October 18, 2010
By Matthew Pizzolato
Matthew Pizzolato
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For some reason, Danica Patrick is one of those drivers that fans either love or hate. Although why anyone would not like her is almost inconceivable. Regardless of her success level, she can only be good for the sport.
In today's declining economy, where NASCAR has been suffering from declining ticket sales and dropping track attendance that has even forced a restructuring of next year's race schedule, Patrick bringing her brand to the sport is something that stockcar racing desperately needs.
Although she has only one race win on her IndyCar resume, she is by far the face of American open-wheel racing. She is as popular a figure as Dale Earnhardt Jr., who is the most popular driver in NASCAR.
CIA Stock Photos
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Danica Patrick At Charlotte
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Due to the current state of affairs in NASCAR and the effect that the economy is having on racing, there is no such thing as bad publicity. Any success that Danica Patrick has in NASCAR would be a godsend for the sport. So why cheer against her?
She will have the remainder of this season to hone her stockcar racing skills and get some valuable seat time. It was announced recently that she would be running the first four races of next season as well. The remainder of her schedule for 2011 is yet to be determined, but it will probably be similar to the schedule she ran this year.
"Danica has shown immense dedication in her NASCAR endeavor," JR Motorsports general manager Kelley Earnhardt said in an official release. "She proved last week [at Auto Club Speedway] that even a little bit of experience goes a long way, as she drove an exceptional race. Starting this weekend at Charlotte, she will compete in each of the final five races of 2010. Add the first four Nationwide races of next season, and that's a solid stretch of seat time she will get to continue learning the intricacies of these race cars. She has done a commendable job so far given the limited seat time, and we appreciate her work ethic and dedication to Go Daddy and our race team."
Patrick is looking forward to next season.
"I know we're all anxious to get the whole schedule put in place, but I'm extremely excited to be able to confirm our participation in the first four races of the 2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series season," Patrick said in an official release. "We'll have four extremely challenging and unique races to start our 2011 season, and I'm anxious to return to a lot of those tracks with at least a little bit of familiarity."
And if getting a little familiarity with the tracks isn't enough, she promises not to be a pushover on the track. Open wheel racing requires much better degree of car control because if the cars rub wheels, bad things happen. Stockcars have fenders which mean that drivers can bump into each other without causing a catastrophic disaster.
"In this series you've got fenders all the way around and if someone makes you mad at him, for sure you can just take them out. You make your own way," Patrick said in an AP article on espn.com. "You don't have to be taken advantage of because someone is just more crazy than you."
It appears that Patrick had more to learn about stockcar racing than even she envisioned.
Yet like her or not, fans should get used to having her around. Danicamania is going to be running wild in the Nationwide Series for the next several months.
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