iNSIDE SCOOP: Can Danica Win?

By now, you’ve heard what Richard Petty said about Danica Patrick’s chances of winning a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race.

And if you haven’t, click the link to the story on ONMC.com and find out.

Regardless of your reaction, it does bring up an interesting point: can she win a race at the top level of the sport?

Sure she can. She’s a talented driver, having led laps at Daytona and at Indianapolis in an Indy Car. She won the pole at Daytona last year for the 500, and that’s not too shabby. Of course, winning the pole at a plate track is more a function of car and timing than skill, but it still counts and she was the first female driver to do so.

What it amounts to is Richard Petty’s personal thoughts about her skills as a driver. He apparently thinks that she can’t do it on talent, and that’s his right as a driver and champion himself. 

It’s probably not the most politically correct thing to say, given the tensions in the world these days, but political correctness is not what’s being discussed here. It’s whether she can win a race or not.

Yes, she can win a race. Will she? That’s a different question. She can, provided that things fall a certain way. I would hesitate to say that she can go out, lead the most laps and win a race going away right now, because that doesn’t often happen to drivers in their second full season of stock car competition.

Perhaps what The King and others who scoff at Patrick’s acumen behind the wheel are not happy about is her marketing power. She gets a lot of attention because of who she is and what she’s doing, and the fact that GoDaddy.com is raking in dollars based on her status as the only female driver at this level.

Whatever it is, it isn’t going away until she proves she can be competitive on tracks that aren’t Daytona and Talladega. That isn’t necessarily fair, but such is the world we live in. She’s got the marketing horsepower to have a ride at this level, and she’s making the best of it.

She could win Daytona in two weeks, too. The way plate races go, she could be in Victory Lane at the biggest race on the circuit.

Or she could wind up in the fence and out of the race. You never know.

Personally, as long as she has the backing and the support of team and sponsor, she can do what she wants. This isn’t easy to do. Right now, she is learning, and making progress. If she stops learning and making progress, then it will go as most of these things go: not well for her.

For one, I look forward to seeing if she can make The King eat crow. You can bet there will be a reminder somewhere in the cockpit on race days from here on out.