December 20, 2009
By Kim Roberson
Kim Roberson
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It seems that Danica Patrick CAN drive a car with fenders on it…and she is enjoying doing it.
The newest addition to JR Motorsports spent her weekend getting her toes wet (literally and figuratively) behind the wheel of the No. 88 GoDaddy.com ARCA car at Daytona International Speedway, and guess what? She didn’t do all that bad, posting a lap of 51.095 seconds, 176.142 mph, which put her 12th of those who took time Friday. On Saturday, she was faster as her comfort level increased, making a lap of 50.228 or 179.183 mph. and ninth fastest.
While she only got to make four complete laps around the 2.5 mile track on Friday because of rain, she was able to get a feel for a surface she has never made a complete circuit on before, and that helped her have a better idea of how to make her laps on Saturday.
“It’s definitely by far the biggest track that I have been on in a stock car since I’ve only ever been on a mile before,” she said after climbing out of the car Friday. “It was a big difference. The car moves around quite a bit. The car was definitely getting some action in the rear over the bumps. It was getting a little bit loose but I kept my foot in it and tried not chasing it too much with the steering.”
Mind you, Danica isn’t the only female on the track in Daytona this weekend, but she is the most talked about. Joining her during testing are Michelle Theriault, who will be sharing time in the No. 10 car with Jill George; Alli Owens, who is a native of Daytona Beach, and will be in the No. 15; Jennifer Jo Cobb is driving the No. 21; Leilani Munter is in the No. 59; Amber Cope is splitting seat time in the No. 73 with her sister Angela; and then IRL driver Milka Duno, who will be behind the wheel of the No. 90 Braun Racing car.
This isn’t the first time behind the wheel for many of these women. Owens is no stranger to ARCA, with 23 starts under her belt and two top 10 finishes. Cobb has eight starts with three top 10’s, and the Cope sisters each have three starts.
On Saturday, Owens was near the top of the board in her Venturini Motorsports car, with a fast lap of 49.647 or 181.28 mph, making her second fastest during the morning practice.
Not bad for a girl.
Duno kept pace with Patrick on Saturday, making a lap of 50.242 or 179.133 mph. Both women were in the high 20’s out of 61 driver’s taking time on the track.
"I've been excited about driving a stock car for years and to do so at Daytona makes it even that more special," said Duno.
Duno is probably best known for being on the receiving end of one of Patrick’s famous meltdowns. After a practice session at Mid-Ohio in 2008, Patrick stalked over to Duno’s pit stall and complained that the Venezuelan driver was “too slow” (I believe the exact quote was “It’s not my fault you’re slow!”) and Duno responded by snapping a towel at Patrick.
For those who feel NASCAR is getting “too vanilla”, this might be just what they are looking for.
For those who say a woman shouldn’t be in NASCAR, I say “Get over yourself and welcome to the 21st Century.”
Personally, I am looking forward to getting past all the hype and just getting down to performance. It has taken Juan Pablo Montoya three years to make the transfer from being a great open-wheel driver to being a Championship-Chase level NASCAR driver. In many cases, the driver just can’t make the move, and goes back to open wheel. In others, like Tony Stewart, they are very successful in both. Which category will Danica -- or even Milka -- fall into? Only time and experience will tell.
Let’s give the ladies a chance to get on the track and show what they can or can’t do. Once they have a few races under their belt and then let’s talk about whether they should or shouldn’t be in NASCAR.
And if Danica can race in both IRL AND NASCAR successfully, then we’ll really have something to talk about, because as far as I know, it has been a very long time since anyone, man or woman, has been able to race in both series at the same time and do both well.
I am off to watch the blizzard raging on outside my window and wish I was in Daytona at ARCA practice watching these women make their first marks on the sport.
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, and a safe and happy holiday season to you all.
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