Danica Patrick said today that while
she is looking forward to tackling the Martinsville Speedway short track for
the first time, she has little idea what to expect.
“I haven’t been here,
(but) I have a feeling it’s going to be really challenging and probably a
little overwhelming at first,” admitted Patrick. “We tested at Little Rock a
few weeks ago and I think that will probably serve me well and gave me at least
a feel for what it is like on these really tiny tracks.
I’m not really sure what
to expect yet, but I’m going to go over and see Tony, see what he says and take
some recommendations on what to do.”
Patrick said Goodyear’s
decision to build a new tire for this weekend’s race impacted her ability to
test at the Virginia oval.
“We were going to test
here around the Little Rock time, but they changed the tire right before we
came and everybody sort of aborted that mission,” she revealed. “At least
that’s my understanding. So, we were going to test here but that didn’t work
out.”
Team owner Stewart said recently that he looked forward
to watching Patrick tackle the challenging Martinsville track, saying her
transition could be amusing to watch.
“I don’t know what to
expect,” she admitted. “It might feel like when I drove a Nationwide car for
the first time at tracks I hadn’t been to. All I do is look in my mirror the
whole time for what’s going on. Am I going to go out there and be just fine, or
am I going to go out there and be a total disaster?
“It makes me happy that
we went to Little Rock, just (to) get an appreciation for how quick the corners
come up. You also get an appreciation for the line and how the tires come up to
pressure and how the car changes. I’m not going out too far behind (Tony), and
he’s pretty good. I’ll be looking around, trying to see where the line is and
see where to go.
“Being here for the
first time and understanding how challenging it is, I feel like it’s only up
from here. I have no doubt that it will be a hard day, but I’m also of the
belief that it can also be a really fun day. A good car is a good car. If it’s
good and it’s hooked up and its turning… there’s no reason we can’t have a
decent day. There’s also no way to know if it’s going to be different, because
I haven’t been here before. Being a rookie and kind of getting shown the
ropes…you just have to stand your ground. Nothing works better than driving
away from people.
“We’re going to be
working toward a car that will do what I want it to do and be comfortable.
We’ll just see how it shakes out.”
I dunno what kind of rocket fuel they put into her Daytona car, but it's been painfully obvious that her performance has been sub-par at every track since.
ReplyDeleteI still can't figure why in the world her people thought it'd be a good idea to jump right into Cup when she was still struggling in Nationwide. It can't possibly be good for her brand, or her reputation.
All I can figure is the almighty dollar was more important than either of those two concerns...
Don't think I'm down on female drivers either. I see Johanna Long on the track and I think it's awesome. I point her out to my little girl every single time she's racing.
I think the primary difference there is that Johanna's working hard to be a racer. Whereas Danica seemed to go all out to be a celebrity first. I'm just tired of her at this point.
Ok, OK... I don't mind eating my words when proven wrong. Nice Job to Danica at Martinsville! She certainly blew away all my expectations.
DeleteShe surprised me at Daytona too, after I had spent the previous week telling friends (all of which are non-NASCAR fans) that she didn't stand a chance.
...Maybe me putting her down is the an a$$-backwards good luck charm. haha