What They're Saying About Danica Patrick

Author:
SI Staff
Publish date:
Feb 12, 2010

What They're Saying About Danica Patrick

Scott Speed

"According to the 'media' not only is Danica the most amazing racing driver since Dale Sr. but she is also related to Jesus lol."

Regan Smith

"Maybe ESPN could cover Danica on ESPN2 and the other 50 plus cars on ESPN Classic or something."

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

"This might be the first time we don't have to weave through cameras and media reporters when walking to our car, because they'll be in Danica's garage. She handles it well, and we'll try to make sure it's not a distraction."

Tony Stewart

"I can't believe I'm getting interviewed today. She must have finished early."

Kyle Petty

"Juan Montoya is probably, car control-wise, one of the most amazing human beings you've seen in a car and he struggled for three years at this level, and she's not Juan Montoya. She's not Dario Franchitti and she's not Tony Stewart. She's not really shown over there [in the Indy Racing League] and won races and done stuff over there numbers-wise. She's just a marketing machine. Let's look at the facts and be blunt about it."

Jeff Gordon

"I think it's a little too soon [for her to be racing in the Nationwide series], personally. But I probably would have made the same decision if I was in her position. And you've got to get that experience."

Dale Jarrett

"I was one, I can honestly say, just by watching what she did in IndyCar, even though I knew she had a lot of talent in driving a car, wasn't sure she could come here and mix it up. I was wrong."

Kevin Harvick

"We've never had a female -- in my era -- that's been competitive. I think most of them have just been here because they're female. I think Danica's the first real female racecar driver that's coming in here. I'm not saying she's going to be competitive overnight but she's the first one who's got any sort of credentials that should be racing cars."

Jimmie Johnson

"First of all I'm excited for our sport to have this magnifying glass on it. People are paying attention to our sport and this is great. As long as it's bringing eyes to the television sets and putting butts in the stands, that's a good thing."

Kyle Busch

"You shouldn't judge her just from the Nationwide race at Daytona, though. I think she'll do fine, long-term. She's got plenty of resources behind her. She's got plenty of help to go to. She is kind of in the same organization with Hendrick Motorsports, so she has all those drivers to feed off of."

Juan Pablo Montoya

"I think she will be fine. To start with, she is going to struggle, but if they are patient enough with her, I think she will be fine. It is going to be hard until it clicks. Once it clicks and you understand what you have to do to go fast, then you go 'ahhh...' After two or three races if she runs bad and they go to her and tell her that she has to run better or we are done, then she is going to be screwed, but if they go there and they say 'don't worry about it, let's keep on working on this', then she'll be fine."

Tony Eury Jr.

"She just soaks it up, man. She just asks question after question, and we just try to give her the answers."

Steve Phelps

"I would say in general, her coming here is going to be beneficial, because she'll bring folks who have never seen our style of racing. And they'll watch her race here, and we know they'll fall in love with the racing because it's the best racing in the world. That will be helpful for us, and we're excited about it."

Rich Feinberg

"You win at Daytona and things change for you. And that's going to be our primary thing. After that, the next biggest story, and quite frankly opportunity for all of us, is Danica. It's our strong belief that there will be people that turn on Saturday's Nationwide telecast that perhaps don't watch a lot of Nationwide races or NASCAR at all, because of the interest in her. We want to serve that curiosity."