Catchfence

Year one of Danica Patrick’s flirtation with NASCAR has come and gone, with wholly predictable results: In terms of television ratings, Patrick was a sensation. In terms of race finishes, not so much.

And as for her future, well, that’s still every bit as much up in the air as it was at this time a year ago.

To recap: Last year, Patrick made her NASCAR Nationwide Series debut, entering 13 races with JR Motorsports, the team co-owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his sister Kelley. In those 13 starts, Patrick’s best finish was a 19th at the season-ending Ford 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Her average finish was an abysmal 28.00.

On the other hand, when she ran the ARCA race at Daytona, the race broadcast on SPEED drew 2.4 million viewers, an 87 percent increase over the 1.3 million viewers the 2009 event had. Her Nationwide debut at Daytona became the most-viewed series race in cable television history.

Everywhere she went, it seemed, Patrick drew huge crowds and lots of media attention. Her souvenir trailer frequently had long lines, even at places where other drivers saw sparse sales.

On track, things did not go as well.

That Patrick struggled in her first year in stock cars is hardly a surprise. Superstars Dario Franchitti, Sam Hornish Jr. and Jacques Villeneuve tried NASCAR and couldn’t make it work for them. All three have multiple open-wheel championships and at least one Indy 500 victory on their resumes, while Patrick has won but a single IZOD IndyCar Series race.

- SPEEDtv.com