Patrick: ‘I’m nervous’ about Cup debut
Pair of crashes may be adding to her unease
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Danica Patrick stayed mostly to herself Sunday afternoon, trying to relax and calm her nerves as rain threw a wet blanket over her NASCAR Sprint Cup debut.
Persistent showers pushed the 54th Daytona 500 to today, a delay that was particularly frustrating for Patrick, considering the up-and-down nature of her introduction to the top level of stock car racing.
“I’m nervous, to be honest,” she said Sunday from her motor home in the infield at Daytona International Speedway. “There’s a lot on the line.”
It was a rare admission of the pressure facing the 29-year-old driver from Roscoe, Ill., who is trying to break into the testosterone-driven world of NASCAR. She has competed against men as a professional racer since she was in high school, but NASCAR is America’s most recognized and watched form of motor sports. This is the stage and level of notice she sought.
“I didn’t sleep fully through the night,” she said. “Last night was nerves. The night before it was jackhammers. I feel we’ve been here a week and a half. I’m ready to go.”
Her unease carried a subtext. Patrick had crashed twice in the previous three days at Daytona. Neither crash was her fault, but both received inordinate interest from serious and casual fans. For Patrick, perception is at stake. A solid performance in the Daytona 500 is tantamount to the underlying issue — whether she’s accepted by the audience she’s attempting to court.
During Speedweeks, her every move on and off the track has been scrutinized and analyzed.
On Saturday, her every word came into play, as a radio transmission spiced with profanities directed at a teammate became the Danica Story of the Day.
The conversation materialized after Patrick’s No. 7 Chevrolet was inadvertently spun out by JR Motorsports teammate Cole Whitt’s No. 88 Chevy during a race in the Nationwide Series, NASCAR’S second-level series that features many drivers and teams that compete in Sprint Cup.
Patrick screamed on the radio: “The (expletive) 88 hit me while we were in a big pack! What the (expletive)?”
With help of a delay, ESPN caught Patrick’s profanities before they aired.
NASCAR doesn’t fine drivers for onair language, but Patrick indicated she was frustrated because she had a good car and thought she had a chance to contend for victory after earning the pole position in Friday’s qualifying.
“There are so many other days where your car isn’t perfect, or isn’t great, or isn’t super fast, and nothing happens to you,” she said. “You think, ‘Why, on the days when I have a really fast car, does it have to happen today?’ But it did, and we’ll move on.”
Screaming and swearing are nothing new for Patrick, whose radio transmissions while racing in the Izod Indycar Series became legendary for their content and volume. Crew chief Tony Eury Jr. indicated he wasn’t upset by the crash, saying the teammates would sort things out.
“She was angry. I was fine,” Eury said. “It’s very unfortunate. But I ain’t never set on the pole here. I’m tickled to death. I told the guys that was a successful weekend for me. I would love to win this race and run better. That’s just part of racing. You’re going to have good days and bad days. We had a half a good weekend.”
Saturday’s crash happened less than 48 hours after a far more violent crash during a Daytona 500 qualifying race. In the moment before her car slammed into the SAFER barrier, Patrick took her hands off the wheel — a familiar prac- tice in Indycar and sprint car racing to prevent hand injuries.
“The medical guy said if I’d hung on to the wheel I could have broken a bone,” Patrick said. “There’s not much downside (to letting go of the wheel). It’s very much a natural response.”
These aren’t Patrick’s first NASCAR races (she has been transitioning to stock cars since 2010), nor is she NASCAR’S first female driver. Johanna Long finished 21st Saturday — 17 positions ahead of Patrick — in near anonymity. No female racer has captured Patrick’s level of attention. Nor had any won a pole at the sport’s signature track.
Her nerves have a cause: There’s a lot more than exposure riding on this.
“It’s a lot to take on,” she said Sunday. “But I’ve got to get started.”