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Danica Patrick brought the #7 GoDaddy Hendricks racing Chevy home in sixth in her debut stock car race, the ARCA Racing Series Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 at Daytona International Speedway. (Jason Smith/Getty Images)
After months of speculation by fans and media, Danica Patrick proved that she can indeed drive a stock car, finishing sixth in the ARCA Slick Mist 200 after falling back as far as 24th place after a collision.
Danica banged doors with the veterans and came out in good shape.”That was really fun,” she said after the race. “I was going side by side with people The GoDaddy car doesn’t look very pretty, but it was fun.”
The race was won by ARCA veteran Bobby Gerhart (his sixth Daytona win) but all eyes were on IRL star Danica Patrick in the #7 GoDaddy-sponsored Hendrick Racing Chevrolet.
SPEED-TV, which broadcast the race, had an in-car camera focused on Danica’s face and a microphone in her helmet. There was a camera dedicated to following Danica at all times; most of the accident replays started with shots of Danica Patrick, then swung away to whatever racing action was happening.
The media focused on Patrick wisely; the buzz on the racing Web sites was all about whether Patrick could handle stock cars, whether she had any driving ability, whether women belonged in stock cars at all (ARCA has many experienced woman drivers. Alli Owens ran third for much of the race, and four other ladies started the race: Leilani Munter, Jill George, Jennifer Jo Cobb and Milka Duno.)
Luckily for Patrick, she drove a good race. Had she finished badly, the Internet would have exploded with “I told you so!”s and all manner of negative comments.
Decent Start, Good Race
Patrick started 12th in the accident-packed race, worked her way up to sixth by lap 30, then fell back to 24th with twenty laps to go, after being rammed by Nelson Piquet Jr.
“I was trying to take a run that we all had down the inside and the guy [Piquet] came down over the front of me,” she told reporters.
Danica Patrick fights for control after getting hit by Nelson Piquet in the ARCA Oil Slick Mist 200 at Daytona International Speedway. (Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
Patrick showed her experience by letting the car go until she had scrubbed enough speed to point it back on track, and she rolled back onto the pavement without incident. Two other drivers, Jill George and Barry Fitzgerald, overcorrected and rolled their cars, in similar situations. Patrick stayed calm, gathered up her car and headed to the pits for repairs.
Patrick charged back through the field, reaching 8th within ten laps of her collision. Five laps later she moved into the top five. She told a SPEED-TV reporter, “I thought, ‘Shoot, man, we’re not out of it. Why would we be out of it?’ I was pretty excited to go from last to back to the top five again.”
Everyone made their moves in the final two laps; guessing who to follow and who to try to go around, was as important as driver skill at this point. Patrick guessed wrong, got pushed high, but fought back to finish a very respectable sixth in her rookie race in a stock car. Any doubts about her ability should be erased completely.
Well, let’s be realistic. Some people will say, “Let’s see how she does against the big boys in the Cup. NASCAR is a lot different than ARCA.” Some people will say, “She had the best car prepared by the best team. She had Tony Eury, Jr. as her crew chief. Hendrick Racing brought its NASCAR Cup team to an ARCA race. That’s like the New York Yankees training and coaching staff helping a player in a little league game.”
Some people will doubt her ability even if she wins. That’s how people are. But for most folks, Danica Patrick’s debut stock car performance showed that she has what it takes.