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CUP: What Will Danica Patrick Mean For NASCAR?
Danica Patrick’s pending arrival in NASCAR already has tongues wagging...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted December 13, 2009   Charlotte, NC
IndyCar star Danica Patrick has signed with NASCAR's JR Motorsports to run a limited NASCAR Nationwide schedule in 2010. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
Editor’s note: With Danica Patrick’s deal with JR Motorsports the biggest NASCAR news in years, SPEEDtv.com asked Editor-In-Chief Tom Jensen and IndyCar Editor Robin Miller to weigh in on the significance of her pending arrival. Their comments follow.
IndyCar star Danica Patrick has signed with NASCAR's JR Motorsports to run a limited NASCAR Nationwide schedule in 2010. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

1. True or false: Danica Patrick has a better chance of succeeding in stock cars than any other female racer before her.

MILLER: True. First of all, Danica is the first woman racer to try Daytona who can actually be a threat to men on a regular basis and she's the only one with the right package of skill, savvy, sass and BALLS. She's also starting out in the best equipment. I can't recall the last female who attempted NASCAR so she must have really made an impression.

JENSEN: False. Louise Smith begs to differ. She actually won NASCAR races — 38 of ‘em in a variety of divisions — half a century ago. What Patrick will have going for her is money behind her, something that more recent female NASCAR racers like Chrissy Wallace would kill for. Patrick will have a better chance to succeed than any other contemporary woman in NASCAR. Whether she does or not is an open question.

True or false: Danica Patrick will do better in stock cars than recent open-wheel expatriates Dario Franchitti, Jacques Villeneuve, Patrick Carpentier and Scott Speed. (JPM is in a class by himself here.)

MILLER: True. Let me understand this, the biggest star in Indy car racing is going to try some stock cars and NASCAR is all giddy because they need a shot of excitement, it's bound to help TV ratings and sell some new fans and sponsors for the series. Will she get THE CALL? Hell yes, she'll have a larger engine at Daytona than Richard Petty did in 1984 and, after she kicks ass in her debut and sells $1 million worth of T-shirts, going back to IndyCar racing will seem boring so Brian France will buy out her contract with Michael Andretti, she'll move to Charlotte and NASCAR wins again.

JENSEN: False. Is Patrick a better IndyCar racer than Franchitti? Villeneuve? Hornish? Of course not. She’s good, but she’s not better than they are and there’s absolutely no reason to expect that she’ll light it up in stock cars, either. She has a lot of resources behind her, but other than her victory in Japan — her only victory — her biggest claim to fame is that she’s better than Marco Andretti. Let’s see how she stacks up next to the likes of Steven Wallace and Jon Wes Townley.

True or false: Danica Patrick would have better success if she raced stock cars only.

MILLER: False. How tough can it be? Michael Waltrip is a two-time Daytona 500 winner.

JENSEN: True. Them’s fighting words, Miller. How tough can it be? Ask Hornish, the three-time IndyCar champion. In 72 Cup starts, he’s finished fourth twice and crashed so often that Robby Gordon gave him his last “Michael Andretti Driving School For The Blind” t-shirt. Or ask Franchitti, your 2007 and 2009 IndyCar champion. His 2008 NASCAR resume? Ten starts, no laps led, average finish, 34th. Even the exceptionally talented Juan Pablo Montoya has just 12 top-five finishes in 109 Cup starts.

True or false: With all his problems in 2009, the last thing Dale Earnhardt Jr. needs to have a driver of Danica Patrick’s visibility working for him.

MILLER: False. Junior needs distractions and having Danica's Go Daddy commercials on a 24-hour loop in his motorhome TV could be the perfect medicine for clearing his mind of all those negative racing thoughts. And, if she lets him tag along on her annual Sports Illustrated swimsuit shoot, he'll get to meet some hot women and get some sun on than pasty white body. The Chase will take on a new meaning.

JENSEN: False. Alien as it might be to say this, Miller may actually be onto something here. Junior certainly needs to have his head in a different place than it was this year. But please, GoDaddy, no swimsuit ads with Danica and Mark Martin together, OK?

True or false: When all is said and done, Danica Patrick will have a huge impact on NASCAR.

MILLER: True. Die-hard Jethros will abandon Gordon, Stewart and Little E to cheer for the Knockout in Nomex. She'll replace Kasey Kahne in those insurance commercials and ruffle Carl Edwards' feathers when she takes away the Aflac spot. SPEED will drop “Pinks,” “Wrecked” and “Two Guys Garage” for three hours of nightly of Danica news and once-a-month specials. She'll punch out Brad Kewslowski and be named Most Popular Driver. And NASCAR will cut back to 24 races because she needs a little “me time.”

JENSEN: True and False. She’s already had a huge impact in terms of the media frenzy. On track? Signs point to no. She’ll have good equipment in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, but she isn’t doing enough races to develop any kind of rhythm or feel for these cars. Three years of four or five races at the start of the season and four or five at the end? Good luck with that. Now if we can just get Milka Duno to commit to a full Nationwide schedule, there won’t be a single unemployed fabricator within 100 miles of Mooresville.

The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDtv.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or Speed Channel

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief for SPEEDtv.com, the former Executive Editor of NASCAR Scene and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. He is the author of Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of SPEED, and has appeared on television and radio shows to discuss NASCAR racing. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association. Jensen is the 1997 National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year and has won numerous national and state awards for news reporting, columns and feature writing. The Answer Man is back at SPEEDtv.com! Tom Jensen answers your questions during every race week and looks forward to hearing from you - please e-mail it to

Robin Miller became an Indy-car junkie in late 1950s and stooged for his hero, Jim Hurtubise, at the 1968 Indy 500. He went on to work as a vent man and board man on Indy pit crews from 1971-77. Miller bought a Formula Ford from Andy Granatelli in 1972 and raced it in SCCA until 1974 when he purchased a midget from Gary Bettenhausen, competing in the USAC midget series from 1975-82. Robin flunked out of Ball State College in 1968 and began working at The Indianapolis Star sports department in 1969, covered motorsports there from 1969-2000. In addition to his broadcast work. Miller's also covered IndyCar racing for Autoweek, Autosport, Car & Driver and On Track magazines over the past 35 years.
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