December 09, 2009

Danica Patrick Joins NASCAR: IndyCar driver Danica Patrick is going to drive a partial schedule for JR Motorsports in the NASCAR Nationwide Series next year, making her stock car debut Feb. 6 in the ARCA race at Daytona. GoDaddy.com is sponsoring her along with Mark Martin in the Sprint Cup Series, with an eye towards Patrick replacing him in 2012.

posted by rcade to auto racing at 09:53 AM - 22 comments

Hasn't this move been rumored for awhile?

posted by yzelda4045 at 10:48 AM on December 09, 2009

Yup and it's finally come to fruition.

posted by BornIcon at 10:54 AM on December 09, 2009

Cant wait for the calender of her laying on the hood of the car with the "Go Daddy" chicks.

posted by Debo270 at 11:08 AM on December 09, 2009

Cant wait for the calender of her laying on the hood of the car with the "Go Daddy" chicks.

... or with Tiger Woods.

posted by smithnyiu at 12:04 PM on December 09, 2009

overqualified

posted by JButton at 01:54 PM on December 09, 2009

Bravo for Danica- a whole new fan constituency to unzip her overalls for.

posted by irunfromclones at 02:32 PM on December 09, 2009

Has Danica won any races yet?

posted by mayerkyl at 02:46 PM on December 09, 2009

Bravo for Danica- a whole new fan constituency to unzip her overalls for.

Nice line. To me, Patrick's long association with GoDaddy and its trashy marketing has made her look like someone who will do anything for a buck. So the NASCAR move seems more about publicity than an effort to actually win anything.

posted by rcade at 02:50 PM on December 09, 2009

I long ago gave up on the notion that Danica Patrick was into racing to win a race.

posted by yzelda4045 at 02:55 PM on December 09, 2009

I stated this when I posted this rumor a couple of weeks back, and I still stand by it:

It is fitting that the most overrated IRL driver will be driving in NASCAR for the most overrated NASCAR Driver.

posted by Demophon at 03:13 PM on December 09, 2009

I long ago gave up on the notion that Danica Patrick was into racing to win a race.

Wait a second? Danica Patrick actually races?

posted by BornIcon at 03:18 PM on December 09, 2009

She finished 5th in the IRL series last year, ahead of Kanaan, Rahal, Andretti and Wheldon to name a few. She's not just a pretty face and she has won a race.

To me, Patrick's long association with GoDaddy and its trashy marketing has made her look like someone who will do anything for a buck.

Yeah, I wish she wouldn't feel the need to do that. I've taken my daughters to the 500 the last two years and I really think it's cool to have them witness women competing against men, but we kinda rooted harder for Sara Fisher.

posted by tselson at 03:35 PM on December 09, 2009

She finished 5th in the IRL series last year, ahead of Kanaan, Rahal, Andretti and Wheldon to name a few. She's not just a pretty face and she has won a race.

Someone's snark-o-meter must be on the fritz.

posted by BornIcon at 03:42 PM on December 09, 2009

She finished 5th in the IRL last year. I also don't understand how she's overrated considering everyone's quick to jump on how terrible a driver she is. I don't know anyone who thinks she's the best driver but for the amount of flak she takes, you'd think she was a lot worse than 5th.

posted by dfleming at 03:44 PM on December 09, 2009

Guess this means she won't be in the US F1 team.

Shame.

posted by Drood at 06:27 PM on December 09, 2009

She can drive. She was 5th. Stop making us dudes look so bad.

posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 08:23 PM on December 09, 2009

to me, Patrick's long association with GoDaddy and its trashy marketing has made her look like someone who will do anything for a buck. So the NASCAR move seems more about publicity than an effort to actually win anything.

I had caught fleeting pieces of the goDaddy commercials previously and thought "that girl looks like Danica Patrick" but until recently had no idea that it REALLY WAS Danica Patrick. Just seemed so out of place with her, particularly given she's a woman in a predominantly male sport whose probably had to deal with sexism her whole career...yet here she is, unzipping her shirt with a busty cop, etc.

posted by bdaddy at 09:17 AM on December 10, 2009

Question: if Danica Patrick wasn't a famous driver, would any of us have any problem with her appearing in slightly risque commercials?

Hey, maybe she just likes taking her clothes off.

posted by wfrazerjr at 11:13 AM on December 10, 2009

If Danica Patrick wasn't a famous driver, no one would care what she does. It's disappointing that she's tied herself so closely to a company that brazenly markets itself through T&A and NASCAR wants a piece of that action.

posted by rcade at 11:18 AM on December 10, 2009

The biggest issue I have with the "risque' advertising is what comes to mind first when Danica Patrick is mentioned. Which was the point of my post about giving up on the notion that Danica is really trying to be taken seriously. She could just like"taking her clothes off", I'm just disappointed because it just proves(to me) how difficult it is to walk that tight rope when you are a woman in an occupation/sport that is male dominated and yoiu are attractive as well.

posted by yzelda4045 at 12:21 PM on December 10, 2009

Question: if Danica Patrick wasn't a famous driver, would any of us have any problem with her appearing in slightly risque commercials?

Answer: If Danica Patrick wasn't a famous driver, she wouldn't be appearing in ANY commercials, regardless of their content.

posted by grum@work at 12:28 PM on December 10, 2009

I personally don't se anything wrong with Danica's decision to be part of GoDaddy.com ads. How is what she does any different than what Tom Brady does? What if Danica wore a wet t-shirt? No one had a beef with Mark Sanchez without a shirt and he plays football.

Btw, did anyone know that Tom Brady has a tattoo of Pee-Wee Herman?

posted by BornIcon at 02:06 PM on December 10, 2009

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