Patrick left with few options in racing
Danica seems at peace with end of driving career
DOVER, Del. - Danica Patrick was the darling of Daytona before she put on a helmet. Patrick ushered in the 2013 season accompanied by hype perhaps no other NASCAR rookie had ever faced: Her love life, Super Bowl ads and racy photo shoots were trendy themes that generated more enthusiasm than her actual career accomplishments.
She was projected as the new face of the sport — a face that corporate America adored — was flush with sponsor cash and was counted on as a role model for the next generation of little girls and casual fans who couldn’t flip through a magazine or turn the dial without seeing “Danica.” Then she raced, and became the first woman to win the pole at NASCAR’s top level, a career rebirth in stock cars seemingly under way. She led three times for a total of five laps, was running third behind Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. with one lap left and finished eighth. Patrick turned in the best finish by a woman in the Daytona 500.
It may turn out that her career peaked at Daytona.
Her 182-race NASCAR Cup career has never yielded anything close to the Danicamania that engulfed Daytona. She never had a top-five finish for Stewart-Hass Racing. She never won another pole.
She never had much success but, along with Earnhardt, was still one of NASCAR’s only true mainstream stars. But as results sank, so did interest in funding her ride. Sponsors bailed, cash dried up and at just 35, Patrick could be facing the final seven races of her NASCAR career.
Patrick has, at least publicly, seemed at peace with this possibility and said there has been little interest from other teams in bringing her aboard next season.
“I’ve had some (discussions) but not a ton,” she said Friday. “I let the business people in my business handle that and have those conversations and figure out what options are out there and I continue to let them do that.”
While Earnhardt’s final season has come with fanfare, gifts, donations and a celebration of his career, Patrick’s last ride has been anything but, and if she’s going out, it’s not by choice.
Of course, Patrick made more of an impact than most drivers with a collection of checkered flags.
“The inspiration that you are told that you bring to people, especially to kids,” she said. “That’s a role that you can’t buy your way into. You have to earn that. You can’t just stumble into that. That’s probably the most meaningful.”
Patrick said she has no plans to return to IndyCar, where she won a race and led laps in the Indianapolis 500 before shifting to NASCAR, but declined to totally rule it out.
The career was cut short — her influence will last. For the next female driver seeking a Cup ride, too.
“Just as I had to do and anyone that comes after me will have to do, they’ll have to prove themselves,” she said. “They will have to bring a lot to the table. They will have to work really hard. Nothing that anyone after me brings will be simple and easy. It’s going to be work. Just as it’s work for every guy, too . ... But when the opportunity presents itself, you have to be ready.”
Martin Truex Jr. turned a lap of 160.664 mph on Friday at Dover International Speedway to win his second pole of the season in NASCAR’s third playoff race. Truex ended Kyle Busch’s bid at three straight poles. Busch started first in the first two playoff races and will start second on Sunday for the all-Toyota front row. Playoff drivers Kyle Larson and Matt Kenseth start third and fourth.