Right now on SPEED Channel’s web site, Larry Woody of RacinToday.com sinks his teeth into the whole Danica Patrick “it’s not my fault” saga that has raged on since her unfortunate comments last Saturday during Indy 500 Pole Day qualifying. But Woody’s taking a different angle to this topic by asking if there were other reasons behind the major boos Patrick received — other than dissing her team’s car preparation efforts in public, of course.
Woody surmises that it was actually a combination of multiple elements that triggered the heat from fans. Besides Patrick throwing her Andretti Autosport team under the bus, Woody thinks that resentment over her current part-time run in NASCAR and a growing belief that she’s overrated also caused the reaction from the crowd. His argument ends with him saying that Patrick shouldn’t have been booed and that all she was trying to say with her comments was that she’d have a chance to win if she gets a fast car.
I see where he’s coming from, but when I read this, I immediately thought of where the sport was before Danica came along and where it is now as she dips her toes into the NASCAR waters. And honestly, despite her phenomenal success in breaking into the mainstream consciousness, the IZOD IndyCar Series has stayed in the background. Isn’t she supposed to be the rising tide that floats all the boats? The series is still fighting for its future survival, still mucking around in the sub-1.0 ratings on TV, and still dealing with a lack of live attendance.
To me, the phenomenon of Danicamania has only benefited its namesake — not the series she’s raced in for the last five years. With just one win to her credit, the amount of attention she gets is staggering. But how much of that attention has gone to IndyCar? When you think about it, not much.
She’s a talented driver, no doubt about it; she wouldn’t have come home fifth in last year’s title fight if she wasn’t! But I think that this year, fans have really started to get agitated about their sport’s most popular star not being a regular winner.
What are your thoughts? Are you coming down with a case of, as Woody writes, ‘Danica fatigue?’ Or are you still keeping the faith in her?
