Doomsday101
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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The driver wasn't scheduled to arrive for another 30 minutes early Thursday morning and already a large crowd of reporters had gathered around the small table where she would speak.
There was a buzz in the air, almost a Super Bowl media day type atmosphere when a high-profile player holds court. Everyone felt it, even other drivers such as Jamie McMurray, who curiously peeked in between the notepads and cameras before going to his table where only a few awaited.
"There she goes!" one reporter shouted.
Not quite. The driver was wearing a GoDaddy.com firesuit, but 51-year-old Mark Martin was in it. He'll drive the GoDaddy car in the Sprint Cup Series this season.
Tick, tock. The driver was 10 minutes late and the crowd continued to grow, larger than the one that would quiz four-time defending Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson just more than an hour later. Finally, the IndyCar Series driver who will make her stock car debut in Saturday's ARCA race slipped in front of the table.
"Let's give her a little room!" a member of NASCAR public relations bellowed. "We do have to have oxygen."
Thus began the Danica Patrick era in NASCAR.
It wasn't as claustrophobic as driving close to 200 mph in large packs around Daytona International Speedway in unfamiliar cars will be, but it was close. And the air around her only will continue to dissipate in anticipation of whether she will compete in next weekend's Nationwide Series race.
That announcement, by the way, is scheduled for Monday. The fact there is an announcement lends this reporter to believe she will compete even though she says it's 50-50.
But that is a few days off. Thursday was all about the arrival of NASCAR's queen.
It was a circus. Not quite as big as the one around Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- the co-owner of Patrick's ARCA and Nationwide program at JR Motorsports -- when the stock car world attended this event a few years ago wanting to know whether NASCAR's most popular driver would leave Dale Earnhardt Inc.
But it was bigger than anything Patrick had experienced, even at the Indianapolis 500.
"You see a table like this for the Indy 500 when something big is going on," said Patrick, who will begin her Nationwide journey at California on Feb. 20 if she opts out of Daytona. "But you don't do that whole line of [television and radio] interviews before it. … There's just more. There's just more."
Patrick is cool with that. She didn't grow to this level of celebrity by shying away from media attention. When you've posed in some of the skimpy outfits she has, you can't be shy about much of anything.
Skeptics will tell you this adventure in NASCAR is nothing more than a step to grow her brand. Not so, says Patrick.
"I'm here because I want to race in NASCAR," she said.
And NASCAR wants her to race here. NASCAR needs her to race here. Patrick will bring more attention to the sport than Juan Pablo Montoya and all the other drivers who crossed over from open-wheel racing.
"It's big," NASCAR president Mike Helton said of having Patrick at Daytona. "She's a very strong personality. She's well followed. Even by non-motorsports folks, when you say 'Danica Patrick,' they know who she is. For her to want to participate with us and be here during Speedweeks is a big thing."
You'll find few, if any, in this cavernous tent turned into a media center who would disagree.
"You'll have people come in and watch a race that would never watch a NASCAR race in their life just because she's there," said 2003 Sprint Cup champion Matt Kenseth, who had fewer than a dozen reporters at his table. "It's good for all of us, and NASCAR, to get some new people to come in and watch the sport.
"Hopefully, they'll like what they see and want to come back."
Patrick appreciates that, and if she can help the sport grow that's a bonus. But her goal is selfish. She wants to find out if she can succeed here and plans to take the next two years running a part-time Nationwide schedule around her IndyCar schedule to see if she has the talent.
"I've felt this kind of stuff before," Patrick said of the attention. "I'm very flattered I'm in a position where people are still interested in me."
She definitely was a point of interest on this day. Johnson had fewer people around his table two minutes before his session than Patrick did a half-hour before hers.
But Johnson didn't seem to mind any more than any other driver.
"The attention is good for our sport," said Johnson, sporting a new beard. "I'm excited she's considering our sport and is going to give it a shot and see where she's at. Everybody deserves their time in the sun and the spotlight. At the end of last year that spotlight was bright and I enjoyed every minute of it.
"At the end of this year I want to be back in it."
But for at least the next few days the spotlight will shine on Patrick, even though she said her intention isn't to steal it.
The only time she paused to think before giving an answer came when asked what it meant that she garnered more attention than a four-time champion or NASCAR's most popular driver.
"All I can say is that I'm excited to race in my first NASCAR race," Patrick said. "I'm not trying to sound vanilla for right now. Those guys deserve a lot of credit for their success. I by no means ever, ever, ever try and take anything from anyone else."
It's hard not to be drawn to Patrick, though. Just read her Twitter page and you'll see things no other NASCAR driver has said before.
Here are a few samples:
• "Thought I was going to have time for a pedi today …"
• "My tote bag I made today. Sweet!"
• "I bought about 30 yards of fabric to start playing with … well 10 of those yards is for a curtain. Am I a geek? Wait, don't answer that."
Patrick is far from a geek. She's a money machine, one NASCAR hopes to capitalize on like her sponsors in the IndyCar Series already have.
She's also honest and willing to show her personality, whether it is tweeting to the world that she's playing with her new sewing machine or getting aggressive with a fellow driver on the track.
She doesn't plan to change that in her new surroundings, although she is a bit nervous about the ARCA race that tends to be a wreckfest with drivers far less proven than her competing.
"I've never been afraid to be honest," Patrick said. "I have perhaps become more gracious the last year or two in how that comes out, but I will always be me. I will always be emotional. I will always have somewhat of a temper.
"That's because I care. It means everything to me."
Beyond talent, that passion and devotion is what it will take for Patrick to succeed in cars that are much heavier and harder to handle than those she's used to. She's also going to have to put blinders on at times. The further she progresses the more attention -- and scrutiny -- she will face.
"What I realize is I need to compartmentalize a little bit," Patrick said. "Last night, I got my schedule for this weekend. For me, if I think about everything I have to do, it's pretty overwhelming."
Yes, the Danica Patrick era in NASCAR has begun.
Hold on. Or wait, as many of us did.
David Newton covers NASCAR for ESPN.com. He can be reached at dnewtonespn@aol.com.
http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/nascar/columns/story?columnist=newton_david&id=4887022
There was a buzz in the air, almost a Super Bowl media day type atmosphere when a high-profile player holds court. Everyone felt it, even other drivers such as Jamie McMurray, who curiously peeked in between the notepads and cameras before going to his table where only a few awaited.
"There she goes!" one reporter shouted.
Not quite. The driver was wearing a GoDaddy.com firesuit, but 51-year-old Mark Martin was in it. He'll drive the GoDaddy car in the Sprint Cup Series this season.
Tick, tock. The driver was 10 minutes late and the crowd continued to grow, larger than the one that would quiz four-time defending Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson just more than an hour later. Finally, the IndyCar Series driver who will make her stock car debut in Saturday's ARCA race slipped in front of the table.
"Let's give her a little room!" a member of NASCAR public relations bellowed. "We do have to have oxygen."
Thus began the Danica Patrick era in NASCAR.
It wasn't as claustrophobic as driving close to 200 mph in large packs around Daytona International Speedway in unfamiliar cars will be, but it was close. And the air around her only will continue to dissipate in anticipation of whether she will compete in next weekend's Nationwide Series race.
That announcement, by the way, is scheduled for Monday. The fact there is an announcement lends this reporter to believe she will compete even though she says it's 50-50.
But that is a few days off. Thursday was all about the arrival of NASCAR's queen.
It was a circus. Not quite as big as the one around Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- the co-owner of Patrick's ARCA and Nationwide program at JR Motorsports -- when the stock car world attended this event a few years ago wanting to know whether NASCAR's most popular driver would leave Dale Earnhardt Inc.
But it was bigger than anything Patrick had experienced, even at the Indianapolis 500.
"You see a table like this for the Indy 500 when something big is going on," said Patrick, who will begin her Nationwide journey at California on Feb. 20 if she opts out of Daytona. "But you don't do that whole line of [television and radio] interviews before it. … There's just more. There's just more."
Patrick is cool with that. She didn't grow to this level of celebrity by shying away from media attention. When you've posed in some of the skimpy outfits she has, you can't be shy about much of anything.
Skeptics will tell you this adventure in NASCAR is nothing more than a step to grow her brand. Not so, says Patrick.
"I'm here because I want to race in NASCAR," she said.
And NASCAR wants her to race here. NASCAR needs her to race here. Patrick will bring more attention to the sport than Juan Pablo Montoya and all the other drivers who crossed over from open-wheel racing.
"It's big," NASCAR president Mike Helton said of having Patrick at Daytona. "She's a very strong personality. She's well followed. Even by non-motorsports folks, when you say 'Danica Patrick,' they know who she is. For her to want to participate with us and be here during Speedweeks is a big thing."
You'll find few, if any, in this cavernous tent turned into a media center who would disagree.
"You'll have people come in and watch a race that would never watch a NASCAR race in their life just because she's there," said 2003 Sprint Cup champion Matt Kenseth, who had fewer than a dozen reporters at his table. "It's good for all of us, and NASCAR, to get some new people to come in and watch the sport.
"Hopefully, they'll like what they see and want to come back."
Patrick appreciates that, and if she can help the sport grow that's a bonus. But her goal is selfish. She wants to find out if she can succeed here and plans to take the next two years running a part-time Nationwide schedule around her IndyCar schedule to see if she has the talent.
"I've felt this kind of stuff before," Patrick said of the attention. "I'm very flattered I'm in a position where people are still interested in me."
She definitely was a point of interest on this day. Johnson had fewer people around his table two minutes before his session than Patrick did a half-hour before hers.
But Johnson didn't seem to mind any more than any other driver.
"The attention is good for our sport," said Johnson, sporting a new beard. "I'm excited she's considering our sport and is going to give it a shot and see where she's at. Everybody deserves their time in the sun and the spotlight. At the end of last year that spotlight was bright and I enjoyed every minute of it.
"At the end of this year I want to be back in it."
But for at least the next few days the spotlight will shine on Patrick, even though she said her intention isn't to steal it.
The only time she paused to think before giving an answer came when asked what it meant that she garnered more attention than a four-time champion or NASCAR's most popular driver.
"All I can say is that I'm excited to race in my first NASCAR race," Patrick said. "I'm not trying to sound vanilla for right now. Those guys deserve a lot of credit for their success. I by no means ever, ever, ever try and take anything from anyone else."
It's hard not to be drawn to Patrick, though. Just read her Twitter page and you'll see things no other NASCAR driver has said before.
Here are a few samples:
• "Thought I was going to have time for a pedi today …"
• "My tote bag I made today. Sweet!"
• "I bought about 30 yards of fabric to start playing with … well 10 of those yards is for a curtain. Am I a geek? Wait, don't answer that."
Patrick is far from a geek. She's a money machine, one NASCAR hopes to capitalize on like her sponsors in the IndyCar Series already have.
She's also honest and willing to show her personality, whether it is tweeting to the world that she's playing with her new sewing machine or getting aggressive with a fellow driver on the track.
She doesn't plan to change that in her new surroundings, although she is a bit nervous about the ARCA race that tends to be a wreckfest with drivers far less proven than her competing.
"I've never been afraid to be honest," Patrick said. "I have perhaps become more gracious the last year or two in how that comes out, but I will always be me. I will always be emotional. I will always have somewhat of a temper.
"That's because I care. It means everything to me."
Beyond talent, that passion and devotion is what it will take for Patrick to succeed in cars that are much heavier and harder to handle than those she's used to. She's also going to have to put blinders on at times. The further she progresses the more attention -- and scrutiny -- she will face.
"What I realize is I need to compartmentalize a little bit," Patrick said. "Last night, I got my schedule for this weekend. For me, if I think about everything I have to do, it's pretty overwhelming."
Yes, the Danica Patrick era in NASCAR has begun.
Hold on. Or wait, as many of us did.
David Newton covers NASCAR for ESPN.com. He can be reached at dnewtonespn@aol.com.
http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/nascar/columns/story?columnist=newton_david&id=4887022
