Danica can make the difference
A win at Daytona for Patrick could change stock car racing for the better
By: Caleb Odom
Love her or hate her, drool at her sight or want to puke when you see her, Danica Patrick is here to stay in NASCAR. Patrick proved herself in the male dominated sport by qualifying on the pole for the upcoming Daytona 500 on Feb. 24, 2013. The speed week sex symbol who had been making waves with her new relationship with fellow driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr.set the tone for the field with her 196.434 lap time at Daytona International Speedway this past weekend.
For the most of her career, Danica Patrick was known as the cute Indy Car driver who won that one race back in 2008 and is half-naked in all the provocative Go Daddy Commercials. But then Patrick made the jump to stock car racing just to be a part of all the big wrecks each week. No one can deny that the female brings attention to NASCAR but the argument was always "yeah but she won't ever win a race". But what if she did?
What if Danica Patrick had a perfect race? Or everybody else had some bad luck and she did the unthinkable? Patrick has the potential to change NASCAR in a way that Brad Keselowski can't. Danica winning races would bring unconventional fans to the sport just to see her in action. The casual sports fan doesn't get excited about Jeff Gordan winning after leading the last twenty laps at Martinsville but if it was Patrick it would cause a frenzy.
If Danica can somehow win the Daytona 500 this Sunday she would shock the sports world and more importantly take the pedestrian sport of NASCAR off of life support. Sponsors would gravitate back to Sprint Cup racing and more people would tune in to watch in the weeks that follow just to see Danica. Her personality with wins to validate her would boost fan intrigue and other driver rivalries.
The first race of the season is the one that means the most to every NASCAR driver . Just ask veteran owner/driver Tony Stewart who has never won the prestigious Daytona 500 in February. The Great American Race, as it is known, is the equivalent of winning the Super Bowl to a NASCAR driver.
Stock car racing is not what it once was during the '80s and '90s from a popularity standpoint. Sponsors have pulled out and to be frank the sport doesn't exactly mesmerize the casual sports fan. The days of "watching the race" appear to be gone for the time being just because of lack of interest. Maybe it was because the dominance of Jimmie Johnson who won five straight championships from 2006-2010.
In decades past, names like Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, Bill Elliott, and Darrel Waltrip were huge in the sport that so many loved. But in 2001 at the Daytona 500 on the final lap the sport was changed forever when Dale Earnhardt died in a crash. The late Earnhardt's son Dale Jr saw the spotlight placed on him in the years that followed but the shadow the black number 3 car left was too big for the son of the legend.
It's time NASCAR got a face lift in the form of the bright green number 10 car in victory lane. The stage is set for Danica Patrick at Daytona, the sport's biggest stage to change everything. Patrick is on the pole at Daytona, and the only thing she is going to strip this time is the checkers from the boys on the track.
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