May 3, 2008
By Brenda Benedict
NASCAR has several women who are attempting to break into Cup racing. Chrissy Wallace is one of those drivers. Chrissy is looking for a breakthrough win in the Craftsman Truck Series. She recently stated "I think I could be the first female to win a race in trucks. That's my goal. That's my dream. I'm going to go racing!"
Chrissy’s dream is coming closer to reality now that she has signed a contract with Germain Racing for 2009 to run in the Craftsman Truck Series.
Chrissy Wallace has stated that Danica Patrick is a role model for her. I wrote here last week that l believe that Danica would be a good addition to NASCAR. But judging from the responses from my readers, there are many of you who feel that NASCAR doesn’t need Danica.
I heard from men and women from all over the country. Many of the letters raised thoughtful questions.
Several readers mentioned the performance of the IRL drivers who have made the switch to NASCAR. Several drivers have had difficulty succeeding in NASCAR after being successful in open wheel. One reader wrote, “Few of the open wheelers who have made the transition in the past few seasons have really done much for themselves or their teams.”
I wanted to talk with a person who would have had experience that would allow them to give advice about this situation. The person must be female, must have driven in both NASCAR and IndyCar and must have had success in both racing worlds.
There is only one person that I know that fits those criterion, Janet Guthrie. Guthrie was the first woman to earn a starting spot and compete in a NASCAR Winston Cup superspeedway stock car race. In 1977 she was first woman and Top Rookie at the Daytona 500. She became the first woman to qualify for and compete in the Indianapolis 500 the same year. She finished ninth in the Indianapolis 500 in 1978.
In Janet’s four years of competition in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, she recorded 33 starts, 5 top-10 finishes and led five laps. She competed in three Indianapolis 500's recording 1 top-10 finish.
It has been 30 years since Janet Guthrie’s retired from racing. She is still sought after for her opinion on women in racing, especially when Danica Patrick became the first women to win an IndyCar Series race in Japan on April 20.
I contacted Janet Guthrie and asked what advice she would give Danica about her racing career and specifically about coming to NASCAR.
Janet Guthrie stated, “I think she is wise to stay where she is. It takes time and good fortune to assemble a team and driver combination that can run up front. “I’ve said before, success is about 25% driver, 75% car (Team) and in order to win, you have to have it all. Danica has that where she is.”
Danica may or may not be considering a change in NASCAR. Recent reports in the media tell about Danica’s visit to Phoenix during the Cup race. Danica spoke with members of the Roush-Fenway Racing Team and seemed to be paving the way for future discussion about the possibility of a NASCAR ride for herself.
When questioned about if she would consider NASCAR, Danica stated, "I'm really happy in IndyCar," she said. "It's going well, obviously, but you never know what's going to happen in the future. Every contract has an expiration date, and you always need to assess what's going on.”
These words sound very familiar. Last week, the NASCAR world was full of news of Tony Stewart’s possible move from Gibbs racing to another team.
CIA Stock Photos
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One Of 32 Wins For Stewart
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Tony is quoted as saying, "There's nothing wrong at Joe Gibbs Racing," Stewart said. "There's nothing broke -- there's nothing that needs fixing and there's no problems there whatsoever. It's the same thing that happened two or three years ago when we got a year within the end of my contract.
"People started talking to our people about the possibility of us doing other things. There's a couple groups that have thrown some ownership in the mix. We haven't made a 100 percent decision yet on what we're going to do, but we're going to look at all the options. We've got multiple offers on the table right now and there's a couple in particular that have really caught our interest."
Yes, Tony and Danica are saying some very similar things. Both may be making career changing decisions.
Janet Guthrie’s advice to Danica Patrick would apply equally well to Tony Stewart as well.
Tony’s has earned two NASCAR Championships in his career at Joe Gibbs Racing. This has included 32 point-paying race wins, six non-point wins and 122 top-fives and 196 top-10s in 329 Cup starts.
Tony has had both time and good fortune with his team, including crew chief Greg Zipadelli, and has proven they are a winning combination.
The advice of Janet Guthrie and many of the fans I have heard from for Tony and Danica might be: “Consider carefully before you change something that is working for you. It may be difficult to recreate a winning team in a new setting.”
Tony and Danica have both given the fans exciting racing moments. The fan’s goal is for those moments to continue in the future. It may be that there is a greater opportunity for a winning to continue right where Tony and Danica are now.
You can contact Brenda Benedict at .. Insider Racing News
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The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.
