Patrick, like other open wheel racers before her, discovered early that there is one thing that makes NASCAR different from IndyCar: These cars are just plain more fun to drive.
Canada’s Jacques Villeneuve and Patrick Carpentier say the very same thing after each of their excursions into the world of big sedan racing.
And Patrick’s face said that and more after she had battled and beaten some of the best stock car drivers on the planet — leading 13 laps along the way — in the NNS Daytona event.
Even though her car was all banged up from a last lap tangle with veteran Mike Wallace, Patrick was running up and down pit lane sharing high-fives with her JRM crew guys.
“I had a hell of a lot of fun,” she said. “I felt I really had a fast car.”
To try to understand why Patrick was so happy, all one had to do was check out the grandstand as she took the lead for the final time on lap 96 of the 100-lap race.
The crowd was on its feet cheering as if she were the reincarnation of Dale Earnhardt himself. And don’t kid yourself, these were NASCAR fans, from deep in the south east, where the sport was born.
This season, much more so than last year when she was the fish out of water girl who knew hardly anything about the culture or the mechanics of driving a big, heavy stock car, Patrick is getting the hang and parlance of NASCAR down, nearly pat.
That much was clear as she shouted instructions over the car radio to JRM teammate Aric Almirola, with whom she had paired up to create some drafting speed on Daytona’s high-banked 2.5 mile superspeedway, as they caught up to the leaders going into the final lap.
“Let’s go ... fast here,” Patrick told Almirola. “We just need to catch this group and go by them. We’re doing the right thing here. You just follow my ass, OK?”
Now that’s what a NASCAR driver sounds like.
One crucial area where Patrick had earlier appeared to fail in her NASCAR classes, was the ability to get right up on the bumper of the car in front to either push it forward or out of the way.
In open wheel racing, where Patrick grew up and learned her trade, this was the exact opposite of how to make a pass. She just couldn’t bring herself to “put the bumper” to the car in front of her.
Somehow, this season Patrick finally saw the light and on Friday she was pushing Almirola through traffic like a seasoned veteran.
“I learned a lot, that’s for sure,” she said. “I was glad I pushed a little. Because I was thinking, ‘Man, am I only good as a leader?’ I had quite a bit of fun.”
Even hard nosed veterans, who normally don’t like to race with rookies, were quick to notice how far Patrick has come this season.
Tony Stewart, who would love to have Patrick on his Stewart Haas Racing team next season, was one of those who watched her closely and teamed up with her for some two-by-two racing, even sending a radio message to Almirola to keep Patrick in front because “she’s doing a good job.”
While Patrick is sticking to her mantra that she has not made a decision yet about next season, it says here that if you want to see her race this season buy a ticket to the Honda Indy Toronto this week because she won’t be coming back next year.
Danica notebook
So why would Danica forsake the IZOD IndyCar Series for NASCAR, you ask?
Two words: Fame and fortune.
Even the NASCAR Nationwide Series — NASCAR’s triple-A division where Patrick will end up next season — provides more of both fame and fortune than her existing gig with Andretti Motorsport in IndyCar racing.
Just look at the numbers the IZOD IndyCar race and the Nationwide race put up when both ran on June 25th at Iowa Speedway and Road America, respectively.
According to the television ratings the Nationwide race attracted four times as many viewers as did the IndyCar race.
And those ratings points help determine what sponsors dole out to drivers like Patrick.
As much as they might wish it were true, the IndyCar bosses know they can’t compete for drivers when the imbalance of popularity is as it is right now.
To use a hockey analogy it would be like a AHL player being offered an NHL contract. Which do you think he would pick?
GoDaddy goes Patrick
Whatever decision Danica Patrick makes about her future in racing there is one thing you can count on: Her major backer — GoDaddy.com — will be with her.
The internet domain giant was sold last week to the Wall Street investment firm KKR but all parties involved in the purchase have been adamant that GoDaddy would continue its support of Patrick’s racing career.
Estimates put that figure at about $50 million U.S. a season, split between Andretti Autosport’s IndyCar program and the Hendrick Motorsports/JR Motorsports NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide teams.
Elizabeth Driscoll, the vice president of public relations for GoDaddy.com, told ESPN on the weekend the company will continue to back Patrick.
“I can tell you Bob’s (GoDaddy CEO Bob Parsons) been very vocal about how well Danica has fit into GoDaddy’s marketing efforts,” Driscoll said. “And the new investors have specifically said they don’t want to mess with GoDaddy’s secret sauce. We are very much looking forward to the future — on the Internet and on the race track.”
Need to know
Danica’s results so far this season:
NASCAR Nationwide Series
Daytona, 14th
Phoenix, 17th
Las Vegas, 4th
Bristol, 33rd
Chicago, 10th
Daytona, 10th
IZOD IndyCar Series
St. Petes, 12th
Alabama, 17th
Long Beach, 7th
Sao Paulo, 23rd
Indy 500, 10th
Texas Race One, 16th
Texas Race Two, 8th
Milwaukee, 5th
Iowa, 10th
