Danica Patrick returns to NASCAR for her seventh Nationwide Series start this weekend, attempting a Dover track that has proven difficult even for drivers with many years of stock-car experience.
Danica Comments On Her Disappointing NASCAR Experience
So far, Danica – who has been the face of Dover’s billboard campaign promoting the races this weekend – has a top finish of 24th despite JR Motorsports co-owner Kelley Earnhardt setting a goal of running top-15s this season.
Danica called her season so far “emotional, because I’ve had to deal with not having the results I’d like” both in IndyCar and NASCAR.
In particular, she said, “NASCAR has been a humbling experience.”
"I think at the beginning of the year, Dale Jr. and Kelley and Tony (Eury) Jr., they said top-15s," Danica said Friday morning. "And I guess that's probably true. I thought I was hopefully going to be able to do better than that.
"The offseason testing went really well. But then you put all the elements out there and you don't get a full day of track time and you find yourself really learning and not having enough time to get up to speed like you want to."
Therein lies the entire problem with Danica's program: She's in way over her head in the Nationwide Series and should have done a year of ARCA or the K&N Pro East Series before trying Nationwide.
To use a baseball analogy: She's an A-level talent competing at the AAA level. This doesn't happen in other sports, no matter how great the hype (the Washington Nationals didn't rush Stephen Strasburg to the upper levels until he was ready).
And at times, it doesn't happen in NASCAR, either.
Scott Speed came from Formula 1 but competed in a full ARCA schedule and partial Truck schedule before moving up to Sprint Cup.
Juan Pablo Montoya only did two ARCA races before trying NASCAR, but made 17 Nationwide starts in his rookie Cup season to help him get seat time (plus, NASCAR allowed testing back then).
Dario Franchitti and Sam Hornish Jr. only made one ARCA start, but they were IndyCar champions with many race wins under their belts.
Danica doesn't have that kind of resume. She's not ready for Nationwide, but due to the sponsorship money she brings, she's there. And not doing well.
Her finishes so far: 35th, 31st, 36th, 30th, 24th, 27th.
"I think top-15 is still the goal and I haven't done that yet," she said. "There have been a couple races where I could have done that, but I fell out due to crashes that weren't entirely my fault. So unfortunately, we weren't able to get those results. Top-15 is still the goal."
Don't expect that to happen at Dover, either.
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