Danica Patrick 2014 Best NASCAR Sprint Year Yet?

Indy Car driver and athlete Danica Patrick has done better than any other woman in American open-wheel racing. She is the only woman who has won in the IndyCar series. She also holds the highest finish record for a woman. That was 3rd place, at the Indianapolis 500. She is also one of the most famous and recognized female athletes in the world, so we consider that she is most certainly a suitable candidate for our famous people blog.

Recent Race History

In 2012, Danica Patrick transferred from the IndyCar Racing Series to race full-time for Stewart Haas Racing, in the NASCAR Nationwide Series in the #7, and part time in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in the #10.

GoDaddy.com was the main sponsor for the whole season on both cars. She finished 10th in the Nationwide Series standings with one pole award during the 2012 season. Following that she moved to full time in the Sprint Cup Series in 2013. Go Daddy again sponsored her full season schedule, and their faith in her talents was rewarded when Patrick won the pole for the 2013 Daytona 500
becoming the first woman to do so.

This season in the Sprint Cup Series, she has done well. Patrick has achieved three top-10 finishes in 28 races. While that may not be a statistic normally considered worth celebrating, but it is certainly a big improvement from last year's newcomer campaign, when she recorded only one top 10 over the entire 36-race schedule.

One newsworthy incident occurred in September 2014, when Danica Patrick was involved in an on-track incident with fellow driver, and incidentally her boyfriend, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in the closing laps of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Chicagoland Speedway.

Danic Competing Very Well These Days

The fact is that Danica is doing well as a female race car driver, in this mail dominated sport. She is pretty good at it, regularly finishing races near the top. Most women will also be impressed that she hasn't simply been imitating her male colleagues, she has retained a certain feminine style. She actually looks better than almost anyone else doing it.

The following quote from her a year or so back, shows how much experience of the circuits must help:

"The track is pretty fun," 

she said.

"I remember everyone telling me how unique and challenging Dover was prior to my first race. At the time, I didn't have a whole lot to compare that track to. They said it was like a larger version of Bristol, but I hadn't raced at Bristol yet, either. It's nice to have more of a handle on what to expect heading in there now."

That she is now also cashing in on her own style sense, by offering fashion products from her official Danica Patrick Store. The store stocks Danica Patrick Apparel for men, women and kids. They call it "NASCAR Gear", and the range includes: Danica Patrick T-Shirts, Hats and Sweatshirts. The same store also sells a range of Danica Patrick Diecast Cars, Posters, and Hats etc.

Patrick is described on websites as having begun racing on go-karts with her sister as young as 10, and later dropped out of high school to advance her racing career in the UK.

She worked her way up through a variety of lesser leagues. The pinnacle of her achievement in Britain was finishing 2nd at the Formula Ford Festival. Again, she left her mark in the history books there for achieving the highest-ever finish position by either a woman or an American in that event.

It was back in 2002, that Patrick signed with Rahal-Letterman Racing. That outfit was co-owned by former racing driver Bobby Rahal, and as you might gather from the name, talk show host David Letterman. In two years she raced for Rahal-Letterman Racing, Patrick achieved medium to good success, and was a consistent finisher finding several places on the podium, but winning a race eluded her.

Patrick is no stranger to making headlines as the only woman in this the leagues she has driven in over the years. It was at the Indy 500 in May 2005, that she became the center of attention, as the fastest driver during the pole position/ practice races, and entering the record books as the first woman to ever take the lead in the Indy 500. In fact, she led for 19 laps. So it was that persistence and accumulated experience paid off, and in April 2008, Patrick became the first female to win an IndyCar Series race!

Danica Patrick also teamed up with REVO to sell a collection of sunglasses that reflect her personal taste and lifestyle.

A Chance for Real Success!

Can things really now be coming together for her? She has been looking really good recently (late summer 2014). Is it too much to hope that she might be a real contender in the last races in 2014?

Certainly, 2014 is shaping up to be her best year yet!