Happy Hour: Patrick-JRM still in spotlight

I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas and happy holidays. And for those who just have to get your Happy Hour fix, I'm taking next week off. I'll be back with you after the new year.

Now let's get to the final mailbag of 2009:

Danica vs. The World

I would love to be concentrating on the possibilities for Penske Racing this coming season, with 3 Chase capable teams and one proven champion but, like the rest of the NASCAR fan world, every conversation seems to be orbiting the #7 JRM car and its driver. I think a credible showing by Ms. Patrick will be good for JRM, good for Ms. Patrick and good for NASCAR overall but an age old concern raises its head here:

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The wife and I are Chrissy Wallace fans and were more than a little disappointed to watch her sponsorship dry up and blow away, leaving her a dabbler in racing when she shows the earmarks to be a credible competitor. While Chrissy is not an unattractive young woman, she is not likely to pursue a fall-back career in modeling, she is a talented driver, not a fashion plate.

Has our beloved sport become so media driven that it's not enough to be good (if you are a woman) but you have to have runway model looks too? Is this the smoking gun behind the difficulty for women making in-roads into racing?

It's hard enough to find top driving talent in either sex, but women have the added disadvantage of having to look good while performing. Good thing that doesn't follow for men or Greg Biffle would be sweeping one of Jack's shops instead of being a perennial contender. (Sorry Greg, it's a big bus and someone had to go under it.)

Keith Fosberg
Martinsburg, W.V.

While I do think some underestimate Danica's ability, there's no question that her star quality (which, like it or not, is tethered to her looks) has availed her the opportunity to hop into a premier Nationwide Series ride without ever having driven a stock car. Know what I call this Keith? Life. Some things just aren't fair.

But give Danica credit. She didn't just show up a star. She's built her brand into what it is today, and not all of it is held up on a foundation of good looks. There is quite a bit of talent there, too.

I'd like to add one more thing: So far, Danica has handled this NASCAR situation perfectly. She's coming in humbled, she's willing to start in the minor leagues and she's not making any grand predictions on when she'll take the Cup world by storm. She even came right out and said why she probably won't make her NASCAR debut at Daytona: Because she doesn't want to race against 30 Cup drivers.

As for Penske Racing, I'm sold on Kurt Busch, not so much on Sam Hornish Jr. or even Brad Keselowski, whose best results (Nationwide or Cup) have come in cars supported by Hendrick Motorsports. For me, he still needs to prove he can be competitive without a Hendrick engine under the hood.

Jay, unlike most comments about your Danica column, I respect your honest opinion. With such sugar-coated NASCAR reporters, these days it's hard to find a decent, real human being on the other side of the screen.

Clearly, Danica doesn't have the best track record – no pun intended – since all 5 years she's been racing she's won a mere one time; however, it's incredibly obvious open wheelers and stock cars are from two different hemispheres.

Who knows? Maybe she'll rock and be the next Jimmie Johnson! Or she'll be the next Franchitti and be on her way back to open-wheelers faster than she can say "NASCAR". Either way, I personally think no one should be sweating this situation. She could either be great, or terrible and until February, we'll never know. Let's just enjoy the break, eh?

Erica White

One of the things I find most interesting about Jimmie Johnson is how he's quick to point out that he's "finally found something [he's] good at" – his words, not mine. Remember, he had very little success in what was then called the Busch Series.

Maybe open-wheel cars aren't Danica's thing. Maybe she'll find more success in a stock car, just as Johnson did when he moved up to the Cup Series. And let's give her more time than just February before we determine if she's terrible or not.

I started as a big Danica fan when she first entered open wheel competition but I have since fallen off of the band wagon for the following reason: she is a great driver but a fair to poor racer.

Mario Andretti once said "lots of people want to go fast, only a few want to RACE". If you look at Danica's starting position in most of the races she qualifies well, drops some spots in the first few laps, then hangs around to finish reasonably well. This is very good for the team as the car usually comes back in one piece and she garners a handful of points so that, at the end of the season, she looks pretty good. Look at the lap charts.

I would love to be wrong and have her prove to me what a racer she is in NASCAR as the tin-top series puts more of a premium on hard-nosed racing than the middle of the field in IRL. That is not a knock on IRL as the front of the field is truly battling fiercely.

Erik Karlsson
Austin, Texas

Do you think the drivers currently on the circuit will treat Danica differently than they would any other NASCAR rookie?

I ask this for two reasons: one, because she is a woman, and that simple fact has seemed to provoke a lot of feeling from your readers both pro and con. It's reasonable to assume that the other drivers on the circuit are likely to be as polarized privately, regardless of what they say publicly.

Secondly, because her professional background is strictly open wheel, do you think she'll be given a little less respect on the course as a result of it, irrespective of her gender?

Both of those factors could have a large impact on Danica's success or the lack of it, even though it will ultimately be her driving ability (or the lack of it) that will determine the course of her career.

Cindy Hoffman
Greenfield, Ind.

I don't think Danica's gender or racing background will matter one bit when it come to respect from her peers. Will they be leery of her because of her rookie status? Sure, but that's how it is with all rookies. They will figure out pretty quickly how she handles herself on the track and will then race her accordingly, just as they do their male peers.

My biggest question isn't whether they'll show her enough respect, but rather the opposite. If she decides to be tough, say in a Brad Keselowski sort of way (though I highly doubt this will be the case), will drivers be willing to show her some tough love, the way Denny Hamlin did Keselowski in the Nationwide finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway?

I think you were too nice about Danica. If I had her looks and my talent I would have a ride in some form of professional racing. I will give her credit for the way she blasted Robbie Gordon a few years ago about eating less cheeseburgers instead of complaining about a weight advantage, but as far as her having the talent to drive a stock car, I don't think so.

Sam Hornish is 100 times the Indy car driver that she is, and he struggles to save face in a stockcar.

To the person that used Tony Stewart as an example, Tony is a rare breed that could haul ass in anything with wheels; hell, I bet he could win the Kentucky Derby on a donkey if they put a steering wheel on it.

Chris Smith
Coalinga, Calif.

Hilarious. And a word of advice to anyone driving on I-5 toward Coalinga – roll your windows up and/or make sure your air conditioner is flipped to re-circulate mode before you get there. They have the biggest cattle farm I've ever seen, and, well, you get the picture.

This and that …

Hey Jay. The argument about JJ vs. the rest of the greats is a bit like Lance Armstrong vs. Eddy Merckx. Lance won 7 Tours de France and is certainly the best Tour rider ever. But Eddy won 300+ races at almost a 33% rate – but only 5 Tours. The bottom line is that they are both great – but so different that it's hard to compare them. Just as the eras of Cale and Dale and Jeff and J are so different. Why does one have to be "Best"?

Paraphrasing Tom Robbins: Fairness isn't judging different things by the same criteria, but by judging different things by different criteria – as the relevant criteria have most likely changed in the meantime.

Matt Hoolehan
Chicago

My buddy James (who you may have read over at From the Marbles) introduced me to Tom Robbins way back, but I could never get into him. That said, what a brilliant quote.

As for why we debate such things as who is better – we have to keep ourselves entertained somehow between Miami and Daytona, don't we?

Jay, Now that they have the rule that owners may only have four teams, what gives with the Hendricks? J.J., Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin, and Dale Jr., that's his four. Now with his co-ownership with Jr. Motorsports, that makes another half team, and if they have one more car running, that will be the same as another half team. Something dose not smell right to me.

Richard Dankert
Klamath Falls, Ore.

JR Motorsports runs exclusively in the Nationwide Series, so there is no conflict here, Richard.

The bigger question going forward for NASCAR is how to treat organizations and their satellite teams. Seems like it's OK right now for an organization to have one satellite team. But if Dale Earnhardt Jr. decides to move his team up to Cup, does NASCAR allow Hendrick to be affiliated? If so, what's to stop Hendrick from amassing an arsenal of satellite teams that dominates the Cup landscape?

Last call …

So, instead of penis enlargement commercials we will now be seeing Tampax ads on NASCAR?

Richard
Cuatro Rosa, Mexico