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NASCAR Nationwide Series
VENTURINI: Danica Did It
Stock car racing newcomer Danica Patrick is more than a pretty face and a marketing machine... the girl can drive...
Wendy Venturini  |  Posted February 09, 2010   Daytona Beach, FL
SPEED's Wendy Venturini. (Image: SPEED)
She’s more than a pretty face and a marketing machine... the girl can drive...

Danica Patrick proved that in short order Saturday during her stock car debut in the ARCA Racing Series at Daytona International Speedway.

Some critics had downplayed her coming to NASCAR as nothing but a PR and marketing gimmick sure to net her millions of dollars but minimal on-track success, but they were silenced as Danica came out of the gate strong with a sixth-place finish.

She didn’t luck into that top-10 showing either, but ran near the front most of the day and even survived a slide through the infield grass following a bump by a fellow competitor. Amazingly, she was able to keep her car off the wall in a display of skilled car control.

I covered Danica’s pit throughout the day, as well as her steps earlier in the week, and was impressed by her concentration both on and off the track. Apologies to her critics, but I think Danica is the real deal.

A few of my observations:

Media Day: Danica was friendly during her numerous media obligations Thursday. She made a point to reach out her hand and introduce herself to John Roberts and me when she joined us live for SPEED’s coverage of Media Day. She assumed nothing and seemed very open in declaring her intent to get to know everyone and everything.

Race day in her hauler: She was calm, cool and collected. When I entered the No. 7 hauler on race morning to speak with crew chief Tony Eury Jr., Danica was studying the pit road map. She and Eury Jr. had walked out to pit road that morning to prepare. Additionally, the IndyCar darling had spent the night before (and weeks leading up to it) watching the 2009 Daytona ARCA race to familiarize herself with ARCA procedures and the tendencies of other drivers. That’s great preparation for a newcomer.

Pre-race: Danica fulfilled all the necessary pre-race interviews for live television despite being swarmed by media when she needed to be intently focused on the race. She knew the media expectations and did what was necessary without being frazzled.

Observations during the race: During the red flag, Danica asked very good questions about what to do in this situation (what fans to turn off, why to park the car on an angle, etc).

She even showed a sense of humor during the 10 minutes of down time: “How long does this last? Three minutes? 10 minutes?” After Eury Jr. responded, “It depends,” she said, with a little laugh in her voice, “Ok, I’ll just chill out here then. The drink system works really well.”

She showed a concern for her competitors. When Jill George, one of the six other females in the race, took a hard hit, Danica saw the extreme damage to Jill’s car and wanted to know if she was okay.

Car control: Danica demonstrated amazing car control with her ride through the grass, able to save her race car and show her ability to handle a car in that situation. She listened intently to her spotter, Chip Ross, as he guided her through that slide - “on the gas, on the gas ... off the gas, off the gas...” - as it happened. You could see in the in-car video how she precisely chose every move during that near-wreck. And from what I heard in the Cup garage that evening, this was where she impressed even the most-experienced NASCAR drivers.

Post-race: Post-race interviews speak volumes about a driver’s personality. When Danica climbed out of the car, she removed her helmet and HANS device and left her fireproof face sock on when she began conversation with the team. “That was fun!” You could hear the excitement in her voice. She removed her face sock, was informed by her PR director that live SPEED was waiting, and without skipping a beat, turned right to me. No prepping, no fixing, nothing. That told me she was a true athlete there to compete.

It was a different Danica than what I believe is portrayed in the national media and risqué TV commercials. I have the option of believing what I hear or forming my own opinion of Danica Patrick. After working with her in her first weekend in a stock car, I choose the latter. And it’s all positive. I look forward to seeing her progress in the NASCAR Nationwide Series this weekend and all year.

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Wendy Venturini

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