Feb 26: Danica Patrick and NASCAR

Here she is..........the talk of the Daytona 500 Miss Danica Patrick  -  pole winner of The Great American Race. You'd think not much else was going on at the track or during the race with all the coverage she received. But hey, why not? Like her or not, Danica coming to Sprint Cup is big news for NASCAR, a series not known for having female drivers or in her case, a relatively successful (remember she won a race in Japan) expat from Indy Car. It sure doesn't hurt that she is very attractive. I mean, would Jeff Gordon get as much press if he looked like a troll?

I'm a Danica fan. She did very well in the 500 and I hope she does well the rest of the season. Isn't it time NASCAR had a femme fatale behind the wheel, because NHRA has had top woman drivers for years. Let's take a look at a few who have been winning in drag racing.........

 Shirley Muldowney is probably the most famous woman in drag racing. Starting off street racing, she progressed to the professional ranks, first in a Funny Car and then she became most successful in a Top Fuel dragster (below), where she won three championships. Even had a movie done on her exploits ("Heart Like a Wheel" - well worth a watch).

Even before she made it big, there were other winning female drivers such as Shirley Shahan, the famous "Drag-on-Lady".......

But nowadays, there are very good and winning woman drivers in all three of the top professional categories.  The Force sisters (John's daughters) have all done well. Although Brittany is just getting started in Top Fuel, she did well in a lower series. Ashley and Courtney have also won in Funny Car. Some pics, please.......

Brittany Force

Ashley Force

Courtney Force

And you don't have to be a member of the Force family to achieve straight line greatness. Pro Stock driver, Erica Enders has also won several events on this very tough circuit........

The reason for this whole post (pretty bad when the blogger has to point it out) is that it shouldn't surprise anyone that Danica Patrick is going to get exposure far beyond her success (or lack of it) on the track. NASCAR has pretty much been a man's world and now this woman is breaking in to it with a top ride. As Norris MacDonald of the Toronto Star wrote me yesterday, "she is going to make those millionaire drivers, billionaires". Good point, as more non race fans tune in to see her, they'll bring publicity and that brings more sponsors.

Hang on folks, it's going to be a great ride.

Until next time........