Amid the feeding frenzy, Danica disconnect emerges

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- At 10:30 Saturday morning, as final practice for the Daytona 500 was just beginning, the people assembled around Danica Patrick's merchandise hauler were too numerous to count. What had to be close to 100 race fans crowded in to buy souvenirs, have their photos taken next to the driver's picture, or just debate whether or not she would make it. The truck was flanked on either side by those of legends past and present -- Jimmie Johnson's, which had about a dozen customers, and Dale Earnhardt's which had about four.

Tony takes the fifth

Tony Stewart won the Nationwide Series race at Daytona for the fifth time in the past six years.

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Danica Patrick gets caught in the aftermath of a multi-car wreck.

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Still think Patrick is a media creation? Tell that to the women walking around the Daytona International Speedway midway wearing jackets adorned with a bright orange No. 7. Tell that to the folks in the infield who have hung a large Danica banner from the roofline of their recreational vehicle. Tell that to the mob that surrounded her race car on the grid before her first Nationwide Series race, or the throng that flocked to her merchandise hauler and made even the group around Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s seem small by comparison.

Even so, it's not difficult to find some thinly-veiled resentment over all the attention Patrick has received this weekend, a spotlight that's shined so brightly some seriously wondered if it was capable of eclipsing the Daytona 500. That's not going to happen, especially after her 35th-place finish in Saturday's Nationwide event at Daytona. But judging by the way many rank-and-file fans have responded to Patrick this week, the popularity -- or maybe curiosity is a better term -- surrounding her appears to be very real, more than justifying the attention paid to her in words and pictures.

And yet, it's all a delicate balance. Patrick has done almost everything right these Speedweeks, from her performance in the ARCA race to her speed in final Nationwide practice, to her charm before the media and her deference to the more experienced drivers on the NASCAR circuit. What rubs people the wrong way isn't Patrick herself, but the feeling some have that this stock-car experience is being used explicitly to expand her brand name, and the impression that television is blindly helping her do just that. Nothing has ruffled more feathers at Daytona than an ESPN promo for Saturday's Nationwide event, which featured an image of only one driver. Hint: It wasn't Tony Stewart, who won Saturday for the fifth time in six years.

"The only thing I will say is that TV has been doing a horrible job because they've been covering her way too much, which isn't a problem. That's fine," defending Nationwide champion Kyle Busch said. "You've got all these people watching TV, and they want to hear about Danica. Well then, take advantage of that and show the less funded-team, the underprivileged people that want to have funding so they can race the rest of the year. Danica is only going to be here for 12 races or whatever it is this year. It would help the rest of those teams that want to try to make a full run at it get the coverage that they need and the exposure that they deserve to try to race the full season. Just my opinion."

For its part, ESPN makes no apologies for centering its coverage around a driver who had never started a NASCAR race before Saturday, although that focus clearly shifted to the series regulars after Patrick slid into the wall trying to avoid an accident in front of her 68 laps into the event. (Continued)