Danica chasing her dream should be focus of story

Don't deride Danica Patrick for chasing her dream. She is just the latest in a long line of drivers to pull into the fast lane.

Don't disparage Danica Patrick for being beautiful. She is who she is -- easy on the eyes and talented, which in today's sports world is marketing gold.

Don't mock Danica Patrick for anything. She is a competitive athlete who wants to capitalize on the opportunity to race against the best.

Danicamania!

Patrick will drive the No. 7 Chevrolet for JR Motorsports in a partial Nationwide Series schedule in 2010.

• Complete story
• Who is Danica Patrick?
• Career statistics in IRL

"[Danica] is the first woman who is getting a fair shot in the sport," said Wally Dallenbach, a veteran of many racing disciplines, including a combined 244 starts in NASCAR's three national touring series. "No other woman has ever gotten the equipment she's going to be in.

"There are no surprises in this sport, no magic to this business -- good equipment is most important," he said.

Danica will have the best equipment available; JR Motorsports is an elite Nationwide Series team (and support from Cup Series heavyweight Hendrick Motorsports only amplifies JRM's significance).

However, she will never be able to meet -- much less exceed -- the fans' expectations. And when she needs a shoulder to lean on, the seven-time most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr., won't be far away. He, too, is familiar with the hairline fracture between fan expectations and on-track success.

"That goes for everybody," Dallenbach said in reference to drivers trying to achieve a level of success great enough to satisfy the seemingly insatiable desires of the NASCAR Nation. "It can get pretty vicious out there.

"Obviously she will be very popular -- she's great looking, she's great with sponsors -- but at the end of the day you've gotta get the job done."

And that's where a lot of the venom toward Danica comes from. Has she gotten the job done in five years in the IRL? One win in 81 races isn't a ringing endorsement.

But obviously there is something that the Danicamaniacs have bought into. She's chasing the dream, one wind-swept photo shoot at a time, one race at a time.

It is unfair to believe Danica will roll into NASCAR and begin collecting checkered flags; she'll collect a lot more wadded-up sheet metal. It's also unfair to make the assumption that the only reason she's teaming up with JR Motorsports is because she's a pretty face; JRM is a business that has many facets, including marketing.

"If [Danica] thinks she's going to come into NASCAR and start winning right away, she's gonna get a huge slice of humble pie," Dallenbach said. "There are no guarantees -- even though she is surrounded with the best owner, the best equipment -- that she will succeed.

"It's a steep learning curve. An open-wheel car is different than a stock car and she's being thrust into the most competitive racing in the world. She's got to learn who she can trust [on the track], who she can't. Coming down pit lane with 40 other cars is something she's never done." (Continued)