Not a good idea

So as I was skimming through ESPN's website, I saw Danica Patrick is starting to make the switch to NASCAR and I sat back and asked myself "Why would she want to do that"?

Why would she want to leave a race league that is doing so well in and move to one that has proven to be difficult for open wheel drivers to be successful in. True, there have been some drivers that have made this switch and have been successful -- Tony Stewart and A.J. Foyt -- to name a couple, but lately drivers that make the switch have not been that successful. Even the divers that have a better record and resume than Patrick, like Juan Pablo Montoya who has won the Indianapolis 500, have not done well in NASCAR and have found themselves struggling. Montoya has not yet won a race on an oval in NASCAR and just now made the Chase for the first time.

So I asked myself again why would she want to do that? Why leave the league that she is on track to become the first woman ever to win? Now she isn't totally making the jump yet. She still has a three-year deal with her IRL team, with the third year being optional; so why even try to make the jump? Is there something that she is trying to prove or does she think she is just better than the other drivers who have tried and she can be successful.

But as I read in the article on ESPN's website, I saw that she signed a two-year deal with JRM (Junior Motersports), the team Dale Earnhardt Jr. owns and that the sponsor for her car is GoDaddy.com, that same one that has sponsored her through out her IRL career. Then it clicked. She isn't moving over to NASCAR because she wants a challenge or she is trying to make a point -- it's a publicity thing.

No one can deny that ever since Patrick has come on the scene in the IRL, the popularity of the league has grown by leaps and bounds, and it's no secret that NASCAR has been having problems the last couple years filling the stands at their races.

So what's a sure fire way of selling out races once again? Bring in a new super star from a rival league. But before Patrick can jump into the seat of her Nationwide car, she has to pass the ARCA driving test next week and prove that she can drive this style of car. If she passes, she will be driving only a few select races for JRM in the Nationwide series and only those races that she is driving in will have the GoDaddy.com logo on it.

Now, I'm not totally hating on Patrick; I do think she is a great IRL driver and I think if she stays with it she very well might be the first woman to win the league championship. But I don't think she belongs in NASCAR or any of its lower leagues. And before any of you people think that I am saying that because I am a sexist pig, I'm not. I just don't think she can hack it. The cars aren't the same and the handle totally different and I just don't think she can handle it mentally or physically. I just think she is going to get bumped around and roughed up.

I could be wrong and she could enter into the series and totally dominate, but I doubt that will happen. Not too many publicity stunts work out for the better. At least she has a safety net. If she totally bombs the Nationwide series in the two years she is with JRM, at least she still has that optional third year with her IRL team.