- Danica Patrick was not happy after finishing 27th in her sixth NASCAR start Saturday.
- Patrick has seven more races on her debut NASCAR schedule.
- The IndyCar celebrity will decide after 2011 about her future racing career.
BROOKLYN, Michigan — Danica Patrick, mired in a mediocre IRL IndyCar Series schedule, continues to find a part-time switch to NASCAR equally frustrating.
Patrick, one of America's best-known auto racing figures, finished 27th — not her best effort, nor her worst — in her sixth try in the second-tier NASCAR Nationwide Series, the Carfax 250 Saturday at Michigan International Speedway.
"I'm really disappointed overall," said Patrick, who had hoped to break into the top 20.
Things aren't much better in IndyCar, where she has only one top-five finish in 12 races. She finished 21st in a 25-car field in her last outing with the Andretti Autosport team August 8.
In her NASCAR races, Patrick finished 30th or worse in her first four races and had her career-best effort July 9 when she finished 24th at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois. She has a similar schedule lined up for 2011, and says she will decide what direction her career will take at that time.
Patrick, 28, rose to stardom in 2005 when she became the first woman to lead a lap in the Indianapolis 500 and finished 4th in the famous race. She did not score a victory, however, until nearly three years later. That win, at Motegi, Japan, remains her only major auto racing victory.
However, Patrick has retained a celebrity status that has made her one of the top marketing properties among all U.S. sports figures.
And she maintains a buzz that includes recently publicized remarks by Formula 1 kingpin Bernie Ecclestone, who says he'd love to see Patrick in an F1 car.
Inside Line says: Patrick may be nearing the end of the line regarding how far potential can carry her in racing, but there's no end in sight for the marketing opportunities. — David Green, Correspondent
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jeremy_c says:
06:08 AM, 08/17/2010
Yeah and Ecclestone looks like a pervert and we already know that Mosley is a cross dressing nazi!
jeremy_c says:
06:06 AM, 08/17/2010
She is the racing car industry's own Anna Kornikova. Anna ever won a grand slam tennis match or any match for that matter, yet she was the top earning female player because of sponsorships and ad money. Sometime I wonder what era we are in. On one hand, we preach equality and on the other hand women with average or no talent is being put on a pedestal because of their gender. Its really an insult to women who try to make their way to the top on their own merits. This is all happening because of a few deprived fellows.
mce63 says:
07:45 PM, 08/16/2010
I have the sneaking suspicion that she is being ill advised by her handlers (agent, publicists, etc). They are probably out for the quick cash bonanza without regards to her long term career. There will always be another rising star for agents and they will dump Danica as soon as the money stops rolling in. Danica needs a trusted friend to set her straight and tell her to decide on either being a celebrity or a race car driver. She could succeed in either one but not both at the same time.
charlesb says:
07:26 PM, 08/16/2010
I saw her on Chelsey Lately, honestly, she's pretty hot.
canddmeyer says:
04:33 PM, 08/16/2010
Danica has blown her racing career. Sam Hornish too.
ikingston says:
01:47 PM, 08/16/2010
Danica just needs to give up on NASCAR. If you have not noticed, Danica, you suck at it. Although not great, she is much better in a car without fenders. She just needs some work on road courses. She needs to spend some time with Mario Andretti and take some advice and pointers from him. With Simona De Silvestro doing so well (albeit with a limited financial backing), she is going to start taking some of the spot light from Danica. Imagine what Simona could do with a well funded team.
Bottom line is: Danica needs to step it up in Indycar and drop the NASCAR act because it is not helping her any. She needs to take all the funding that is backing her in NASCAR and put it into bettering herself in the series that she is actually not doing to bad in right now (currently 11th in championship standings).
gmhl10 says:
11:28 AM, 08/16/2010
Seriously... Danica Patrick gets way too much publicity compared to her "sucess" record.
She's a woman. She races. That's all there is to it. Get over it.
icecubefosho says:
09:46 AM, 08/16/2010
Hopefully a woman who can't get by on her looks and compensates with adept skill puts her out of the league just like Cristiane Santos did to Gina Carano.