The rumours have been rumbling and swirling for months now, perhaps ever since the topic of Silly Season in the IRL IndyCar Series began. It's no secret that Danica's IRL team, Andretti Green Racing (AGR) have had a poor season. Neither Danica nor Tony Kaanan, Hideki Mutoh or Marco Andretti have scored a win this year, with two rounds to go. Danica is the best performed of the AGR drivers, standing 5th in the points.
Cue the rumours. First Danica was definitely gone to NASCAR - to the Sprint Cup Series and the mythical third car to be sponsored by GoDaddy.com and run out of the Stewart-Haas Racing stables. Then she was signing to Chip Ganassi, whose Target-sponsored team would run a third car in the IRL for her, as well as putting her in a position to run selected Camping World Truck Series, Nationwide Series and Sprint Cup Series events for Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing.
Then, hot on the heels of Michael Andretti announcing that partners Kim Green and Kevin Savoree (his two partners in AGR) would be moving exclusively to the promotional arm of the operation - the wildly imaginative Andretti Green Promotions - leaving Andretti to carry on the day-to-day operations of the race team alone, Michael announced that he was very hopeful of re-signing Danica and her sponsors, Boost Mobile, Motorola and GoDaddy.com. A one year deal, if the reports were to be believed.
Now Ed Hinton of ESPN.com has broken a story saying that Danica's mentor and big brother, two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion (and former IRL driver) Tony Stewart is putting together a special schedule of Camping World Truck Series and Nationwide Series races to go around her full IndyCar Series schedule. It is looking more and more likely that Kevin Harvick Incorporated, through owner (and Kevin's wife) DeLana Harvick will be providing the equipment. It is a good fit, given that KHI have front-running Truck and Nationwide programs currently. It's good stuff to learn in!
If this is true - and it's a BIG if at this point - it is definitely a watershed moment for both Danica Patrick and the NASCAR community. Gone are the days when this sport was run only on southern tracks and populated by drivers from the south. NASCAR's so-called 'Drive for Diversity' is about to hit big. There is already a Colombian, Juan Pablo Montoya; an Australia, Marcos Ambrose and a handful of Canadians who come and go, particularly for the road race events at Watkins Glen, Montreal and Sonoma. Now, in the best show of diversity yet, there will be a female with real talent. This isn't a publicity stunt and it's clear that Danica is heading there to win. She's proven as much by aligning herself with Tony Stewart. If anyone knows about the transition from the Indy Racing League to NASCAR, it's Smoke.
The big question remains: can Danica win? Can she be successful? It will take a lot of time and concentration, but I believe it's possible. She's obviously taken note of guys like Dario Franchitti who returned to the IndyCar circuit this year after an ill-fated foray into stock car racing. You can't jump straight into the Sprint Cup Series and hope to have success. The series is too strong for that. There needs to be gradual progression. This is what Danica has chosen to do. Whoever is advising her has done a good job and definitely earned their money.
Furthermore, Danica will need to learn to deal with the NASCAR media. Danica is sometimes churlish and uncooperative with the IndyCar Series media, and she will not be well-received if she continues this sort of thing in NASCAR. She needs to make an immediate impression, and also needs to get used to the publicity and the hype that surrounds NASCAR. If she thinks the Indy 500 is big in terms of press exposure and sponsor committment, she'll need to get used to that sort of attention for 37 race weekends every year. Each NASCAR race, no matter whether at Dover, Delaware or Homestead, Miami, attracts that sort of rabid fascination, press coverage and sponsor interest. It will be very interesting to see how she handles this.
If/when this move is officially announced, we'll hear plenty more, but I think it's a good step in the right direction for putting NASCAR out there even more. It will do the opposite for the IRL, who face losing their most recognisable and marketable face somewhere in the near future. The IndyCar-to-NASCAR transition be better if Danica is successful. It's one thing to be a media darling and bring exposure to the series, but it's something completely different to be successful.
It's a tough road to stock car success, but Danica Patrick seems willing to at least start with baby steps. And that can only be a good thing!
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