Richard Petty Says What Many Think about Danica Patrick

Disclaimer: Do not misinterpret what I say here as my core opinion.  I would like nothing more than someone with as much attention as Danica Patrick to not only be in the limelight, but to do well too.  I was hoping.  But...

It looks like Richard Petty has said what many of us are thinking...  or suspecting or worried about, and that's the lack of performance out of Danica Patrick.

Last year she finished 27th in the points standings the Cup Series, with 1 good finish.  In 2012 she only had 10 starts, but no top-10s.

In 2012 in the Nationwide Series, where I would have expected her to dominate, like any other Cup driver usually does, she ran a full season, and finished 10th in points, with 4 top-10's.

You compare that to Jimmie Johnson having never even seen the outside of 10th in standings since his debut, and right there, alone, you see that there's a gap in talent.

And then you take the great Richard Petty, who apparently has now political worries at this stage of his life, and speaks his mind.

In this case, making note at a Canadian event that the only way Danica Patrick would win is if everyone else stayed home, and that all the attention on her is due to the fact she's a woman driver.

Not true!  She would probably beat her boyfriend on the track!  (Are they even still together?)

Though on the flip side of the "truth" coin from Petty, he also pointed out the obvious, that being that she's pulled in all kinds of publicity to the sport.

Richard Petty on Danica Patrick:

"If she'd have been a male, nobody would ever know if she'd showed up at a racetrack.  This is a female deal that's driving her. There's nothing wrong with that, because that's good PR for me. More fans come out, people are more interested in it. She has helped to draw attention to the sport, which helps everybody in the sport."

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Do you remember that first Daytona 500 she was in, and she left the race early?  Do you remember that insanely crazy media crowd, that from a helicopter view, looked like a mound of ants on a sugar cube?

Well, that doesn't happen any more, but that's a great example of her draw to the sport.

And being that this is King Richard, who, earlier last year, his son, Kyle Petty, pretty much said something similar.  His line was,

"That's where I have a problem - where fans have bought into the hype of the marketing, to think she's a race car driver.  She can go fast, and I've seen her go fast. She drives the wheels off it when she goes fast. She's not a race car driver. There's a difference. The King (Richard Petty) always had that stupid saying, but it's true, 'Lots of drivers can drive fast, but very few drivers can race.' Danica has been the perfect example of somebody who can qualify better than what she runs."

I'm guessing the Petty household is not on Patrick's Christmas card list.

And let's keep it all in perspective... they're both talking about an individual, not the gender.

And yes, Danica won the Indy Car race in Japan back in 2008, and she did it on fuel strategy, becoming the first woman to win in IndyCar history.

But that's been her only win in her 7 years of racing in the series, and had 7 podiums in that career.

In the ARCA series, she finished 6th in a JR Motorsports car.  6th in a K&N Pro Series East race.

If there were hope for a stellar performance model, would we not have seen it already?  Well, here's hoping that 2014 treats her better and we see something more than 26th out of her.

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