Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2009

Danica debate centers on her potential

There is no clear timeline for a decision in the will-she-or-won't-she story line surrounding Danica Patrick's possible foray into stock-car racing, but it hasn't stopped the conjecture about her potential impact.

Three weeks ago, there were reports that Patrick's arrival was imminent, but nothing has changed.

She remains a curiosity, and her plans regarding NASCAR remain uncertain.

But that hasn't stopped the chatter, or the debate about what she would bring.

"Danica has obviously taken a very hard look at this sport," NASCAR president Brian France said at Homestead, where NASCAR's Sprint Cup season ended Sunday. "I think she's thinking about it. I don't know what she'll do.

"She has a lot of talent. She will be good for NASCAR. How well will she perform is like any other driver that comes through the front door and sits in the car: You never know until they do it. She probably doesn't know."

Others are more skeptical.

"I don't think she brings anything; that's my opinion," car owner Felix Sabates said. "If she could show me she can drive a race car, then I'll be a believer.

"I've been around a long time, and I know if you don't perform on the track, people will forget about you real quick. She might be great. I don't know. But until she proves it, she's just another female trying to get a ride. I'm not overly impressed with the whole thing."

It's not as simple as Patrick deciding to supplement her IRL schedule with a ride on the Sprint Cup circuit.

She will have to work her way through lower classifications, learning how to drive the heavier cars. If Patrick decides to pursue stock-car racing, she might run practice sessions at Rockingham or Daytona before the end of the year to get accustomed to the cars and their demands.

Patrick likely would drive ARCA races before advancing to the Nationwide Series, where she would probably run a limited 2010 schedule built around openings in her IRL schedule.

"We've talked to her and we're trying to make all the pieces fit to see if there's something we could do together," said car owner Rick Hendrick, who has a stake in JR Motorsports, considered Patrick's most likely landing spot.

"But her IRL schedule comes first, and we have to see if it would all work."

There are also compensation and sponsorship issues to be resolved. Patrick is thought to be asking a high per-race price given her celebrity and potential impact.

Some reports have indicated Patrick is looking for a six-figure guarantee for each race she runs.

"From my limited involvement, money has not been a big issue," Hendrick said recently. "I see her as wanting to make the right move, not being in a hurry, not saying she can come out here and run a Cup car and whip these guys.

"She's doing it in a very methodical way, and I have not seen her make any mistakes yet. We're all just looking at how it could be good for everybody if this is the place and JR Motorsports is where she ends up."

For all of her fame, Patrick has won one IRL race - in Japan in 2008. She became the first woman to lead a lap in the Indianapolis 500, but she has spent more time on magazine covers than in Victory Lane.

Beyond the financial and scheduling issues, Patrick will face a sharp learning curve. She's built her career driving open-wheel cars, which bear few similarities to stock cars.

Others have made the leap Patrick is considering. Dario Franchitti didn't succeed. Robby Gordon and Sam Hornish have struggled. Juan Pablo Montoya made the Chase for the Sprint Cup this year but has not won a Cup race on an oval.

"For an Indy car driver, stepping into these beasts is something else," said H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler, former president of Speedway Motorsports.

"It's like getting out of a high-speed, twitchy jet that you've been landing on an aircraft carrier and stepping into a bulldozer. A bulldozer can hurt you. You have to learn how to stop that weight."

That doesn't mean Patrick doesn't have the potential to be a star if she decides to move to NASCAR and she succeeds.

"She'd be the biggest thing since Dale Earnhardt and Dale Jr.," former Sprint Cup champion Dale Jarrett said.

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