Is Danica Patrick more than just a pretty face?
Danica Patrick has finally decided, to come back to what she was born to do, to race. The stunning female JR Motorsports driver had been missing out on the action since past five weeks. She recently told the media that she will be taking part in the upcoming 2010 NASCAR event.
The NASCAR Nationwide series is going to be taking place at the D-shaped Michigan International Speedway. Danica will be testing her NASCAR skills once again between the beautiful Irish Hills. NASCAR also plans on showcasing their latest innovation “Car of Tomorrow”.
Car of Tomorrow made its first debut, last from now, at Daytona and will be taken for a spin in at Richmond and Charlotte. NASCAR has prepared to run the car full-time by 2011 season.
Danica will be driving a sponsored car by Chevrolet C.O.T, No.7 GoDaddy. Last time she raced the Michigan Speedway was in 2007, with Andretti Green team finishing in 7th place. Patrick has taken many breaks during this season and has missed out on a total of 17 races this year in the NASCAR series.
Danica’s driving history has uncovered the fact how important it is for her to decide on her future and what direction she plans on going, or else her legacy will soon die out. Let us analyze on what her achievements are to further conclude if there is any future for her or not.
So far in the past year she has had five-starts and has yet to finish a lap in which she would be leading. The best finish she made was at 24th position with an average of only 31.2. Patrick is having major trouble to keep herself in the growing competition. Critics say by now she must have learnt beauty cannot make her win races.
Danica is known mainly for her Indy car races but recently she has failed miserably in them too and now is having trouble competing in the NASCAR series. She recently told the press how it is really hard to learn to go about the line around the track, as it keeps changing from high to low.
The best performance she gave in her five-year professional career was during the 2009 season. She finished in the top ten and five top-five finishes, with a lead of around 26 laps. She also finished at 5th position in the IZOD IndyCar series making it her best season till date.
However that was the only season she performed considerably well, but when it comes to NASCAR her stats are not worth mentioning, which is what makes her fans worry and think what will happen when the green flag falls on Saturday at Carfax 250.
Danica Patrick stated in a short interview, “I'm looking forward to Michigan right now, I think we can settle in and do very well there”.
So what does Patrick need to do in order to be considered amongst the elite? For starters she needs to give a good run at more than six races in the upcoming season. If she misses out on her chance she will unquestionably be hurting her career. Her chances of being a real competitor will die out because the next time she will be able to perform at a big race will be in another two months.
Though she has confirmed of taking part with Andretti Autosport, and has committed into running a full-time schedule, but that will be in 2011. However nothing has been said in regard to what her plans are in the upcoming NASCAR nationwide.
So is Danica just dabbling once again? Will she be able to finish 1st this season? Will she prove to be more than just a pretty face? All these questions are being raised by her die-hard fans this year. One cannot say for certain on what she plans on doing next but putting her indecisive personality at front, indeed she should just stick to the IndyCar series; NASCAR is still a championship way out of her league.
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