It seems that Danica Patrick is everywhere these days. Since she announced that she was coming to NASCAR full-time for the 2012 NASCAR Nationwide series season speculation has run wild about her performance.
Her performance in NASCAR hasn't been stellar so far. Only one top five and five DNFs in 25 starts isn't exactly setting the world on fire. But to be fair no one won a race in a JR Motorsports Nationwide Series car in 2011 including Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kasey Kahne. So it may not be fair to judge her based on her part-time performance so far.
So what do you think? Will Danica Patrick win a Nationwide Series race in 2012? Will she contend for the Championship? Will she score a top five finish in any of the ten Sprint Cup Series events she is scheduled to run?
Danica Patrick is already 25 races into her NASCAR learning curve. Do you think she will see success in 2012?
Comments
Simply said, she will do just fine.
Success is measured in many ways. Winning races, maybe not, but winning fans and promoting the sport…big wins!
I’m an Earnhardt fan and I’m routing for her. I hope she kicks *** and dale jr. teams up with her. The fans would go wild. Can’t wait to hear “Drivers start your engines”.
First off, the wroter is an idiot. Obviously he knows nothing about Nascar racing. OR he is pandering to the rednecks that hate Danica.
FYI, she was given team orders to NOT race for wins. But, to stay at mid to rear of the pack to learn about how to handle & read the cars, gain experience under all different racing conditions & learn as much as she could about the tracks that she ran, given her LIMITED schedule in Nascar.
And YES, she’ll do fine IF the idiots & rednecks leave her alone.
I may be a “Redneck” but iy has nothing to do with my opnion of Danica Patrick. She might become a driver in the future but it is going to take years, she isn’t going to win races or compete for the chmpionship any soon.
I’m a redneck and I’m trying to figure out what a wroter is..
GO DANICA
Ken J, you don’t know jack about NASCAR. Danica wasn’t given team orders not to win. She was incapable of winning. I’m an ardent Danica fan, but I live in the real world.
Given the progress that she has made the past two years while switching between NASCAR & IndySnore, I think she has a shot to win a Nationwide race this year. However, she will do good to finish races in Sprint Cup. After seven years of racing against the European girly men of IndySnore, Danica is in for a rude awakening when she starts running with the big dawgs in the Cup series. Those guys are mean and their bite is much worse than their bark.
Danika will come through if given the equipment to perform Look out she will be coming up your rear view mirror!!
Hack, a “wroter” is the thing that the brake calipers tighten against to slow or stop a vehicle—-written in redneck of course.
Ken J said the wroter was an idiot for not knowing nothing about nascar, I was being a smart ass because it sounds like Ken j is the dumbass!!! Read above eeezin at his commit (4)
Hack, yes I saw that comment. I was ignoring that comment as it appears that KenJ knows way more then anybody else in the racing business and he must have intimate knowledge of what goes on in all the race teams. I’m betting that Roush, Hendrick and Childress would like to hook up with KenJ so they can get some of that really smart insight too. Oh well, at least us hillbilly’s know what a wroter is.
Ken J and eeezin must be kin !!! and he should of said the writer not wroter. Are ya’ll yankee’s?
I’m one of those rednecks that doesn’t believe she earned her way to a ride. She won one race in Indy. It was a exhibition race and won on fuel because of inclement weather. I don’t believe she will win a race or finish even in the top twenty. If she want to stay in NASCAR she better keep stripping to that bikini, because she won’t win any accolades on the track.
I have worked professionally in open wheel and NASCAR series for 12 years and know that far superior drivers such as Dario Franchitti and Sam Hornish have failed to make the grade at the Cup level. Montoya has experienced reasonable success, but was in a league of his own in Champ Car and was very quick in F1. Tony made the transition, but he was very experienced with loose sprint cars.
Has a mid-pack Indy Car driver succeed in NASCAR in the modern era? Why would Danica be any different?
You can’t compare Dario Franchitti or others to Danica. Sorry, but the Andretti team was not nearly what Penske or Ganassi’s teams are over there. She was often times the highest finishing/running Andretti team driver. Her equipment was not capable of winning most races. Same can be said in the Nationwide series. JR Motorsports cars are a far cry from Gibbs/Rousch equipment. No driver won in that series and even Kahne ran in the teens most of the races he ran only to have late race attrition improve his final result. As a reminder, Danica usually ran in the 12th to 18th range on the race track, about where that team is capable of running. Bottom line is, she can’t be compared to other Indy drivers because every driver is different. Her style may be better suited for Nascar. In Indycar, on the big tracks, all you do is put your foot the floor and steer, hence the best car wins! In Nascar, even Jeff Gordon or Jimmie Johnson would suck in Front Row Motorsports cars. The cup races will be a challenge and they are right, she just needs to finish. If she is in the top 10 in the Nationwide races consistently, then based on the quality of that team, i will have to say she’s doing a fantastic job.
I am sure the media will spin whatever she does in a very favorable manner. Some of the ESPN Nationwide telecasts (especially Tim Brewer) last year with her in it had her ready for the hall of fame when she was sitting in 30th place.
She will have a couple top three finishes.
In 2007 Dario won the championship driving for Andretti Greene and Danica finished seventh driving for Andretti Greene the same year. Granted comparisons are difficult, but my question is what driver has performed as well in NASCAR as in open wheel? Other than hope, just what would make anyone think Danica will be different? As with most open wheel drivers her performance appears to be better on the faster tracks because the challenge on the driver is less. With patience and a couple years in Nationwide she might learn the trade. In the end, however, my belief is that she will follow the same pattern as Dario and Sam.
Glad you came to NASCAR. Give it your best and I think you will definitely win in 2012. Good luck.
Danice is a waste of space. She doesn’t belong in Nascar. At least you know there will be some good wrecks in the races she is in.
This women needs to leave racing to the men. Just what is she trying to prove, a lady would never do this. But than would they have done the GoDaddy commerical at supper bowl. Just saying
The men of this sport have to earn a place in Nascar, it isn’t given to them because of looks, but how they can handle the car. Hello out there she wrecked 3 times already at Daytona, oh yea none of it was her fault. boo hoo
If Danicrash finishes in the top 5 this year I’ll eat my computer, keyboard and printer.
And you can take that to the bank!!