CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Danica Patrick raced 513 laps around Darlington Raceway last weekend. What did you do? Chances are, if you're an ardent NASCAR fan, you might have snickered at the very mention of her name. You probably grumbled about the attention she received all weekend, and your level of anger likely grew every time her bright GoDaddy green car was shown on TV.

It's OK; Patrick learned to ignore the haters long ago. If she paid attention, she never would have chased her dreams of being a professional race car driver. If she listened to the criticism, she probably would have hung up her firesuit years ago.

And now, with Twitter? The vile spewed at her in 140-character bursts, well, a weaker woman might crawl under the covers and never come out again.

But that's not Patrick. She strong and she's brave and she rolled into Darlington, NASCAR's oldest superspeedway and the track known historically for separating the men from the boys, and didn't back down from the challenge. She's not celebrated for any of that, at least not among the majority of racing fans. They instead fixate on her one win in 115 IndyCar starts, and now her struggles in NASCAR.

Sure, her progress in NASCAR has been slow, but people seem to forget that racing cars is hard. If just anyone could do it, that guy zipping down the interstate with his flashy rims could have run at Darlington on Saturday night.

Patrick didn't pick Darlington for her second Sprint Cup Series start. The bright idea belonged to Tony Stewart, a three-time NASCAR champion generally regarded as one of the most versatile drivers on the planet. Even so, his 13-year resume lacks a Cup win in 20 career starts at Darlington.

But in Stewart's desire to get Patrick ready for an eventual full-time move to the Cup Series with Stewart-Haas Racing, her team owner picked some of the hardest tracks in the series for her 10-race schedule this season.

So that's how she got to "The Track To Tough Too Tame," where she moved back and forth between the Nationwide and Cup garages. She picked up her first career "Darlington stripe" in her first practice session, but so did five-time champion Jimmie Johnson, who proudly tweeted a picture of his damaged car after smacking the wall in Friday's practice.

Johnson went on to win Saturday night's Cup race. Nobody thought Patrick would compete for a victory, and Stewart did a masterful job all weekend of lowering expectations to the point he basically said he didn't expect anything at all.

"I want her to just as run as many laps as possible," he said. "The more time she can spend on track the more experience she is going to get. The good thing running both divisions ... and not have too many problems, then it's a lot of valuable experience that when we come back here next year, doing it full-time, it should be very valuable."

In the end, Patrick finished a respectable 12th in the Nationwide race, her Darlington debut. She was 31st the next night, six laps down from winner Johnson. But a 172-lap green-flag run put her a lap down early, and her mission from that moment on was to stay out of the way of traffic while also trying to turn fast laps and not let the track itself defeat her.

All in all, it was a successful weekend. Sadly, not everyone views it that way. There's a strong resentment toward Patrick that really has to end. It's mean-spirited — sexist in some cases — and even though it doesn't bother her, it is harmful to little girls everywhere who maybe dream of being race car drivers.

With Patrick in NASCAR now and Sarah Fisher, proud mother of one, now a team owner, this year will mark the first Indianapolis 500 since 1999 without an American woman in the field. Both of NASCAR's full-time female drivers, Patrick and Nationwide regular Johanna Long, are American. But they are the only two women competing regularly at NASCAR's national level.

Just 19, Long has yet to experience the full wrath of an angry NASCAR nation. And she caught a bit of break this year, as many fans have championed her as the anti-Danica and the female driver worthy of some of Patrick's exposure.

But the way Patrick gets treated, why would Long ever want that attention? Why would anyone?

You don't have love Patrick, and just like any other driver, it's OK to hate her, too. But she deserves respect for what she's trying to do from the people watching from their couches and hiding behind a computer screen. Patrick completed two races at Darlington last weekend. What did you do?

Read the rest of this entry »

In January, on the NASCAR Sprint Media Tour hosted by Charlotte Motor Speedway, Danica Patrick announced she would skip the Indianapolis 500 in order to race in the Coca-Cola 600. This came as a surprise to many, as it had been rumored her contract to drive full-time for JR Motorsports allowed her to take time off to run the famous race she always spoke fondly of but never won (her highest finish was third in 2009).

“I’ve wanted to race stock cars for a little while here and it’s happening,” Patrick said. “We’ve added another challenge with the Coke 600, or Coke 6,000 as I’ve been told.”

But now the time for the Indy 500 activities have begun and Patrick is not preparing for it. Instead, she is beginning a new chapter of her racing career. During a press conference at Charlotte Motor Speedway, she was welcomed as the newest member of the Coca-Cola Racing family, representing Coke Zero. She made her entrance in a Coca-Cola 600/Coke Zero wrapped stock car and was joined by veteran Coke Family member and Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Ryan Newman.

“I have always drank Coke and Diet Coke and then Coke Zero came along,” Patrick said. “I’m not lying when I say it tastes like Coke.”Already a prominent spokesperson for GoDaddy.com, Patrick made sure to let it be known she supports the product she is endorsing.

“I’ve always been a fan of Coca-Cola products so that makes the partnership easy and obvious to me and I’m lucky enough in my career and life to be able to align with people like that who are true and authentic to things that I’m enjoying throughout my life,” Patrick said.

With the Coca-Cola 600 just two weeks away, the question lingered: is she focused on preparations for her first Cup race at Charlotte? Or is she wishing she was in Indianapolis?

“I’ve been very distracted and I haven’t thought about it but I’m sure as soon as I start to see the footage on TV and start to hear about how it’s going, I have no doubt that I’ll be thinking and wondering and feeling like ‘if I was there…’” said Patrick. “But I’m very happy with my decision, I’m very happy in NASCAR.”

The Coca-Cola 600 is sometimes referred to as the “Coke 6,000” due to its length and toll it takes on the drivers. But Patrick is looking forward to it. “I’m looking forward to the experience, I’m looking forward to the atmosphere,” she shared. “We’ve got some fun things planned as far as festivities go with it obviously being the Coca-Cola 600 and me being a new participant in the Coke family.

“And what am I most afraid of? Probably the length. I used to laugh. I heard people would have snacks in the car. I might need snacks in the car.”Newman’s advice to her is to be “patiently aggressive” and to not shake her Coke before opening it.

Charlotte Motor Speedway is also home of the Danica Patrick Fit Fuel concession stand, which includes veggie sticks, fruit cups and veggie burgers to help promote healthier and vegetarian alternatives while at the race. Patrick added to make sure Coke Zero is added to the menu. “All the taste without the guilt!”Before pulling double duty in Charlotte (she will also be racing in the Nationwide Series HISTORY 300).

Read the rest of this entry »

Danica Patrick will be introduced as the first female member of the Coca-Cola Racing Family during a Thursday news conference at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The 30-year-old full-time Nationwide Series driver and part-time Sprint Cup driver joins current CCRF members Greg Biffle, Jeff Burton, Denny Hamlin, Bobby Labonte, Joey Logano, Jamie McMurray, Ryan Newman and Tony Stewart.

“She is going to invigorate what we’re doing with the Coca-Cola Racing Family,” said Sharon Byers, senior vice president of sports and entertainment for Coca-Cola. Patrick will be directly branded with Coke Zero. Among her first promotional appearances wil be at the Coca-Cola 600 weekend at CMS to promote the adventure movie “Battleship” with Brooklyn Decker, one of the movie’s stars. Patrick also will compete in the 600 as the third of her 10 Cup races this season.

“To be with Coca-Cola is one of those things you only dream about as a driver,” Patrick told ESPN.com. “A lot of legendary drivers have been a part of the Coke family, so I feel very fortunate.”Patrick will add Coca-Cola to her brand that already includes GoDaddy.com, Nationwide Insurance, Tissot, Chevrolet, Peak Antifreeze, William Rast clothing and Hot Wheels. Forbes estimated her 2011 net worth at $12 million, ranking eighth among NASCAR drivers. She was the only NASCAR driver to make the Forbes Top 100 celebrities list (at No. 96) in 2011.

Read the rest of this entry »

The second lesson in the Sprint Cup education of Danica Patrick is this weekend at Darlington Raceway -- The Track Too Tough to Tame. Does a Sprint Cup rookie trying to make the jump from the IndyCar Series have any chance?

Might as well find out now, because next year the plan is for Patrick to run the Sprint Cup series full time. So just as she got her first Cup-car taste of Daytona in February, she's down to get her first experiences this year at some of the toughest tracks on the series.

The theory is that it's better to get your on-the-job training now, in a part-time year, rather than next year in a full-time season when you're racing for points. Darlington is required education in NASCAR. Everybody has to earn their "Darlington Stripe," the mark the outside wall leaves on the side of your car.  Anybody can tell her.

"You don't race the competition; you race the racetrack," veteran driver Kurt Busch said. "With the mental focus there and the physical drain that it puts on the body, it just adds up to Darlington being one of the toughest tracks there is on the circuit."

Patrick has already run on many of the tracks on the Sprint Cup schedule, either in two previous part-time Nationwide Series seasons or in the IndyCar Series. And she'll hit the track for Friday night's Nationwide race first. But Saturday night's Southern 500 will be her first run on the 1.366-mile track in a Cup car.

She's been told what to expect. "I'm told it's not going to be so much about the track and getting comfortable and getting up to speed or feeling good, that it's going to be more about learning how to pass there and how that works because it's one lane and one groove," Patrick said last week in Talladega, Ala. "I believe it's high in one and two and low in three and four," she said. "Just going to two-wide in one and two can cost you a second a lap, so it's a matter of being smart about when you're supposed to let off and give the position up for the sake of overall time. Getting used to that is going to be the hardest thing.

"Other than that, it's a new track for me, so feeling out the rhythm of the race is going to be another challenge."It sounds as though she's got her scouting report. But who knows what The Lady in Black will have to say Saturday night?

Read the rest of this entry »

It is time for somone to tell the truth about Danica Patrick.  You know Danica.  She is a big enough star that no last name is needed.

She is one of the most recognized faces in auto racing, first as an Indy car driver and now as a NASCAR driver, mostly on the Nationwide Series. I have been to many Indy 500's and seen Danica in person. She is incredibly charming and accomodating with the media. I was always appreciative of that.  

However, all is not well. Too many times I have observed another side of Danica Patrick and it is time for someone to challenge her on it.  Too often rather than act like an athlete, she  acts like a baby! A whining punk! A spoiled brat!

When things don't go her way on the track, she is too often incredibly unprofessional. She is going to get someone hurt if she doesn't change. The stunt she pulled at Talledega on Sunday with Sam Hornish, Jr., was sadly, all too typical of Danica. By now, you know the story of Patrick being bumped by Hornish when he lost control of his car due to a flattening tire and of Patrick's post-race retaliation.

Hornish, by the way, is one of the nicest drivers in the business. He is also talented and won the Indianapolis 500 in 2006. He was also a three-time Indy Racing League champion. Hornish and Patrick are also friends and raced go karts against each other as kids.  

Patrick now realizes she was wrong and she is now doing some damage control. She has apologized to Hornish, his team owner Roger Penske and the Director of the Nationwide Series.

Save it Danica!
Your apologies ring a little hollow. Rather than apologize, how about growing up and becoming a professional instead! Accidents happen to all drivers in racing. Sometimes tempers flare, but not every time. Whenever accidents happen and Danica gets knocked out of a race, she takes it personally and throws an immature temper tantrum, much like a small child.  When Danica wrecks, she looks for a confrontation. She can play and act tough against the male drivers because she knows that they could never challenge her back physically.

She had a confrontational moment with the late Dan Wheldon in Milwaukee on the IRL circuit. She also went after fellow female Indy driver Mika Duno who eventually responded by throwing a towel in Patrick's face. As a female driver, if Patrick shoves her, Duno, can shove her back.

So, who is the real Danica Patrick?   Is it the person who charms the media and makes provocative commercials?  Or is it this self-absorbed auto racer with an incredibly unhealthy sense of entitlement and reacts often as if she is the only driver on the track.

Sadly, my guess it is more of the latter than anyone in racing wants to admit. Admitting that Patrick is just an average driver and a spoiled brat, is not something that NASCAR wants to say about it's most marketable individual.

At any rate, it is time for Danica Patrick to grow up and start acting like a pro, not a child. Let's hope maturity happens before someone gets hurt.

Read the rest of this entry »

Danica Patrick told USA TODAY Sports on Monday that she didn't mean to put Sam Hornish Jr. into the wall on a cool-down lap at Talladega Superspeedway. Patrick said she had apologized to Hornish, team owner Roger Penske and NASCAR Nationwide Series director Joe Balash for intentionally bumping Hornish's No. 12 Dodge after Saturday's Aaron's 312.

She said she wasn't clear what had transpired before Hornish seemed to squeeze her into the wall on the final lap. Hornish had a right-front tire going flat and was unable to control his car, but Patrick interpreted the move as intentional.

Patrick said she attempted to deliver her displeasure by tapping Hornish in the rear entering Turn 1 at about 160 mph. After seeing video of the crash and Hornish's earlier brush with the wall while her plane was taxiing down the runway after the race, Patrick first realized Hornish's tire had gone flat. "I didn't realize he hit the wall (earlier)," Patrick said. "So I went up to give him a tap (to say), 'I'm not happy with the fact you put me in the wall coming to the checkered flag.' Since his right front was flat, he turned to the right when I tapped him."

Patrick called Hornish after returning home Saturday night and then sent an e-mail Penske, Hornish's team owner. "I wanted to let (Penske) know that I was not trying to put Sam in the wall," Patrick said. "But he had a flat right front (tire), and everything got blown out of proportion. "Everything looked worse than it really was. Sam and I have been friends since I was 12. We've stayed at each other's houses. I have no ill feeling toward him. It was good to talk about it. It was good to understand what happened."Patrick called Balash on Sunday morning.

"I said, 'Hey this wasn't what I was trying to do; I don't want you to think this is my style,' " Patrick said. "I wanted to make sure everyone knew what was going on. I'm glad there was a reason (for Hornish hitting the wall after the contact), because it caught me by surprise."During an interview with Speed's Race Hub show Monday night, Hornish said he attempted to explain his side to Patrick immediately after the Nationwide race.

"I went up to her and said, 'Hey I had a right-front tire going down,' " Hornish said. "She basically told me I was full of it. I said, 'Just watch the tape. You'll understand it once you see it.' "I was almost home on Saturday night and she called me up and said, 'Hey, I saw the tape when I got to the airport. I'm really sorry for what I did after the race. Now I can see what happened there.' "Hornish said he wouldn't retaliate at Darlington Raceway this weekend. "I'm looking forward to going there," he said. "There's no payback or whatever, it's all about how do we get to victory lane."

NASCAR vice president of competition Robin Pemberton said officials would meet again with Hornish and Patrick this weekend at Darlington, where Patrick will make her second Sprint Cup start. Pemberton said no discipline would be forthcoming because Hornish and Patrick were clean drivers without a history of feuding in stock-car racing.

Hornish and Patrick have been racing each other for 17 years, starting in go-karts and then in the Izod IndyCar Series. Though they have had past skirmishes (Hornish recalls Patrick wrecking him on the final corner of a go-kart race in 1995), both have said they became good friends. When Patrick switched to NASCAR in 2010, she sought advice from Hornish, who moved to Cup in 2008 from IndyCar. "Sam and I are absolutely fine," Patrick said. "And I plan on being friends with him for a lot longer."

Read the rest of this entry »

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Danica Patrick walked into the media center at Talladega Superspeedway with a colorful bead necklace — more like the size of Christmas ornaments — dangling from her neck Friday afternoon.

The infamous infield at the track is known for its "Talladega beads," a prize earned by adventuresome ladies who bare their breasts for the coveted trinkets. Patrick wouldn't say what she did to get the beads, but there very likely wasn't any disrobing involved.

"I feel pretty proud of them," Danica said. "I'm going to wear them the whole time, if that's OK."This story will no doubt add to the polarizing piling on that defines Patrick's presence on the NASCAR circuit. She's running a full schedule in the Nationwide Series and select Cup races this season, and there's yip-yap wherever she goes.

Much like Tim Tebow, much of the conversation involves a tug of war with the people who love with the people who hate. Much like Tebow, the haters say Danica doesn't belong. In both cases, everybody will have to wait a spell to see who's right.

In 32 Nationwide races over three seasons, Patrick has given the critics plenty of fodder. Currently in 12th place in the standings, Patrick has only one Top-5 and four Top-10 finishes, with no victories and one pole. It's obviously going to take more than a string of beads for make people believe that Patrick belongs as the engines rev up again Saturday for the Aaron's 312.

"It reminds me a lot of IndyCar Racing because you're flat-out, you're looking for air, just trying to stay with the pack and weave your way through," she said of the super-speedway experience. "It's like a high-speed chess match."

This is a significant two-race stretch for Patrick. She will race at Talladega for the first time in her career, marking her second time on a super-speedway this season since she succumbed to the bump and grind at Daytona (no fault of her own) and finished 38th.

Next weekend, the Go Daddy Girl tangles with the Lady in Black at Darlington in her second Cup race of the season. Her team is on the cutting edge of not making the top 35 cut for the race, meaning that Patrick may have to make a successful qualifying run.

Double-trouble at one of the toughest tracks on the circuit. "We will address Darlington a little different if it is outside of the top 35 because we'll have to put a lot more focus on the qualifying," she said. "…I'm sure it will be a big challenge, but I am prepared to do it if I have to do it. But at this point in time there's no reason to think about it."

She will ramble on in the months ahead, in spite of all the static noise. There was a bit of that Friday when Johanna Long, another driver on the Nationwide circuit, was peppered with a few questions about Patrick, and she barely acknowledged her existence.

"I really don't compare myself to anyone else," she said. "I worry about myself and my car."That's kinda the same deal for Patrick. She will always have people chirping in her ear, just like she will always have people groveling for an autograph.

It's the burden of being the NASCAR's "It Girl," with all due respect to Long. Next up on her road tour is a date with the dangerous beast known as Talladega. "It's going to be fun," Patrick said. "I've already got my beads. What's next? More beads?"

Read the rest of this entry »

As she prepares for her second Sprint Cup race May 12 at Darlngton Raceway, Danica Patrick faces another big challenge this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway. The Nationwide Series race Saturday at Talladega is expected to be a wild, restrictor-plate race where anything can happen, but it also is an event in which Patrick could shine and rebound from a disappointing start.

With only one top-10 finish this season, Patrick is 12th in the Nationwide standings, but she likely will have more confidence at Talladega. She put her JR Motorsports car on the pole for the season-opening race at Daytona and appears most comfortable at restrictor-plate tracks. She was involved in a wreck after contact with teammate Cole Whitt at Daytona in February, but she ran well at Daytona last July before a crash on the last lap.

Patrick has never raced at Talladega—she is one of 15 drivers entered in the race who have never wheeled a Nationwide car around the 2.66-mile track.

“Big superspeedways like that, a lot can happen—right place, right time, right partners, right everything, right momentum flow (are key),” Patrick said. “It was crazy at Daytona this year. Before I went out, it was nuts.”

As Patrick talked about Talladega, Elliott Sadler told her that drivers are braver at Talladega because the track is a little wider. “So instead of four-wide without being able to see, we’ll be five-wide?” Patrick said. “Great. Enjoy.”

Meanwhile, Patrick is doing her best to prepare for her next Sprint Cup race, which comes May 12 at Darlington, the egg-shaped, 1.366-mile asphalt oval known for eating up even the most savvy of NASCAR drivers.

Patrick tested for two days last week at Nashville Superspeedway, a 1.333-mile concrete oval, to learn how a Cup car handles on a track that size. But in no way can she truly learn Darlington and its unique layout that often results in drivers scraping the wall.

Since her Cup debut in the Daytona 500, Patrick has concentrated on her full-time Nationwide ride. She has nine remaining Cup races on her schedule, which is not designed to give her confidence as much as helping her learn the toughest venues and prepare for a full-time Cup effort in 2013.

The Nashville test was one of many that she plans for 2013. “That was my first real time in a Cup car,” Patrick said. “I don’t think Daytona completely counts, you’re really not doing much other than holding it wide open. “It was good. It was a lot of fun. I felt really comfortable right from the get-go. You can definitely feel the acceleration of the car.”

Stewart-Haas Racing competition director Greg Zipadelli, Patrick’s crew chief, gave the test mixed reviews. Patrick has two Cup races later this month—at Darlington and Charlotte Motor Speedway—and then not another Cup race until possibly Indianapolis in late July.

“Our first day went pretty good, (but) I wasn’t very happy with our second day,” Zipadelli said. “We didn’t make the progress we wanted. It seemed like everybody got frustrated, but that’s all part of the sport.

“We’re going to try to get through Darlington and Charlotte (this month) and then probably try to do more testing to try to get her more laps in these cars.”For Patrick, the shorter tracks have given her the most trouble in the Nationwide Series. That is to be expected in a transition from Indy cars, as short-track cars require less raw speed and more finesse as far as when to brake and when to hustle the car.

“You’ve got to get comfortable on the brakes and get comfortable with the car getting into the corner on the brakes,” Patrick said about what she learned at the Nashville test. “That’s something I have to get used to.

“I’m very much still learning what the trade-offs are for getting through the center and off but yet what I have to sacrifice on entry (into the corner) to make that good and be fast and have it consistent.”

Last week at the 0.75-mile Richmond International Raceway, Patrick complained of a loose condition in her car throughout the entire event. She finished two laps down—not a good sign that she will get comfortable in a car with more horsepower at Darlington. “We’ll do our best and try to stay out of trouble there and get her something that she’s comfortable in and stay at it all day,” Zipadelli said.

“The biggest thing is keeping her comfortable, keeping her car tight enough to where she can run it all day and she has a good feel for it and take baby steps with it.”Patrick, 30, the highest-finishing woman ever in the Indianapolis 500 with a third in 2009, understands the baby-steps approach.

“The point of this process and the point of choosing Darlington was to go to the toughest tracks and get the toughest ones out of the way, the ones that take a lot of tries before you really get comfortable there,” Patrick said.

“I know it’s going to be hard, I know there’s going to be some frustrating moments and some moments I’m probably going to feel a little embarrassed, but I’m there to get my Darlington stripes and move along.”

Read the rest of this entry »

“Richmond won’t be a completely new race-track for me. I raced there in USAC (United States Auto Club) a few years ago. I think it’s a track that for me, is comparable to Iowa just with less banking. My mindset is on the importance of corner exit speed and being able to roll through the center.

“Everything went good last week with (new crew chief) Bruce Cook. We worked real well together. Right now our biggest deal is understanding each other and getting on the same page. We have different scales on handling. Like, when I say the car is loose, Bruce doesn’t know how loose I mean. That type of understanding is something that will come in time. We made big strides in becoming faster through the weekend at Texas, so there was definitely improvement on that end.”

Danica Patrick
“There’s no doubt this weekend will be a test for me. Short tracks are challenging, and an area where I need to see improvement. We have great results to build off from our last race, so this is a good opportunity to take that positive momentum and move forward. I have a certain level of experience at RIR, so that is something I have going for me. I just want to go in there, take it one lap at a time and not get ahead of myself.

There is a great support system with Tony Jr. and the entire Go Daddy team. “I think short track racing at night is a lot of fun. It makes the cars look really cool, especially our Go Daddy car. It’s a good night out for people at the race-track. Ours is a visual sport and there are lots of fans watching. So the better it looks, the better it is.”
 
Notes
JRM AND EARNHARDT JR. PARTNER WITH CLEAN COAL CAMPAIGN – JRM an-nounced this week a partnership with the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE). ACCCE supports energy policies that balance coal’s role in supplying the United States with affordable and reliable electricity. The partnership includes primary branding on Whitt’s No. 88 Chevrolet for four events in 2012 (Dover, Michigan, Iowa II and Kentucky II) and associate branding for the duration of the NASCAR Nationwide Series season. Dale Earnhardt Jr. has also signed an agreement to represent and drive awareness to the ACCCE as part of its nationwide campaign to promote the impor-tance of clean coal technology.

PRESS ON FUND FEATURED ON 88 CHEVROLET – CURE Childhood Cancer’s Press On Fund will be featured on Whitt’s No. 88 TaxSlayer.com Chevrolet at Richmond International Raceway and Darlington Raceway as part of a collaborative effort by TaxSlayer and JR Motorsports to raise awareness in the fight against childhood cancer. The Press on Fund logo will be lo-cated on the 88 car’s TV panel. For more information on Press on Fund, please visit www.pressonfund.

SHORT TRACK PAST – Whitt makes his Nationwide Series debut at Richmond International Raceway this weekend. If his short track statistics from the Camping World Truck Series are any indication, Whitt should adapt quickly to the .75-mile oval. In four short track truck starts in 2011, Whitt tallied three top-10s (Martinsville, Iowa and Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis) and an average finish of 8.0.

POINTS CLIMBER – Patrick advanced from 17th to 11th in the championship standings following her eighth-place finish with the Go Daddy machine at Texas Motor Speedway two weeks ago. She now sits 15 markers outside the top 10 in points.

NIGHT RACING – Patrick has found success racing under the lights. Three (Chicagoland, Daytona and Texas) of her four career top-10 finishes and 85 percent of her laps led have been earned in night races.
WIN DALE JR.’S RIDE ROUND TWO – For the second consecutive year, The Dale Jr. Foundation will again be raffling off Dale Jr.’s ride. This time around it’s an inferno-orange colored 2011 Chevrolet Camaro. Raffle tickets are only $25 each and only 8,888 will be sold. The winner will be invited to JR Motorsports, where Dale Jr. will hand over the keys to their brand new car. The contest will run through Oct. 1, 2012 with all proceeds benefitting The Dale Jr. Foundation.

Read the rest of this entry »

With another off weekend for the NASCAR Nationwide Series, we thought it would be beneficial to hit a few key topics from the season up until now. Below are the hottest topics around the garage.

How is Danica Patrick Doing?

Let’s take a look at this statistically: She has been in six races, has one top-10 finish, earned one pole, led two laps, is 12th in points, has an average start of 18th, average finish of 22.2 and has had two lead lap finishes. She has only completed 88% of the laps raced (1,030 of 1,170) and had one DNF (Fontana).

Those aren’t exactly the stats Patrick wanted for herself. She has always said she wants to be in the top 15, which she has done only twice (12th at Vegas and eighth at Texas). The next race is at Richmond, where she finished 18th in 2011.

On the Cup side, she might have to worry when she takes over the shared No. 10 ride at Darlington in a few weeks. After this weekend’s Cup race in Kansas, the No. 10 Patrick shares with David Reutimann currently sits 34th in owner points, cushioned by only 19 points. There is always the internal car number swap, but the No. 26 of Dave Blaney is only one position ahead by two points.

Kenny Wallace Out, Travis Pastrana In

When the season started, Kenny Wallace knew he had to get sponsorship dollars or his time in the No. 09 RAB Toyota would be over – as would his career. He was guaranteed the first five races of the season, with or without sponsorship, thanks to the top-30 rule. After the first five, everything was up in the air, except for Talladega, as he already had a sponsor for the race. Ryan Truex and his Grime Boss sponsorship piloted the machine in Texas and were looking in to more races when news broke of an MWR/RAB alliance that would bring Travis Pastrana and his built-in sponsorship with him.

Pastrana, who is finally making his NASCAR Nationwide debut, not only will change the car number to No. 99, but will also bring his own crew chief Mike Greci, who will co-crew chief with Scott Zipadelli for the limited schedule: Richmond, Darlington, Charlotte, New Hampshire, Chicago, Indianapolis and Atlanta. Truex heads to Joe Gibbs Racing to continue his season there.

Where Are the Rookies?

Although only two names stand out on the Rookie of the Year roster – Austin Dillon and Cole Whitt – there are actually five drivers vying for the award. Jason Bowles, Benny Gordon and Johanna Long join Dillon and Whitt in the fight for the Rookie honors.

After Texas, Dillion (third in points) leads Whitt (sixth in points), with Bowles, Gordon and Long in 15th, 16th and 23rd, respectively. Long has missed two races this season.

Sadler vs. Stenhouse

In 2011, Elliott Sadler was chosen by many to win the championship. While he put up a good fight, the honors ultimately went to 2010 Rookie of the Year Ricky Stenhouse Jr. But 2012 is a completely different story. Whether it’s the acquisition of KHI by RCR, a new fight in his second full year as a Cup-turned-Nationwide driver or redemption, Sadler is truly the comeback king. He is currently ranked first in points, with two wins, four top-fives, five top-10s and a pole.

On the other end is the series’ defending champion, Stenhouse, who is just four points behind Sadler. His statistics are nearly identical to Sadler’s. He has two wins, four top-fives, five top-10s but no pole. These two are definitely going to fight it out to the very end.

Cup Driver Shutout

For years, Cup drivers did double duty, taking home most of the wins, even championships. But with the “check a box” rule put into play last year, the series has seen less and less double-duty drivers. KHI shut down, Kyle Busch formed his own Nationwide team (meaning he doesn’t have the superb JGR equipment) and, well – simply put, the Nationwide “regulars” are maturing and spent so much time learning from the Cup drivers, they are shutting them out.

In the first six races of the season, only one Cup driver has taken a win. Joey Logano kept JGR’s win-streak alive at Auto Club Speedway. Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch, the only other two Cup drivers in the field, were third and eighth. In Texas, a rare Dale Earnhardt Jr. appearance put even more eyes on the series. But even Earnhardt Jr. didn’t make Stenhouse flinch. In fact Earnhardt Jr. didn’t even lead a lap during the race.

Next up, the series heads to Richmond International Raceway for the Virginia 529 College Savings 250 on Friday, April 27 at 7 p.m. ET.

Read the rest of this entry »