Catchfence

So we now have confirmation that Danica Patrick will drive in the Busch Series and ARCA in 2010, and of course we have the usual lack of dissension with regard to media reaction to Patrick’s presence in racing – one strains to find anything in the way of reportage critical of Patrick and of Rick Hendrick and Dale Earnhardt Jr. for seeking out Patrick.

It’s been that way since Patrick debuted in IRL in 2005 with Bobby Rahal’s team, a team fresh off winning the Indianapolis 500 with Buddy Rice. Patrick’s presence wound up diverting effort from Rice’s car, as Patrick’s gender plus the no-frills personality of Rice helped with marketing. 1 Patrick, however, didn’t deliver. In her first race she plowed into a wreck without cracking the throttle. The next year Paul Dana was killed in a similar wreck and wound up all but crucified in the media over the way he’d driven; for Patrick, on the other hand, coverage was kid-gloves.

Patrick did lead laps at Indianapolis in 2005, but after that her performance dropped dramatically – she became just another car in the field, and when sponsorship from Argent Mortgage dried up she went to Michael Andretti’s team. Once again she had quality racecars at her disposal in a series where competitive depth was drying up, and once again she fought for little on the racetrack – but developed a habit of trying to pick fights with drivers on pit road, usually after she’d rammed into a car in the pits. She also went through stretches where she would crash out of races with some frequency. She always managed high points finishes, but this said more about her racecars and the dearth of competitive depth than it did to whatever talent she had.

For the past season she’s flirted with a stock car deal, and yet again not a peep of dissent has been found. That Patrick has shown little talent or ability to make her racecars better is obvious, yet she is treated as a superstar. It has made the process a joke. Some cite it as something the sport needs 2 and it has only confirmed the sport’s absurd approach of trying gimmicks and quick-fixes instead of confronting real issues with real long-term solutions.

Why Danica? As of yet nothing in the way of a credible reason can be found.