December 12, 2009
By Brenda Benedict
Let’s welcome Danica to NASCAR.
We don’t even have to use her last name. Danica is a racing phenomena and her first name is all that is needed to identify IndyCar Series most popular driver.
This week it was announced that Danica Patrick had signed to run a partial Nationwide Series next year with JR Motorsports. She is pairing with NASCAR’s most popular driver and the results of this racing marriage will be interesting to watch.
When Patrick signed with JR Motorsports, she became part of NASCAR’s most successful team, Hendrick Motorsports. For the short-term it is a win-win combination. The long-term, however, could be wonderful or painful to watch.
If Patrick is able to adapt to stock car racing, we will see her prove herself competitive with the top-level drivers. But if she follows the route of IndyCar driver turned NASCAR driver, Dario Franchitti, it won’t be pretty. Franchitti returned to IndyCar after an unsuccessful attempt to perform in NASCAR.
Patrick’s move to NASCAR shows the immense popularity of NASCAR compared to the IndyCar Series. Patrick is making this huge career change and taking this unbelievable risk. But the rewards if she can successfully make the change are far greater than anything she attained in IndyCar.
Patrick tried to explain her move by saying she wanted a new challenge.
She stated, "I'm a naturally competitive person. You can ask anyone. I'm always looking for the next challenge."
Saying that Patrick is naturally competitive is quite the understatement. But I feel that Patrick’s competitiveness isn’t only on the race track. She is also competitive about the popularity and media attention given to NASCAR. This may have motivated her.
Speaking on the Dan Patrick radio show this week, Patrick said that NASCAR contacted her first and she responded to their overtures. Good for NASCAR. We need a boost in TV viewership, race attendance and overall popularity of NASCAR.
In the interest of full disclosure I must state that I find Danica Patrick’s TV commercials offensive. But that’s a story for another day. If you follow, the Daley Planet on Twitter, you will know that I’m not the only person who feels that way.
In April 2008, I wrote about Danica Patrick coming to NASCAR. In Does NASCAR Need Danica Patrick?, I stated that NASCAR did indeed need Patrick.
Here is what I said then and it still rings true today.
Danica is a talented driver but that is not all that is required to be a success in motorsports. She also is attractive, media savvy and tough. This combination gives her strengths on the technical side of the sport as well as the marketing side. We know that a driver must be able to excel in both sides of racing to become a money maker and thus ensure sponsorship.
Does NASCAR need Danica? Several commentators have said that NASCAR does not need Danica but that NASCAR could benefit from Danica. But I disagree. NASCAR needs Danica because NASCAR needs women in all areas of the sport. There are very few sports where women can go head-to-head with men. Car racing is one of them. The early female pioneers have shown it can be done.
Shirley Muldowney is a legendary drag racer. She was the first woman to receive a license to drive a top fuel dragster and won the NHRA top fuel championship three times. She is ranked 5th on the National Hot Rod Association Top Fifty Drivers 1951 – 2000.
Janet Guthrie raced in both NASCAR and Indy Car. Janet is the only female to compete in both the Daytona 500 and the Indianapolis 500. She was the first woman to compete in a NASCAR Winston Cup event. (Louise Smith was the first female to compete at NASCAR's highest level in 1949 when Winston Cup was known as Strictly Stock.)
It is time for Danica to climb on the shoulders of these pioneers and show that a woman can race well and make it to the top. She has proven herself talented and tough enough.
I still stand behind that opinion.
You can follow me at Twitter @nascarfaithful
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.
