Danican’t

This is possibly the greatest weekend of the year thus far for me; to celebrate, I’ll likely post three new entries in three days. I’m sure that you all are just shaking in your boots with excitement.

The first topic that I want to address concerns Danica Patrick. In less than a day, Danica will be making her much anticipated entry into the NASCAR Nationwide Series. There has been much speculation on how she will fare in what is essentially the minor league system for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Personally, I think that she will flounder in the stock car racing circuit. Of course, NASCAR probably relishes the chance to boost their ratings (which have been suffering as of late) and doesn’t really care how she does, as long she bring in a new batch of fans to the sport.

Here’s how I see it: Last weekend, she competed in the ARCA Series, which is a step below the Nationwide Series, and finished 6th. Respectable enough, right? Not when you consider that she had, by far, the best car on the track. I used to attend a race weekend at the Michigan International Speedway, and the first year that they ran the ARCA series during the August race weekend, Rusty Wallace’s son Steven was in the ARCA race. There was no doubt that he had the best car, and promptly ran away with the win, finishing far ahead of second place.

Firstly, why is that worth noting? It is worth noting because Steven Wallace isn’t that talented a driver. Secondly, what am I trying to say? Basically, that a driver who has a car that is hands down the best car on the track (in ARCA, that is) should win if they manage to stay out of trouble. Not only did Danica finish a disappointing 6th in that respect, but she was bumping other drivers around as well. The Nationwide Series has about 20 more cars on the track than the average ARCA race. That being said, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if she wrecks on Saturday.

Sure, maybe I’m being a little harsh on poor Danica. It is only her second start in a stock car race. I just don’t see her fighting for Top 10s every week like she was in the Indy Racing League. She was the face of that league, and unlike NASCAR, it’s getting bigger. I think this move was money-driven, and it won’t be the money that will force her back to being solely an Indy car driver. It’ll be her performance.

I wasn’t going to comment on the Olympics until tomorrow, but a shout out needs to go to the Georgian Olympic team. One of their members, luger Nodar Kumaritashvili, was killed during a training session on Friday. The world is grieving with you, guys.

– K. Becks