I must admit, I am a fan of Danica, although not so much as I was when she first came into the sport~ I bought into the hype that she was gonna be the next big thing in the sport, and for years, I've always been a fan of female NASCAR drivers~
I was hoping that Danica was the one that was gonna give the female drivers their first win in the Cup series, or at least in the BGN series~ So far, I've been wrong.. very wrong~ I hope someday she can pull one off, and get a win.. but it's gonna be very difficult for her~ Let's go ahead and get into this post, and I'll just highlight some of Danica's better races she had while driving the #10 GoDaddy Chevrolet~
The eye of the tigress~
Danica's first full Cup season came in 2013, after she had spent the previous season running full time in the BGN series~ She won the pole in her first race as a full time driver, in the 2013 Daytona 500, where she led for 5 laps, and finished in 8th place~ Her next decent run came 5 races later, in the STP Gas Booster 500 @ Martinsville, where she came home in the 12th position, after spinning out early in the race, and getting a few laps down~
Following the good run @ Martinsville, Danica was god awful for the next 8 races in a row, with no finishes higher than 24th during that span~ Then came the Quicken Loans 400 @ Michigan, where she qualified 37th, and beat and banged her way up to a 13th place finish~ After 2 more bad races, Patrick would go to Daytona for the Coke Zero 400, where she started the race in 11th, and finished in 14th place~
Her final decent run of the season came in the Goody's Headache Relief Shot 500 @ Martinsville, where she started 41st, and made her way up to a 17th place finish, 1 lap off the pace of race winner, Jeff Gordon~ Danica finished out her first full Cup season with 1 pole, and 1 top 10, along with leading 5 laps, and finished 27th in the final points standings~ She had an average start of 30.1, and an average finish of 26.1~
Danica always finds time for exercise~
I feel like Danica's best season came in 2014, although some would argue that opinion~ She did have a lot of bad finishes, but she had some really good runs as well~ Her first good race of the season came in the Auto Club 400 @ Fontana, where she finished 14th, after starting from 27th place~ Six races later, in the 5-Hour Energy 400 @ Kansas, she qualified in 9th, and came home in the 7th spot~
Following the Kansas race, Danica qualified 4th in the Coca-Cola 600 @ Charlotte, but a blown engine on lap 281 ended her day, resulting in a 39th place effort~ In the Coke Zero 400 @ Daytona, Patrick manage to pick up an 8th place finish, after starting from 29th~ Her car was partially sponsored by the Florida Lottery for the event~
She had a surprisingly strong finish in the Oral-B USA 500 @ Atlanta, where after starting the race from 27th, she charged her way up to dang near a top 5 finish, with a 6th place showing~ The rest of the season was filled with sub par efforts, with her best run after the Atlanta race being a pair of 16th place finishes~ She ended her 2014 campaign with 3 top 10's, 15 laps led, and was 28th in the final points standings~ Her average start for the year was 22.3, a current career high, and her average finish was 23.7~
Will we ever get to see her in a NASCAR victory lane?~
Patrick started the 2015 season off without a top 15 finish in the first 5 races~ She ended that streak in fashion, with a 7th place finish in the STP 500 @ Martinsville~ I've always thought of Martinsville as a road course type of track, so it makes sense that Danica would do well there~ She always has a chance of running well on short tracks, road courses, and super speedways~ Her main problems are her restarts, and pit stops/making the car better~
Danica started 26th in the "Food City 500 in Support of Steve Byrnes" @ Bristol, and hammered her way up to a 9th place showing~ I was at this race, and she was very fun to watch.. the night was full of energy, and I was proud of the way she ran that night~ The race ended up going into overtime, or whatever the heck it's called, and junky ol' Matt Kenseth won~ I was mad about that~ He's boring~
Despite having some decent runs in several races, something always happened near the end of the race... Danica always seemed to fade away at the end of the race, and finish in like 30th place~ Her only other top 15 during the entire season came in the "FedEx 400 Benefiting Autism Speaks" @ Dover, where she finished in 15th place~ Her 2015 campaign consisted of 2 top 10's, 7 laps led, and was 24th in the final points standings~ She had an average start of 22.4, and an average finish of 23.5~
Custom Danica Patrick Racing Champions card~
With the end of the 2015 season, Danica's time in the GoDaddy car was over, and she started the 2016 season off with new sponsor Nature's Bakery~ Gone were the familiar colors of the famous GoDaddy paint scheme, now replaced by the white and powdery blue scheme of the Nature's Bakery car~ It was a season of solid goose eggs for Patrick, although it did have a few bright moments~
Danica's fist top 15 of the 2016 season came in the "AAA 400 Drive For Autism", which was the 12th race of the season~ She finished 13th in the event~ 7 races later, in the New Hampshire 301 she managed to eek out a 14th place finish, after starting from 29th place~ She picked up another top 15 finish in the Federated Auto Parts 400 @ Loudon, with a 15th place effort~ Patrick led 11 laps of the Cheez-It 355 at the Glen @ Watkins Glen, but fell back towards the end of the race, and only managed a 21st place finish~
Patrick's only other bright spot of the season came in the Bank of America 500 @ Charlotte, where she started in 13th, and finished in 11th place~ Although she didn't get a top 10 during the season, she led a career high 30 laps, and finished a career high matching 24th in the final points standings~ Her average start was 25.1, and her average finish was a career high 22.0~ Nature's Bakery is scheduled to be the sponsor for Danica for the 2017, and maybe even beyond that~ As of now, it's not been specified~
Would Shawna Robinson, Patty Moise, or Janet Guthrie act like this?~
I swear, out of all the blog posts I've ever made.. this one was the hardest one to put together~ Every other picture of Danica is her in her underwear and bra~ Try searching for Ryan Newman, and see if you'll find a bunch of him in just his underwear.. lol~ You won't find that, because that's dumb, and Ryan Newman is a wheel man.. his driving skills are what keep him in NASCAR~ He may not win a lot of races, but he's consistent, and he doesn't tear up a bunch of race cars~
With Danica, that's basically all she has to offer.. the sex appeal~ She does have an occasional decent run, but nothing near worth keeping her in that car with Stewart-Haas~ I still hope she wins a Cup race, but she's gonna have to focus more on the race car, and less on this yoga, and being in her underwear so much~ You don't see Patty Moise in her underwear, or Shawn Robinson.. they had respect for themselves~
Danica will be 35 years old in March~ This is a time when most drivers are coming into the prime of their careers~ If there's any chance of her winning a Cup race, she'll have to do it within the next 3 seasons~ And she'll have to drive well enough to keep that ride.. in my opinion~ I don't see her staying with Stewart-Haas unless she starts becoming a top 15 driver on a regular basis, at the very least~ I don't care that she shows off her underwear that much, but I wish she'd at least get more competitive before she shows all of that skin~
Danica Patrick #10 GoDaddy Chevrolet~
Although I disliked the idea of doing a blog post on a current day driver, I had a really fun time making this car~ It really looks like it could have been one of her cars, but in the form of an old Racing Champions car~ The card was fun to make also, and it took probably the longest of any card I've ever done~ As with the Neil Bonnett car I used to make this car, this one doesn't have any lettering on the tires, which I think was due to a conflict with Hoosier, but I'm not totally sure~
The colors of the car, and the scheme design from the Bonnett car make this one look pretty awesome in my opinion~ If this car was out there racing in 1994, it would have been a fan favorite hands down~ I would go so far as to say that this car looks better than it originally did as the Bonnett version, by a thousand million.. but that's just my opinion.. surely I'm biased~ :P
I have to give this one an A- on the Racing Champions quality scale, due mostly to the fact of the tires not having any lettering.. so that's not really the cars fault.. I'm just a mean ol' critic~ All in all I love this car, and I enjoy watching Danica race around out there.. I'd rather see Johanna Long, but I guess she just doesn't have the sex appeal to get the job~ Below are some videos featuring Danica's time in NASCAR, along with a bonus car that I came up with~ Please share this blog post on any kind of social media you may be a part of~ Thanks for comin', and I'll see y'all on the next NASCAR Racing Champions diecast blog post~
***Bonus Car***
Diggity Dave #29 Olde Thompson Himalayan Pink Salt Oldsmobile~
Danica Patrick: Pissed and Confused~
What do other drivers think about Danica?~
Still hasn't learned~
Danica fights, arguments, and tempers~
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