The Daytona 500 and Danica Patrick / myLot

United States

February 25, 2013 5:11pm CST

Speed Week and the Daytona 500 have now come and gone but there are a few things that seem to need to be said. Once Danica Patrick won the pole in qualifying with the fastest time, it seemed that she became the only story the general media felt needed to be covered. In the Nationwide Race, there was a terrible crash on the last lap where debris from the accident injured 28 fans, some seriously. We didn't hear if any drivers were hurt, especially Kyle Larson whose car was sheared in half. One driver was hurt and oh yeah, perhaps you heard Tony Stewart won the race. However, you definitely heard that Danica was not involved in the accident because she was already out of the race. For the 500, we heard a lot about how Danica battled throughout the race andhow she became the first woman finish in the top 10 (eighth place). We heard enough about her that it was more an after thought to say Jimmie Johnson won the race. I wonder if Danica would be less of a big deal if she was less pretty.

1 response

scorpiobabes

@scorpiobabes (7225)

• United States

25 Feb 13

I'm a woman and a HUGE Nascar fan, but frankly, I didn't expect much out of Danica Patrick at Daytona. But Tony Stewart believes in her enough to allow her to race a full schedule this year. As for the accident that happened the day before, I think it brought home the face that perhaps they'll need to reconsider safety measures to protect the fans. No drivers were injured, although they did take Jr. to be checked out after he finished the race, presumably because of his previous concussion. I also have more respect for Tony Stewart for refusing to celebrate his win after the race. The hype surrounding Danica really wasn't anything more than her being the first woman to win the pole at Daytona; she was only .0333 seconds faster than Jeff Gordon. I was glad to see that she did get to lead some laps later in the race, but the location of her pit stall (the first one) really messed her up when it came time to pit. I really can't respect her because she was more interested in parading around in a bikini for her sponsor; is it any wonder that the rest of the boys can't take her seriously? I know I can't, nor do I think she's really that pretty since she rarely smiles. I will admit-the last green-flag run was exciting, watching Jr. just go charging towards the front. And the last 1/4 mile or so, when he went from 4th to 2nd was incredible-maybe if he had gotten Mark Martin behind him a bit sooner than he did, they might have had a photo finish!

burrito88

@burrito88 (2774)

• United States

26 Feb 13

Michael Annett was the injured driver I was referring to. He hit his head in the collision and was held overnight in the hospital for observation. The hype surrounding Danica has been going on for a few years. It's been a case of "will she jump to Nascar?", "When will she jump?", "When will she go full time in Nascar?", "When will she move to Sprint?", and finally "When will she go full time in the Sprint Cup and what team will she join?" She did have some measure of success in the IndyCar series but the best thing that has happened to her is her hook up with GoDaddy giving her a sponsor to guarantee getting a ride in the Sprint series. (The only driver with a better guarantee for a sponsor might be Paul Menard.) Other women have been and some still are active drivers in Nascar, the most notable perhaps being Janet Guthrie. Danica's success might well be due her capability as a driver, but it doesn't hurt that she's generally been with some of the better teams along the way.

burrito88

@burrito88 (2774)

• United States

27 Feb 13

I think GoDaddy will stick with her, especially if she wins. They don't just get publicity from her commercials but she also has to make public appearances and they also show off the cars. When one of the Pocono Races came up last year, they had one of Joey Lagano's cars at a local Home Depot. There's also other commercial exposure with the car carriers traveling around from race to race and staying at motels along the way. GoDaddy started in NASCAR as a sponsor for one of Dale Jr's (JR Motorsports) Nationwide cars. That's where Danica made the connection since she started out driving the car part time. I think there are at least three other women trying to make it the Nationwide series, including two identical twins.