Danica Patrick to start Daytona Nationwide Race

#1
rbroyles

rbroyles

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#1
Junior Motorsports has announced Danica will race Saturday in the Nationwide race at Daytona. She was originally slated to start at California.

What do you think, good or bad decision?
 
#3
#3
While her ARCA race was decent, it was not memorable. She had mostly positive exposure and comments from the racing community. I think she should wait until California from the standpoint of keeping in a positive vein as I believe her chances of a good finish are better there. You are correct though, gotta drive to get experience. But since she is on a very limited Nationwide schedule, what is one more week?
 
#6
#6
I'll be more interested in seeing her drive at California and the other tracks. As far as just flat out driving and fighting the handling of the car, Daytona (and Talladega even more so) are about as easy as it gets in NASCAR. Obviously you have to contend with the draft and everything else that goes along with plate racing, but I want to see how she does going forward.
 
#8
#8
I think she'll be fine, the biggest thing she has to worry about is the draft packs, and picking the right people, and she's probably done enough to ease any fears the other drivers had about her in that perspective. I doubt she'll be nervous in the packs, I mean, she's had to race with worse drivers in open wheel, and she has a greater margin of error as far as touching wheels and the like in NASCAR. I'm with doozer, she might as well get the seat time.
 
#10
#10
Driving at Daytona is not as easy as it used to be. Its been in desparate need of repaving for about the last 3-4 years. My father-in-law Butch Jarvis that drives ARCA at Daytona and Dega can attest to that. He said Daytona is to the point of about having to wear a mouthpiece its so rough and you bounce around so bad. After Dega got repaved he said an 80 year old woman could drive there its so smooth.

As far as Danica I think she done a decent job at Daytona. The crash wasn't her fault and she made a pretty good save. Of course not many people would have taken it 3 wide into the tri-oval in an ARCA car. Especially when trying to pass Piquet. Daytona will not be a barometer of how well she will run in Nationwide. She could run really well and it still not be a good indication of how good she will do at California and beyond. Or she could run horrible at Daytona and have no drafting help and then run well at Cali.

Trying to be unbiased I honestly see her in the same light as someone like a Jason Leffler, Scott Riggs, or Reed Sorenson. Talented but just not superstar. I guess we shall see how things go this year. She will have the equipment to run well in Nationwide. Let's just see how much the good ol' boys of NASCAR pushes her around on track. I am willing to bet they will shove her around quite a bit. She may shove back but they won't be easy on her.
 
#11
#11
DownNDirty said:
Driving at Daytona is not as easy as it used to be. Its been in desparate need of repaving for about the last 3-4 years. My father-in-law Butch Jarvis that drives ARCA at Daytona and Dega can attest to that. He said Daytona is to the point of about having to wear a mouthpiece its so rough and you bounce around so bad. After Dega got repaved he said an 80 year old woman could drive there its so smooth.

As far as Danica I think she done a decent job at Daytona. The crash wasn't her fault and she made a pretty good save. Of course not many people would have taken it 3 wide into the tri-oval in an ARCA car. Especially when trying to pass Piquet. Daytona will not be a barometer of how well she will run in Nationwide. She could run really well and it still not be a good indication of how good she will do at California and beyond. Or she could run horrible at Daytona and have no drafting help and then run well at Cali.

Trying to be unbiased I honestly see her in the same light as someone like a Jason Leffler, Scott Riggs, or Reed Sorenson. Talented but just not superstar. I guess we shall see how things go this year. She will have the equipment to run well in Nationwide. Let's just see how much the good ol' boys of NASCAR pushes her around on track. I am willing to bet they will shove her around quite a bit. She may shove back but they won't be easy on her.
Click to expand...

That's neat. You've never mentioned that before. I remember Jarvis running some Nationwide races, also.
 
#12
#12
It will be interesting to see how she handles the bump drafting.

If she gets pushed around, will she push back?
 
#13
#13
i am guessing danica causes "the big one" at daytona, and i'm not talking wrecks either.
 
#16
#16
And if she does well again it'll be spun somehow by those that have decided she's not any good before she even sat in a stock car.
 
#18
#18
On the other hand, there is plenty of room for drivers who have only won one race in their respective series in NASCAR.
 
#21
#21
tidwell said:
Yeah, Montoya has only one win to his name in a major racing series. That guy is awful. That said, what does that makes guys like Harvick that haven't won a race since Montoya picked up his "only" win?
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How many Shootouts, All Star Titles, 500's and Brickyards does he have combined?

Not to mention he's becoming a successful car owner in the lower tier series.
 
#22
#22
TennesseeFan07 said:
How many Shootouts, All Star Titles, 500's and Brickyards does he have combined?

Not to mention he's becoming a successful car owner in the lower tier series.
Click to expand...
You add those up, and I'll go count the number of different series in which Montoya has won races.
 
#23
#23
shootouts and all star wins? lol

JPM:

The highlights of his career include winning the International F3000 championship in 1998, and the CART Championship Series in 1999, as well as victories in some of the most prestigious races in the world. He is the only driver to have won the premier North American open-wheel CART title, the Indianapolis 500 and the 24 Hours of Daytona, all at the first attempt. Montoya is one of two drivers to have won the CART title in his rookie year, the first being Formula One World Champion Nigel Mansell in 1993. He has also equalled Graham Hill's feat of being a Monaco Grand Prix and Indianapolis 500 race winner; Montoya is currently one of only two active drivers (along with Jacques Villeneuve) who has won two legs of the Triple Crown of Motorsport.
Montoya has also become a crossover race winner by winning races (starting in each case in his rookie year) in Formula One, CART, IndyCar, Grand-AM and NASCAR equalling in that respect Mario Andretti's caliber of success (except for the F1 World Championship); And shares honors as well with Dan Gurney in being IndyCar/F1/NASCAR race winner. Montoya is also the only driver to have competed in all three major events at Indianapolis, finishing fourth or better in each event. He finished 1st in the Indianapolis 500, 2nd in the Brickyard 400, and 4th in the US Grand Prix.
In October 2009, Montoya was ranked 30th in a list of the top 50 Formula One drivers of all time by Times Online[1].
Click to expand...

get back to me when Harvick has a resume anywhere near that impressive.

i'll be waiting.
 
#24
#24
tidwell said:
On the other hand, there is plenty of room for drivers who have only won one race in their respective series in NASCAR.
Click to expand...

Her being her draws attention to the sport. That's a good thing. I just hope it's because she runs well not because of who she is.
 
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