Danica Patrick, left, talks with fellow driver Hideki Mutoh prior to qualifying for the Suntrust Indy Challenge auto race in Virginia in June. (Steve Helber / Associated Press)
RIVIERA BEACH, Fla. -- Kris Ayres had his reasons for taking a day off work to get a picture of himself with an arm around the shoulder of race-driving star Danica Patrick.
"She's beautiful," says Ayres, 27, who made certain he was first in a long, outdoor autograph line last month at a Florida water park. "And she's good at what she does."
Not a bad marketing pitch right there, as if Patrick needed any help. Already she has been a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model; appeared in the most-watched Super Bowl commercial for 2009; and been a winner on the sleek and dangerous IndyCar circuit, taking a 300-mile race in Japan last year.
With her Indy Racing League (IRL) contract with team Andretti Green expiring after this season, however, the question so often on the lips of motor racing fans is: Where will she be a year from now?
Race schedule
- Upcoming races in which Danica Patrick is scheduled to drive:
- Aug. 23: Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma, Infineon Raceway, California
- Aug. 29: Peak Antifreeze and Motor Oil Indy 300, Chicagoland Speedway, Illinois
- Sept. 19: Indy Japan 300, Twin Ring Motegi
- Oct. 10: Firestone Indy 300 (IndyCar series championship), Homestead-Miami Speedway, Florida
Patrick, 27, is keeping her options open -- from staying in the IRL to entertaining offers from Formula One and NASCAR.
"I'm very flattered everyone is curious," she says. "It's interesting to me as well. Do I stay where I am? Do I try to change? It's all about evaluating options, and I think that's something any good businessperson does."
NASCAR, the richest and most visible racing league in the United States, is the last frontier for women in racing. Not only has a woman not won a NASCAR Cup race, there has not been a woman who has run a full season.
And speculation is heating up that Patrick will hotfoot it in that direction. Her income and endorsements could triple as a NASCAR driver, even if her race results are mediocre.
"She would have a huge impact on NASCAR," says Humpy Wheeler, the former president of Lowe's Motor Speed way in North Carolina. "Sixty percent of the NASCAR crowd is male, and they like the current drivers, but there's not any pretty ones out there."
Bill Ingram / New York Times News Service
That leads to the question, which part of Patrick's personal accomplishments should appropriately be blown up? The sex-symbol angle tends to get more play than her historic victory last season or her third-place finish at the Indianapolis 500 in May, the highest finish ever for a woman at the Brickyard.
Patrick plays it cool, saying, "If I wasn't a race car driver, trust me, nobody would be hiring this 5-foot, squatty little girl" for model shoots.
File the whole Danica Patrick experience, the glamour and the grease, under this description she gives of her own personality.
"From how I grew up, I was taught to be very determined and to work hard, to give it my all and not waste talent," says Patrick, who started out racing go-karts at the age of 10. "That's been my whole career, just being very determined to get what I want."
5 Comments
By Art on August 14, 2009 5:22 AM
You can bet that including Formula I & NASCAR in Danica's "options" is just to raise the bidding price for her next IRL contract.
To the casual observer, Formula I cars look the same as Indy cars, but they're not even close & there hasn't been a driver from an American open-wheel series make the jump to F1 successfully in 12 years - the last one being Jacques Villenuve & he came from the now-defunct Champ Car (CART) series. Look what happened to 4-time CART champion Sebastien Bourdeis - just relased before the end of his 2nd season in F1 with nothing to show for it - he was never competitive.
With respct to NASCAR, the only way Danica would have a prayer of being competitive is to do what everyone else who is competitive has done - start in a series like ASA or ARCA, then run the NASCAR Nationwide Series for @ least 2 years, then step up to the "Cup" series. No driver has ever made the jump straight from Indy cars to the Cup series & been successful - never will either. Is Danica willing to spend 3-4 years in stock cars working her way up to Cup? I very seriously doubt it.
Anyone who has followed auto racing for 40 years as I have knows that Danica's only intelligent decision is to stay in the IRL, where she has continued to improve & has a realistic chance of winning. She's now consistently running in the top-10 & all she really needs is a little bit better equipment.
I like Danica, want to see her do well in the IRL & I hope she's smart enough to know that's where she needs to stay. She'd seriously tarnish her "image" & "brand" by being an also-ran in any other series.
By Mike on August 15, 2009 8:24 AM
Hey Art,
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Nascar's best driver, Tony Stewart, made the jump directly from IndyCar to NASCAR. So your commment, "No driver has ever made the jump straight from Indy cars to the Cup series & been successful - never will either," is just flat out wrong. Oh, not to mention Juan Pablo Montoya, who won in his first year from F1/Indycar. The problem is that F1 and Indycar drivers learned to respect the other drivers, but NASCAR teaches them to run into each other at high speeds, and take each other out toward the end of races just to ensure points to get into "The Chase." Which is the dumbest creation in motorsports, EVER!
I do agree that Danica could do so much more in her career if she continues to build up IndyCar, and doesn't make the switch to the SLOWER and "it takes less talent to drive these boats," INFERIOR series, CRAPCAR. Oh, I meant NASCAR. Let's be honest, NASCAR is just glorified bumper car racing. If you tried one of those stupid moves in Indy or F1, you would end up seriously injuring someone, or yourself. I can have balls the size of melons racing around an oval, if I was in a giant clunker with disposable fenders that crumple just by looking at them too hard.
By the way, F1 has become a joke. Who cares about that political mess of a series? One year, one driver is dominant, the next year, a completely different driver is dominant. It is all about who spends more money in developing the next chassis. It has little to do with individual talent, as they are all talented drivers. If you have BILLIONS of dollars, you too can operate a F1 team, too. And maybe never win a race.
By Art on August 17, 2009 5:57 AM
"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Nascar's best driver, Tony Stewart, made the jump directly from IndyCar to NASCAR." Tony did NOT go straight from the IRL to NASCAR's top series - he drove the Busch (now Nationwide) cars & the Trucks 1st.
"Oh, not to mention Juan Pablo Montoya, who won in his first year from F1/Indycar." No he did not. Before he won in a Cup car, he spent a year running ARCA & Busch (now Nationwide) cars.
And there's no way Danica can be mentioned in the same breath as Stewart, Montoya, or Sam Hornish for that matter - all are former champions in series' they ran before moving to NASCAR - Danica has 1 win in a rain-shortened race.
By Chris on August 18, 2009 1:24 AM
I have to agree and disagree with both Art and Mike. First of all, as a formerly devoted, but now unenthusiastic, NASCAR fan, I now believe that open-wheel racing is prefreable in almost every way. I simply can't stand the all-too-common notion that NASCAR is somehow the "big leagues" and the IRL is some sort of minor league series.
From a fan's perspective, IndyCar racing is faster and features more intense action, which makes it more fun to watch. With regard to the drivers, the fact that everything happens faster in IndyCar racing means that drivers have to have faster reflexes. There is also less margin for error because any contact in an open-wheel car is likely to end your race.
NASCAR fans seem to think that "stock cars" are harder and more physical to drive just because they are bigger and heavier. Because IndyCars corner, accelerate, and brake much faster than stock cars, drivers experience substantially higher g-forces. As an example, the difference in cornering speed at Indianapolis is 225 vs 150. Thus, I ask NASCAR fans, "If stock cars are so much more physical to drive, why do open-wheel drivers usually begin to slow down after age 35, while NASCAR drivers are successful well into their 40s and even 50s?" Mark Martin is still an elite NASCAR driver, but he would be physically unable to race an IndyCar.
Now, with all of that said, I do agree with Art that Danica is unlikely to leave the IRL and that it would be a mistake for her to do so. Regardless of which type of racing you prefer, the transition in either direction is very difficult. Also, drivers who are at or near the top of their series don't usually like the idea of having to start from scratch in another. In Danica's case, it would really be starting from scratch because her background is entirely in open-wheel cars. She is a very talented IndyCar driver, with a realistic chance of becoming the first woman to win the Indy 500. I would be disappointed in her if she really chose NASCAR just to make more money, but I don't think she will.
Lastly, I want to point out someone who never seems to be mentioned in these discussion of the transitions between different types of racing. Although no active driver is comparable to such a living legend, there was a driver who moved seamlessly between IndyCars, F1, and NASCAR, and won some of the biggest prizes in all 3 series. That was, of course, the great Mario Andretti.
I had also wanted to defend my beloved Formula One against Mike's overly harsh remarks, but my post is already too long, so that will have to wait.
By Mike on August 21, 2009 4:01 PM
Art,
You had such a strong comeback going until you said that, "Danica has 1 win in a rain-shortened race." OOOPS! It wasn't rain-shortened, it ended with all 200 laps being run.
If you want to read a really well-written response, read Chris's. He could teach you a thing or two about the differences between SLOWCAR and IndyCar.
If you look at Nascar drivers who try to race the Indy 500, they always finish poorly or crash out because they have no idea how to handle a fast car. The IndyCar's reach 230 mph, and are being run flat out. NASCAR's boats have to slow up to make it around the corner. It takes guts to drive a car 230 mph into a corner, AND keep your foot on the pedal.
NASCAR may have the money right now, but they will always be inferior to IndyCar.