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Here Comes Danicamania, Part Two

An Opinion




February 14, 2011

By Matthew Pizzolato
Matthew Pizzolato



Danica Patrick's first season in NASCAR wasn't exactly a resounding success, but neither was it a bitter disappointment. In hindsight, she did about as well as can be expected for someone with absolutely no stock car racing experience.

Yet no matter how she finished the races last year, a media frenzy always surrounded her. And it rubbed some fans the wrong way, who believed that drivers who finished higher up in the order should have been given more attention.

Another complaint was that the race coverage seemed to gravitate toward her, even when she was running in the back of the pack. The first Arca race that she competed in last season showed a 65% increase in ratings over that same race the year before, so it should be obvious that people were tuning in to watch her race. How can the network be faulted for giving the fans what they wanted?

So far, Patrick's highest place finish was a nineteenth at Homestead-Miami Speedway in the season finale. Just let her post a strong top-ten finish and the media frenzy would be enormous. Heaven forbid what would happen if she actually won a race.


CIA Stock Photos
Danica Partick Meets With Media at Daytona

It was recently announced that Patrick will be competing in twelve Nationwide races this season in addition to running a full Indycar schedule. She will compete in the first four Nationwide races this season: Daytona on Feb. 19, Phoenix on Feb. 26, Las Vegas on March 5 and Bristol on March 19.

Then she will break away from stock car racing for the start of the Indycar season.

The remainder of her Nationwide schedule will be at the following tracks: Chicagoland (June 4), Daytona (July 1), Circuit Gilles Villeneuve (Montreal, Aug. 20), Richmond (Sept. 9), and Kansas (Oct. 8), Texas (Nov. 5), Phoenix (Nov. 12) and Homestead-Miami (Nov. 19).

Given that she competed at eight of these tracks last season, she is looking forward to having a little more success and getting more experience.

"This is going to be an exciting year in the No. 7 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet," Patrick said in a statement. "I have a much different perspective heading into this season. I know a little more of what to expect, and I'm not as out of my element. I’ve had a year to work with my team, and there is a comfort level that comes with returning to some of these tracks. It’s obvious experience goes a long way in this sport. Thanks to everyone at Go Daddy and JR Motorsports that have been incredibly supportive throughout this process."

Hopefully, Danicamania will not only return this season, it will multiply ten times over. NASCAR desperately needs it to in order to get out of its current slump. The only way for the ticket sales and television ratings to start increasing would be for some of its most popular drivers to have some success. There are only two drivers that have that much of an effect on the sport: Danica Patrick and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

So, good luck to Danica Patrick this season, not only for her sake, but for NASCAR's as well.



If you would like to learn more about Matthew, please check out his web site at matthew-pizzolato.com.



You can contact Matthew Pizzolato at .. Insider Racing News

You Can Read Other Articles By Matthew Pizzolato

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.

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