It was suggested earlier this week that the world has a hate on for soon-to-be-NASCAR darling Danica Patrick. That could be true, but simple fatigue might be a bit more accurate way of describing how the racing world feels about the one-win wonder.
And that weariness only increases when the Danica apologists attempt to make the case that she’s actually a much better driver than her record indicates.
It’s time for her defenders to face reality: Danica Patrick has not set the world on fire in open wheel racing; actually, she’s been quite a disappointment.
In her car racing career, Patrick has one win in 191 starts. That’s a winning percentage of a tad more than one-half of one per cent of the time she gets in her car for a race. When just her IndyCar races are included, her record is slightly better with one win in 112 starts, or a 0.009 batting average. Ok, that’s better than erstwhile tennis celebrity Anna Kournikova, who never won anything, but you get the point.
Yet, Patrick’s defenders try to show that it’s not all that bad by cherry-picking stats that make her look better than she is. For example, comparing her NASCAR numbers to a random driver’s statistics, like 2011 Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne, instead of her teammates is disingenuous at best. Any driver will tell you that a teammate is the best comparison due to the similar resources, equipment and personnel. Simply put, it is the yardstick that any reputable driver would use. According to that calculation, her NASCAR Nationwide teammates at JR Motorsport combined to average a top-five finish 26 per cent of the time over the two seasons she’s raced with the outfit, while Patrick’s standard is about 14 per cent.
In IndyCar she fares even worse. Keeping with top-five finishes, she outscored last minute replacement and somewhat untested driver Jeff Simmons in 2006 at Rahal Letterman and skill-challenged pay driver Hideki Mutoh at Andretti Green in 2008 and 2009. But apart from those two, she has mostly been outpaced by her teammates when it comes to top-five finishes.
To put things in complete perspective, her career numbers of one win and six podiums in seven IndyCar seasons compares rather poorly to Dario Franchitti’s performance during their one year as Andretti teammates in 2007, where he took four victories and 11 top-three finishes on his way to the title.
To be fair, she was the top Andretti driver in 2008 and 2009 when she finished sixth and fifth respectively overall. Last season, she slipped to 10th overall and lies 12th in points this year after 13 of 17 races.
As for the criticism of her sartorial choices, it’s true that unlike Patrick, few pay attention to the clothes five-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson wears to a press conference.
But there’s a simple reason for this omission: It a guess, but it’s highly doubtful that Johnson — who is in tremendous physical shape — would consider showing up to a media day in skin-tight spandex pants and a black leather jacket. Instead, like most male drivers, he makes his clothes a non-issue by wearing team gear to press events.
And, let’s also be clear here: In a sport where bikini-clad eye candy is the norm, maybe a serious driver who hasn’t set the track ablaze with her speed would not try so hard to fit in with that scenery.
In addition, many would argue that Patrick’s posing in Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit edition and batting her eyes in the shower in GoDaddy television commercials makes it more difficult for other women drivers to race with the boys on merit. To paraphrase former Law and Order Assistant District Attorney Paul Robinette, it seems Patrick and her management team decided she’s a hot driver, not a talented racer who happens to be attractive.
