Danica Patrick clueless in opposition to NASCAR diversity programMSN Sports
Jordan Bianchi
October 28, 2014
Although Danica Patrick may have found ways beyond talent to unlock doors, that path isn’t available to everyone.
By any discernible measure Danica Patrick is a trailblazer. Clearly established as one of the most recognizable sports figures in the world, she has joined the likes of Tiger, Beckham and LeBron, as athletes who are instantly identifiable by just a singular name.
Through her rise to fame and success on the track, Patrick has provided hope to countless young girls that they too can become a driver if they so choose. Walk among the fans at any NASCAR race and you will inevitably see a young girl wearing a pink No. 10 shirt saying she wants "to be just like Danica."
It's neither a position Patrick appears comfortable with nor embraces.
"I don't really think about it that much," Patrick said Friday when questioned about being a role model for young women. "I think about my relationship with the young kids and how that is really cool and special and unique. I really enjoy the kids, so that is something I think about, and I am grateful to be a role model to some of them.
"But, as far as beyond that, sure, I think it is what it is. But it's not something that I set out to do. My parents never brought me up to feel like I was any different. So, I was never taught to be the fastest girl. I was taught to be the fastest."
Just as Patrick appears to have little interest in being the face of women competing at the highest level of racing against men, she also objects to how NASCAR is attempting to become more diverse.
Last weekend at Martinsville Speedway, the sport paid tribute to another trailblazer, Wendell Scott. Scott was the first, and until last year, the only African-American to win a NASCAR national touring series race.
As Scott is a native of nearby Danville, Va., Martinsville was the ideal location to pay tribute to him. He will be inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in January, and two special paint schemes were run in his honor to recognize the perseverance showed in overcoming racism throughout the 1960s and 1970s.
With Scott's recent Hall of Fame nomination and the accompanying celebration throughout the Martinsville weekend, the discussion naturally led to NASCAR's Drive for Diversity program.
Conceived in 2004, the Drive for Diversity program is NASCAR's attempt to introduce more females and minorities to stock car racing whether as drivers, crew members, team owners or other functionary roles. By no means perfect, the initiative is taking root as demonstrated by the success of two graduates, Darrell Wallace Jr. and Kyle Larson.
A year ago, Wallace became the first African-American driver since Scott to win a NASCAR national touring series race when he took the checkered flag in the Camping World Truck Series event at Martinsville. This season, Larson, a Japanese-American, owns a pair of Nationwide Series victories and is poised to be named the Sprint Cup Rookie of the Year.
In a sport where opportunity is often dependent on sponsorship and not always talent, Wallace and Larson show race and a lack of funding don't have to be roadblocks. Yet, despite the obvious opportunities the Drive for Diversity program has provided, Patrick questions its existence.
"I have never benefited from the Diversity Program," Patrick said. "Clearly then, I wouldn't think that there needs to be a Diversity Program if I'm here and I didn't get in. It wasn't like they asked me to be in it. They didn't give my team or me any money. They didn't say we'd love you.
"I'm not saying that being a girl hasn't helped, but I didn't need a program to make it happen."
Though entitled to her opinion, Patrick's comments are easy to construe as tone deaf on a multitude of levels.
While Patrick was never handed anything as she climbed the motor sports ladder, she has never been shy about using sex appeal to enhance her brand and that of her many sponsors, whether it was in one of numerous commercials for Go Daddy or a magazine spread.
It's that association with her vast array of sponsors that has afforded Patrick opportunities that based on her accomplishments she would be considered otherwise undeserving. With no stock car experience of any kind, Patrick landed a plum seat with an upper-tier Nationwide Series team when she decided to begin her NASCAR foray.
Even with a modicum of Nationwide success, Patrick was able to parlay a Cup ride with the high-profile Stewart-Haas Racing organization, again, due to a willingness of her sponsors to back the effort.
No, Patrick is certainly not the first nor will she be the last driver to obtain a ride they may not have otherwise deserved. But Patrick's dismissive attitude of the Drive for Diversity program is superfluous. There is no need to be part of a program designed to open once-locked doors when those doors are already being opened for you.
The Drive for Diversity program wasn't designed with drivers such as Patrick in mind. It was intended for the likes of Wallace and Larson -- drivers without funding and just needing a chance to showcase their talent at the next level. Not surprising, each has taken full advantage of the opportunity afforded.
Alas, the same cannot yet be said of Patrick.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/motorsports/danica-patrick-clueless-in-opposition-to-nascar-diversity-program/ar-BBbW1kL(The comment section is worth a visit.)
