12:53 PM
JD
Now, with Carl Edwards solidly at Roush Fenway Racing, Danica is far and away the highest sought after driver in both the Sprint Cup and the Nationwide garage.
The past year and a half, rumors have run wild that she was going to move to NASCAR full time and leave her IRL career behind. Yet at the end of 2010 she resigned with Andretti Autosport to drive for owner Michael Andretti. Now rumors are spreading that she will be signing to drive full time with JR Motorsports full time in 2012 and possibly will be driving a limited Sprint Cup schedule for Stewart Haas Racing, a close ally of JR Motorsports and Hendrick Motorsports.
Many fans and commentators were very unimpressed by Patrick’s performance, both in IRL and in her first partial year in the Nationwide Series. In IRL she has only had one win in 7 years of racing and her highest season finish is 5th. In her 2010 Nationwide Series stint she had only 1 finish out of 13 inside the top 20: the last race of the season at Homestead.
Many commentators felt she would not pursue a NASCAR career due to a lack of ability to get good finishes in stock cars. Many bloggers said she was a hack and could never compete in NASCAR.
It seems as Danica Patrick was on the edge of giving up on NASCAR, something began to click. With veteran crew chief Tony Eury Jr. and driving coach Johnny Benson, former Sprint Cup driver, coaching her on NASCAR’s tracks and stock car driving styles and lingo, Danica became more and more comfortable.
With 6 races left in her 2011 season, Danica has posted 1 top 5, 3 top 10’s, and only 1 race outside the top 20. Probably more impressive is the fact that at every track Patrick has returned to in a Nationwide car, she has always finished better than the time before. At Daytona she has finished 35th, 14th, and then 10th. At Chicagoland she finished 24th then 10th when she returned. At Phoenix she finished 32nd in 2010 then finished 17th in 2011. And most impressively, at Las Vegas she finished 36th in her first year and 4th this year.
Say what you want, Patrick’s ability to settle into stock car racing is promising. Whether you like her or not, you cannot argue with the numbers. Granted, the Nationwide Series is not Cup racing, where I am sure she will have more difficulty. But the fact is that she IS competing at the Nationwide series with a short time in the car.
The next question for Patrick, who is rumored to drive an Indy car for only the Indy 500 next year, is will a full time schedule with no IRL propel her to compete at an even higher level. She will have to show a little more ability and nerve in her Sprint Cup appearances if she wants to be taken seriously at that level.
I, for one, won’t doubt that she can do it. I mean, have you ever told a woman she “can’t” do something?
Follow JD on Twitter @the_Bumpdrafter
Posted in: Carl Edwards,Dale Earnhardt Jr,Danica Patrick,Jack Roush,JR Motorsports,Nascar,Nascar Nationwide Series,Sprint Cup,Stewart-Haas Racing
3 comments:
Better finishes through pit strategy and fuel mileage.... nothing to get excited about. She can't run top-10 in Indy cars, and she won't do it in NASCAR. Much better open wheelers than her have tried, and failed, in NASCAR.
I think Danica reminds Gene of someone he's trying to forget!
I know Gene believes Ms. Patrick is taking a ride from a more deserving driver. On the other hand, she's got a growing throng of fans and this is money in the bank...
I expect to see her with a full-time ride in Sprint Cup within two years... The question is who will she be driving for?
Gene, come on.. aren't those same fuel mileages and pit strategies available to everyone else? Numbers are numbers. If she keeps posting those numbers you cannot argue with it. If she falls off then have at her.
The question is, if she gets a win in NNS next year will you and others say she deserved it or say that she lucked into one...
Dwindy, most people are settled that she will be at Stewart Haas. Who better to teach her to complete the move from IRL to NASCAR than Tony Stewart. NOBODY has been as successful with that move as he.
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