today, she may be a force to be reckoned with come that night.

    Experience. Trust. Confidence. Three things a driver looks for in their “dancing partner,” so while she may have been competitive and fast, it’ll take time for other drivers to see that and grow to a trust-level of pushing her car to the front of the pack.

  • Danica Patrick’s Success or Lack Thereof is a Tough Decision, There are No In-Betweens

    Danica Patrick’s Success or Lack Thereof is a Tough Decision, There are No In-Betweens

    When it was first announced that IZOD IndyCar Series driver Danica Patrick would be officially making her debut in the NASCAR Nationwide Series for the 2010 season, the internet exploded with blogs pertaining to what type of impact she would have on the sport.

    [media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]There were many unanswered questions because of her lack of experience behind the wheel of the heavier stock car and the fans began to take sides once they realized she was serious about her attempt to compete in a series, which is nowhere near the type of cars she grew up racing in.

    With most of the talk being centered on her IndyCar results which were less than stellar at best, many still believed she is what NASCAR needed during a time when attendance was at an all-time low.

    Before long, the first of many unsupportive jabs were thrown, when Kyle Petty kicked it off with this rant.

    “She’s not Dario Franchitti and she’s not Tony Stewart.  She’s not really shown over there [in the Indy Racing League] and won races and done stuff over there numbers-wise,” said Petty during the Sight and Sound which marked the unofficial start of the 2010 NASCAR racing season.

    Petty also added, “She’s just a marketing machine. Let’s look at the facts and be blunt about it. If she gets in that car and doesn’t win races, it’s not the car, it’s not the engines and it’s not the team.”

    Petty finished with, “The only impact she’ll have on the sport is she wasted two or three years on a car that a good driver could have been in and could have been developing.”

    Janet Guthrie, who was the first woman to reach the top level of open wheel racing and NASCAR in the 1970s, along with being a member of NASCAR’s appeal panel said, “She should stay where she is in the IndyCar Series.”

    Guthrie also added, “She is in the best possible situation, and in the catbird seat with one of the few teams [Andretti Autosport] that is capable of winning.”

    Earnhardt Ganassi driver Juan Montoya, who made his first start in 2006 coming from the open wheel ranks said, “Danica, I think she’s got the talent and everything but I don’t think she knows what she’s getting into.”

    Montoya finished with, “They’re so different to drive, and it’s not the same feeling. I wouldn’t be doing both cars, to be honest with you, that’s my advice.”

    The fact of the matter is, the only reason she has gotten this much publicity is because she is a high profile female trying to make it in one of the most popular motorsports today.

    Not only is she a female, but because in the sex-sells society that we live in, her success that she has had in the IRL falls more on the heels of selling herself as a sex symbol than a race car driver.

    You can’t blame her sponsor GoDaddy.com for coupling their marketing skills with the racy commercials to sell not only their product, but Patrick as well.

    “We’re thrilled to expand our long-standing relationship with Danica into NASCAR,” said GoDaddy CEO and Founder Bob Parsons.

    Parsons also added that, “This is not only big news for NASCAR fans; it has all the ingredients for some major GoDaddy-esque marketing magic.”

    Parsons thrust Patrick into the limelight with his unique marketing strategy, while just about closing the door for any female to have a chance in the series unless they are willing to follow his technique with the focus pointed at teasing members of the opposite sex.

    Each fan who chose to shared their opinion pertaining to the success that she could have in the series, and she will continue to be scrutinized until she can prove that her career is not based off her marketing power, and more on her driving abilities in NASCAR.

    Skepticism ran rampant as the season progressed, and Patrick herself made it hard for the fans to gauge if indeed she had what it took to compete at this level, since her results reflected her lack of experience.

    With each passing race, we heard the watered down versions of why she might become an overnight success, with most of them based on her one victory that came in the IZOD IndyCar Series.

    Patrick ran a total of 13 races in 2010 without a top-five, or top-10 finish, and only finished one race on the lead lap.

    With all the hype and expectations that followed her into the Nationwide series, she only lead four, and completed 2040 of the 2355 laps she ran during the year, which to most was a big accomplishment given the fact she only competed on a part-time basis.

    Until Patrick makes a decision to drive full-time in the NNS, or continue her career in the IZOD IndyCar Series, she will continue to be put under a microscope of uncertainty concerning her driving abilities in NASCAR.

    The consensus around the internet has gone both ways, as far as how much success she could possibly have if indeed she chose the NNS over her open wheel career, with no in-betweens.

  • Danica Patrick’s Ford 300: A Race of Learning the Ropes to Finish 19th

    Danica Patrick’s Ford 300: A Race of Learning the Ropes to Finish 19th

    When Danica Patrick started this year, her number one goal was to learn about driving stock cars and everything she needed to know about it.

    [media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignleft” width=”300″][/media-credit]As near the end of the year, she is still working at that, though slowly improving on track also.

    Patrick’s Ford 300 on Saturday was a race where she showed that she wanted to learn the ropes and learn more about stock cars. Listening to her conversations on the radio with crew chief Tony Eury Jr., spotter TJ Majors and fellow JR Motorsports driver Aric Almirola showed the qualities of somebody who is looking to learn.

    A look back through her day would allow us to see how much she learned.

    Patrick started the day fifth, though dropped back early as Eury Jr. wanted her to follow the leaders and learn the proper line.

    The first caution of the race came out on lap 11 when Jeremy Clements got loose while under her and spun. She reported the car at the time being tight in the center of the corner.

    The caution then came out again on lap 23, which Patrick stayed out to gain the lead to lead her first laps in NASCAR. She lost the lead quickly after the race went back to green as Justin Allgaier passed her.

    The third caution of the race then came out on lap 30 when Carl Edwards, Almirola and Kasey Kahne wrecked. Patrick barely snuck by, though had some interesting words on the radio about the incident. 

    “Who hit me coming out of Turn 2?” She asked on the radio.  “When I @#%!ing darted down to bottom of the track it was because someone hit me.”

    Eury Jr. explained it was the No. 32 of Reed Sorenson and the fact that she was slower on the restart due to the older tires.

    Almirola’s day officially went from bad to worse on lap 41 as he blew a flat tire. This turned out to be a good thing for Patrick as Almirola came back out with the damage fixed, giving her tips while on track.

    On lap 68, Almirola told her that she needs to move up the track a lane to a lane and a half where there was more grip.

    Under a following caution for debris, Patrick continued her step of learning as she asked where most cars were running to be able to pick up the best line.

    “From middle to top.” Majors told her. She also made a pit stop, getting some more adjustments as she was looking for more front grip.

    The rest of the race continued to go calmly for Patrick, yet she kept showing signs of working into a better driver.

    With 90 to go, she tried the line that everybody was talking about, though reported that she had a bad push. However, she had improved her lap times by two tenths from the last run under green.

    “I can’t get down there.” Patrick told the team with 74 to go.

    “Just keep searching and finding a way.” Majors told her, referencing for her to work on how she was driving the car into the corner.

    The caution then came out on lap 135 as Trevor Bayne got into the wall. Under the resulting the caution, Patrick continued her learning experience with making sure to ask Eury Jr. questions.

    Danica Patrick: It is pushing. That was a good change for a while but then it went away. It seemed like it did when the tires got hot. How many laps?

    Tony Eury Jr.: 65 laps.

    Patrick: So we’ve still got another stop after this?

    Eury Jr.: No, you can make it from here. I’m just debating what to put on – stickers or 20 laps. I’ll probably put the stickers now

    Patrick: 10-4. Just free me up a little more.

    This was also when Almirola started showing more influence as he came on the radio under caution to give her more advice.

    Aric Almirola: Danica, you got to enter higher into three as there’s more grip there. At about where the caution lights are, you should try to enter the middle from there on.

    Danica Patrick: 10-4. Thanks a lot for the help

    Almirola: You can run wherever you want in one or two, you can run wherever you want on older tires. Just move up in three and four.

    A quick caution after that also allowed Almirola to continue his explaining as he showed her on the track what he was talking about.

    Aric Almirola: You come in on the gray, which is fine. You then turn down away from it. You should try to stay along this black seam, unless you’re tight off.

    Danica Patrick: I’ve been tight in the center. If I try to stay up there, it just pushes further up.

    Almirola: 10-4 See right here on this spot, I ease off the brakes and then here I drive off.

    Patrick: Thanks for showing me, Aric. I really appreciate it. I’m just trying to learn out here.

    Patrick tried to follow Almirola’s advice, still finding issues, in which Majors addressed with her under a caution with 27 to go. The conversation proved the sentiments once again that she’s working at it as she displayed not minding the words of advice coming from her spotter.

    Danica Patrick: I was trying to run the top there. I am going to try to run the bottom a little more till it’s gone away and then go higher.

    TJ Majors: I know you may not like me telling you this but you need to be patient. You got to try to roll the center longer as I know you want to get back to the gas quick.

    Patrick: I have no problem with you telling me to be patient. The worst thing is that we maintain, best thing is that we gain.

    With Almirola out there showing Patrick the proper spots to run, it allowed her to pick up on it more and be able to start finding that feel.

    It goes back to what she said a couple weeks ago from when she spoke with Mark Martin. She is looking for that person to possibly step up and help her find that feel. Martin also said that she needs someone to show her what the car is supposed to feel like. Almirola did that in sharing his set-up and then showing her where to run on track.

    This in exchange helped Patrick get her first top 20 in NASCAR competition, concluding her year of learning. If she can continue down this pathway, she could become a competitive driver.

    One thing that could be advised is helping her to learn how to drive a car when it’s on the loose side as one of her biggest complaints was it being tight all race.

    Eury Jr. probably didn’t want to push it loose due to knowing she probably didn’t have a good feel for it, however it is something that’s needed if she wants to continue to progress. It’s something that you notice all top 10 drivers being able to do as loose is fast and allows the driver to drive the car in.

    Considering she had no prior stock car experience and she’s in the second top series, she has proved herself well as she has continued to take steps in the learning process. Homestead-Miami Speedway is a fine example of that with what occurred throughout the race.