Danika Patrick is the queen of mediocrity
For the sake of this post, let us for just this one time acknowledge auto racing as a sport. I personally do not “get it” but plenty of people in America apparently find auto racing to be utterly fascinating. I would politely disagree, but I do, however, find Ms. Danika Patrick of particular interest to the study of mediocrity. That’s right, Danika Patrick is mediocre when it comes down to the actual results of her competitive racing career. What she has accomplished as a female in the sport of auto racing is remarkable and her success as a spokeswoman, model and entrepreneur is nearly unmatched and unparalleled. But I’ve done some research on her career as an Indy car driver and recent NASCAR driver and the final verdict isn’t as flattering as some of her photo shoots for FHM magazine.
In 84 career Indy car races she has won only once. Her only win came in 2008 at the Twin Ring Motegi in the Indy Japan 300. However, this win was the first time in the history of Indy car racing that a woman finished first (big). But what makes Danika so mediocre is that although she only has one career victory she rarely finishes out of the top 15 in all of her races. In 2007 she finished with four top 5 finishes and eleven top 10′s, giving her a total of 4 Podium appearances (indicating a 2nd or 3rd place finish). Moreover, Danika was named the rookie of the year for the 2005 Indianapolis 500 and the 2005 Indy car series season. Her best finish at the Indianapolis 500 was 3rd in 2009.
The thing I love about Danika is that she is always willing to push boundaries. This year Danika made her NASCAR debut. Many people doubted her, but she made the transition and finished 6th in her NASCAR debut at Daytona.
I believe that a lot of Danika’s success is attributed to her remarkable marketability. I mean, let’s face it, she’s a a hot babe who drives Indy cars over 200 mph; how could that not sell in America? She’s been featured in Sports Illustrated, FHM and Playboy (unfortunately not nude) and has made several appearances on television shows. But most importantly has become an international endorsement monster. Everyone wants a piece of her (literally and figuratively). From Boost Mobile to GoDaddy.com, Danika Patrick has become one of the most recognizable female figures in sports.
Don’t get me wrong, I like Danika Patrick. She’s smart, competitive, beautiful and bold. It’s almost hard to imagine all she has accomplished in a sport historically dominated by men, and though she may not win a whole lot, I’m not convinced that trend will continue. Of course I don’t expect her to become a dominant racer in either Indy or NASCAR, but I am willing to say that she will pick up a few more wins before she retires. As of right now though, Danika Patrick is mediocre. And it’s not because she’s a woman.
I don’t get racing either so I am not qualified to speak about where her racing or results are. But I think she must have been quite accomplished to break into the sport at all. Huge pressure must have existed to keep a woman out. Now that she is in, I don’t get how racing works to know why she hasn’t won (is she a mediocre driver? are races fixed? are cars/crews more important than drivers? does she have a good car/crew? do teammates matter (they have them right?)? does she have a good one?)
What would be comparable spreads for other non-victory Indy drivers? Would they also be in that 5-15 range a lot?
Thanks for the post, though!!!
Thanks for the thoughtful comment, Tim. You raise several good questions about the sport that I cannot answer, nor do I really care to know the answers to either. I would presume that there are several factors that contribute to a racer’s success on the track. You have to admit, though, that it wouldn’t be too hard to keep an attractive and determined woman from accomplishing much these days, and Danika Patrick is arguably the most determined female “athlete” I have come across in my experience. It seems reasonable to posit that a mediocre race car driver is one who habitually finishes somewhere outside the top 5-7 spots and Danika surely fits that bill. Only 1 victory in 84 appearances seems rather unimpressive to me.
Relieved to see she has come so far without being attacked by the punks that go to watch those races. Very thorough post, but I am disappointed the thing you ‘love about Danika is her willingness to push boundaries.’ I think Playboy is always a bad call. Being the leading woman in a male dominated sport, and posing for Playboy, doesn’t really do much for gaining respect, regardless of the marketability. She looks like a ho to me. I agree on the mediocrity.
[...] the site by bring some sex-appeal to the site with provocative posts about Anna Kournikova and Danica Patrick. However, he also hit some lulls with lazy posts consisting of polls and nothing [...]
Danica Patrick is the current reigning queen of mediocrity because she is having mediocre to bad finishes at the Nationwide level. That’s like being in the minors and hitting .200. That’s like being the 3rd best player on an Arena football team or the teams 2nd best striker in a team relegated from Premier League to Football League in English soccer.
There have been some mistakes by her pit crew but every driver faces those same issues.
It’s mostly her. Both Juan Pablo Montoya and Tony Stewart came out of IRL just like Danica, but had better, though not ridiculously better, results their first year.
Having said that, Danica Patrick is super hot, and Smoke is so fat he’s losing his Old Spice sponsor because he doesn’t fit their image.