Twenty years ago, the thought of a woman NASCAR driver was absolutely absurd. Even 10 years ago, the thought may not have been welcome in the male-dominated sport.

Well, the times have changed and now GoDaddy girl Danica Patrick has taken the NASCAR nation by storm. And she doesn’t even race in the premier stock cup series. In the racing offseason, Patrick signed with JR Motorsports to drive a select number of races in the Nationwide Series. She will also still race in the Indy Cup Series for Andretti Green Racing.

She raced in her first stock car race two weeks ago at Daytona, and last weekend she raced in California. Next weekend, she will race in her third race in Las Vegas before taking a few months break to concentrate on her open-wheel circuit.

In both races, she has shown signs of being a rookie, getting caught up in an accident in Daytona and having pit road issues in California. She finished 35th and 31st respectively, but still she received all the media attention. So, what about her attracts the media? It definitely isn’t the love she shows them.

In the race in California, she was seen trying to push a boom mike away during pre-race interviews. She also shows her fiery, competitive spirit in the post-race, showing frustration in her two worse-than-mediocre performances in her first two races.

But it is only a matter of time before Patrick finds success in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. She has proven she can be a successful driver by showing her skills in the open wheel Indy Series. She has one win in the Indy Series and also won the Rookie of the Year honor 2005. The differences between the open-wheel racing and stock car racing are becoming more and more apparent to the young star.

The cure for her rookie errors are plain and simple: The more time she puts in the car, becoming used to it, the better she will get. The real question is whether she’ll be patient enough to find the answers without getting too upset.