Danica Patrick is slated to make 10 Sprint Cup starts in 2012. (Photo: Getty Images)
“She’s a woman. They move the needle, too,” says Earnhardt Jr., the sport’s most popular driver. “She’s got a great personality. She has a dynamic edge to her personality. She’s assertive and determined and that’s exciting, especially coming from a woman in this sport. It’s rare. It’s very rare. So it’s very intriguing and interesting.”
It’s not just that Patrick is a girl – there have been numerous female drivers in NASCAR over the years, and she’s not the only one today. But none have ever brought the full package of looks, sex appeal, marketing power and driving talent to NASCAR.
Patrick’s racy commercials for GoDaddy.com, her primary sponsor, are among the most popular on television and the web. And GoDaddy is clearly as interested in Patrick the sexy model as Patrick the race-car driver.
Patrick knows there are critics who frown on her using her body and looks to attract sponsors and generate media exposure. She’s used to it, and it doesn’t bother her at all.
“I’m a girl, and to say that I can’t use being a girl doesn’t make any sense,” she said. “In this world, there is so much competition out there and you have to use everything that you have to make sponsors happy, to attract them and to be unique and be different.
“But more than anything, I’m just glad that I get to show different sides of my personality. I’m really fortunate. I don’t have a cookie-cutter sponsor, and that’s pretty cool.”
Patrick, who is married to physical therapist Paul Hospenthalher, is open and honest about her looks and image and has no qualms about being portrayed as a sex symbol by Go Daddy, other sponsors and even men’s magazines.
“I do what feels comfortable to me and then I’m good with it,” she said. “I’ve always been lucky enough in my career and my life to be an honest person and to be authentic and whatever good and bad may come from that.
“With the Go Daddy commercials, we have a lot of fun with them. And not just Go Daddy, I look pretty in different ads for other people, too.”
Patrick, who lives in Phoenix and doesn’t plan to move to the racing hub of Charlotte, already is one of NASCAR’s most popular drivers. She developed a huge following in the IndyCar Series and brought many of those fans with her while also attracting a legion of new ones.
She already is near the top in NASCAR souvenir sales, with long lines forming at her merchandise trailer at every track, every week. Charlotte Motor Speedway even named a concession stand after her last year, offering a menu of healthy food items selected and endorsed by Patrick. As with most things endorsed by Danica, it was a hit.
But Patrick also knows that there are fans who don’t like her because she’s a female driver and because she uses her gender and sex appeal to her advantage off the track.
She’s prepared for that as well, she says.
“I’ve been around for a long time, this is my 21st year of racing, and there are going to be people who like you and people who don’t like you and people who think you can do it and people who don’t think you can, and I’m glad for that,” she said.
“It’s important in sports to have people who cheer for you and cheer against you. … That’s good, competitive fun.
“So it’s important that there’s two sides to the story. It’s not something that I consciously think about [as far as] trying to change people’s minds, but if they do get changed, then that’s just a little bit of pride.”
Earnhardt Jr. said he believes Patrick will be a hit with NASCAR fans and will eventually win over her detractors.
“Even people that will not [root for her], everyone, and more people than want to admit it, want to see her do well, want to see her succeed because they want to see what the results of that are for the sport, not so much for her but really what does that do for everything else around them and how does that affect the sport?” he said.
Danica Patrick talks about the upcoming NASCAR season during the media tour. (Photo: Tom Jensen SPEED)
She already has one huge fan – and not just because he’s her boss.
“I like her personality. I like her as a person, and I’m glad that she wanted to work with us, obviously. And I’m glad she’s here,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I’m glad she’s making the choice to come here full time. I think it’s a good choice.
“Maybe I’m being a little selfish, but I think it’s good for the sport. She attracts a lot of attention. We need a bit of a rebound in some areas if you listen to the people that matter talk about the sport. She can provide that spark to sort of refresh some corporate sponsors interested in the sport and do things like that.”
Patrick approaches her off-track projects – modeling, commercials and occasionally acting – and extracurricular activities with the same gusto that she shows in racing – go for it with all she’s got, and then adapt and adjust when she needs to.
She will carry that philosophy into the biggest challenge of her career this year as she tries to get a firm grasp on stock-car racing and build a new career on an even bigger stage. And she’s not worried about critics who believe she’s making a mistake leaving IndyCar, or who believe she won’t make it in NASCAR.
“People’s negativity really doesn’t factor in for me,” she said. “I try get the most out of myself as I can possibly can and with that it means working really hard and trying new things, and if it’s not working, trying something new.
“The definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. It’s breaking ground and trying new things to make it happen, and doing everything possible so that I don’t have an excuse as to why I didn’t do it, because that’s where I’ll feel guilty and where I’ll feel bad and then people’s words will get to me. But if I am doing everything that I can, then I won’t.”
Patrick will face her new challenge under the glare of an enormous spotlight. But she’s ready for that, too.
Her career as a daring race-car driver and a sexy supermodel has prepared her for anything.
“Being unique always draws attention,” she said. “That’s something I’ve been lucky enough to be my whole career. I have enjoyed that, I have fun with that and I don’t ignore that.
“I don’t want people to not think of me as a girl, because I am. I’m fortunate that I have a unique platform.”
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