Posts Tagged ‘Danica’

After years of speculation ever since Danica Patrick first joined the IRL Indycar Series in 2005 many racing fans have wondered if she would ever cross over to Nascar. Well now it’s official Patrick will be racing part time with JR Motorsports in Nascars Nationwide series with her first real test on Feb.6.

Even though Patrick has been racing in the Indycar Series for 4 years now she only has captured 3 Poles, and only has one win out of 81 starts. Despite the fact that her numbers have not been great over the course of her brief racing career, it’s her marketing presence that makes her a household name. Patrick is one of the top most recognizable people in racing today, even though she is not winning every race. The fact that a woman is out there competing in a male dominated sport only brightens her presence in racing.
With the move to Nascar, Danica will join up with Tony Eury Jr who was the former crew chief of Dale Earnhardt Jr who owns JR Motorsports with his sister. Earnhardt Jr is another driver who despite not much success in racing is still considered one of the most marketable drivers in Nascar after following in his legendary father footsteps.
Even though Patrick has signed on to race in the Nascar series, she will also continue to honor her Indycar Series obligations for the next three years. After that she will be eligible to leave Indycar and race Nascar fulltime if she chooses. However given the lack of wins in the Nascar series by fellow Indycar racer Juan Pablo Montoya who won a lot more races in the Indycar series then Patrick, switching over to Nascar may not be as easy as it seems.

As many of you know Danica Patrick achieved success and fame through her victories in the Indy Car Series. She was only the fourth woman to compete in the Indy 500, a marvelous achievement. In classic underdog and come from behind fashion, Danica finished in fourth place. This was the same as her starting position. In 2005 she won the rookie of the year award. In 2006 she won the Spokesperson of the year award form The March of Dimes foundation.

Throughout here Indy Car career, Danica has always been a great finisher and has scored highly. She has quickly moved up the ranks in order to prove that she is no less qualified to race than her male counterparts. Many people scoffed at her desire to gain entry into a male dominated sport. The issue with Danica’s emergence into NASCAR is not her desire to compete in a sport that has been traditionally male, but rather her indecisiveness to the matter.

After announcing her desire to race in NASCAR, many were curious as to whether or not she would be able to compete. During her first race on February 13th, Danica was involved in a 12 car crash. Danica later expressed that NASCAR was very difficult and contains many intricacies. I admire her dedication to automotive racing, however I would like to point out that the true champions of our time, Michael Jordan, Jerry Rice, Cy Young, and more were all one sport athletes. They chose their sport and made the conscious decision to dominate that field. I believe that had Danica stuck with the Indy Car Series, she may have been one of the most dominant racers in the league.

Sports News