Danica Patrick is coming to the streets of St. Petersburg in late March, not to go boutique shopping, to race with the big boys in the IZOD IndyCar Series for Andretti Green Racing when downtown streets become a twisted road course. If her recent rookie sojourns to NASCAR tracks in Florida and California are a media measure, then at least some of the mania will follow her to Tampa Bay.
Given that NASCAR has a much larger following than IndyCar and that includes media as well, she may not be so squeezed by an overabundance of eager and persistent reporters and photographers.
Danica Patrick races cars skillfully, but she also has beautiful long hair that adorns her pretty face. So is Patrick tired of folks in her hair yet?
After a disappointing 31st place run on the two mile Auto Club Speedway track recently, Patrick was upset. But she is a competitor and after race emotions of that nature are common to winners. Still, the media swarmed her hauler to get her post-race words.
Media also question other drivers about Patrick. That NASCAR guys are probably tired of answering Danica questions is probably a given, but when Tony Stewart was asked if drivers thought Danica was getting too much attention, he made a crisp point.
“No, we don’t think so, it’s just that you guys keep pestering us about her gets to be too much,” Stewart said. “After a while you wonder how much you can talk about the same topic and we haven’t even gotten her to her first regular race and we’re still talking about the same stuff. Our opinion about her hasn’t changed, I still think she has an extremely high amount of talent. I think that if the media will give her enough room to learn and not beg the daylights out of her where she can’t breathe, I think she’ll be fine. That opinion from last week to this week, it really hasn’t changed.”
NASCAR Nationwide Crew chief Tony Eury Jr. talked about the media frenzy before the season commenced.
“I’ve been on that side of the fence in the Dale Jr. saga,” Eury Said. “I know how the media goes. I know how the people are. I think I kind of fit the role for her right now. Give her a little bit of space. Help tutor her on what she needs to know. What to stay away from. That sort of thing. These drivers can get used up doing extra activities and stuff.”
At Daytona International Speedway Patrick discuss a packed media room she seems to have a handle on too much media.
“This is definitely by far the biggest room of media I've been in,” Patrick said. “But once you get to a certain point, you know, a little more is not as dramatic. I mean, if it was a room of a few of you, and then all of a sudden it was this, it would be a little bit more intimidating. I've been lucky to be in these situations.”
She doesn’t indicate that the frenzy is overwhelming. An alert and abundant staff of PR folks and security follow her to protect her from interference. In the garage the stall reserved for her Go Daddy car is protected too. Photographers and others are kept at a distance across the fire lane where cars enter and exit.
Patrick understands she has work to do.
“If I spent all my time trying to prove to everybody I could drive a race car, I would be out of energy,” Patrick said. “All I really need to do is keep my team happy, keep my crew chief happy, and keep myself happy, know that I'm pushing a limit. Hey, you know, I'm new, some stuff is going to be tough, I'm not going to come up to speed as quickly.
“As long as I'm progressing, I think that's all I can really use as a barometer as to whether I'm getting better or not or I can drive.”
It’s doubtful that Patrick will be pulling any of that abundant hair out any time soon. As for too many people in her long locks, it seems as long as most are kept at a distance she won’t be having too many bad hair days.
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