Danica Patrick Drops the Firesuit
February 18, 2008 by Tim Zaegel
Filed under Racing
*Credit all photos to sportsillustrated.com
Danica Patrick is often compared to the Anna Kournikova of the racing world due to the fact that she has yet to win in the IndyCar Series and her best points finish to date is 7th, which came last year in 2007. Still, she continues to draw media attention not only because she’s a woman competing in a man’s sport, but also because she’s an attractive woman competing in a man’s sport. Sports Illustrated has made it a point to capitalize on this fact by featuring her in their annual swimsuit issue.
The revelation that Danica would appear in SI’s 2008 Swimsuit Issue got me thinking a little. A few years ago, there was a lot of talk about the possibility of her jumping from the open-wheel market and joining the realms of stock-car racing, NASCAR more specifically. The move never occurred, obviously, but back then it seemed as though Danica was taking all the necessary and appropriate steps to mold her career in a fashion that would not only enable, but force fans to take her seriously. Force them to forget about her looks and realize that she belongs in the racing world. A few years later, a number of her open-wheel counterparts – and, former champions at that – are the ones making the jump to NASCAR, and she’s busy making Super Bowl commercials for GoDaddy.com and posing for swimsuit magazines.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I certainly appreciate the opportunity to view Danica Patrick in a bikini as much as the next guy … in fact, I’m rather thankful for it. But, at the same time I have to wonder if any of this is actually helping Danica’s career. Sure, she’s never going to come up short on sponsorship deals and financial backing, but it’s obvious that something’s keeping her from excelling to that next level of competition. Three seasons into her professional career and she has yet to earn herself a victory, despite holding a career average finish of under 10th place.
I personally see a lot of potential in the racing abilities of Danica, but I also see a lot of the same issues with her that I see with NASCAR’s most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr. They both have a tendancy to let themselves get caught up in the media aspect of racing, and that can sometimes be enough to cause any driver to lose just enough focus from racing itself to keep them out of victory lane. Hopefully I’m wrong, though, and maybe Danica can find that winning edge in 2008.
For a complete viewing of Danica’s SI swimsuit gallery, click here. For her interview with SI’s Dan Patrick, click here.
“DYN Imposes”: This week, Do You NASCAR also asks …
1) Should Danica Patrick ever make the move to NASCAR, and will she?
2) If Danica did jump to NASCAR, how would she fair against other former open-wheel stars such as Juan Pablo Montoya, Sam Hornish Jr, and Dario Franchitti?
3) Have some of Danica’s recent media exploitations taken credibility away from her as a professional driver?
4) Will Danica earn her first IndySeries victory in 2008?
1.no she’s good where she is.
2. she is not as good as them in open-wheel so the big cars would be the same.
3. no here body is all she has if she wasn’t smokin you probaly would never hear about her.
4 no
She should do a real shot for playboy and be happy with the money she gets and bare all.
1-5 Who Cares. I’m a bigger fan now than ever. No there’s a trackhazard4real.
1-5 Who Cares. Now there’s a trackhazard4real. I’m a bigger fan now more than ever.
1. I don’t think she should, but probably will at some point.
2. I think that she may actually do better with a stock car than some of these other guys.
3. I think you’re right and that if she keeps it up she could easily fall into that “Kournikova” category.
4. Definitely. I’d say she’s due.
Yes, I’ll answer my own questions …
1. I think she should, but whether she will or not largely depends on a) How she does in the IndySeries over the next couple years, and b) The direction that the series itself heads down over the next couple years.
2. Well, personally I think she could very well do better than about half the current open wheelers in NASCAR since my expectations for them aren’t very high to begin with. It also helps that a face like Danica Patrick wouldn’t likely find herself short on top notch equipment or strong sponsorship backing.
3. Potentially, I think it could be extremely damaging to her career unless she starts to win in the very near future. On the other hand, let’s face it – she’s pretty smokin, so I don’t really care.
4. She’ll win this year.
Danica Patrick is absolutely gorgeous and certainly one the world’s most beautiful women.
These other series are the minor leagues. NASCAR is the majors. Plenty of better drivers (Juan Pablo Montoya, Robby Gordon, John Andretti) have tried to makke the jump with minimal success.
Dana Patrick has ONE career win in a race in Japan with no real competition.
She is just a pretty face in sports and will soon be forgotten like that hot blonde tennis player who never won a tournament. What was her name again?