Switching from one race car to another - what's the big deal?

It’s interesting how many people are suggesting that Danica Patrick won’t be able to make the transition from Indy cars to stock cars and that, in fact, she’ll likely fall flat on her kisser.

Okay, perhaps all forms of car racing have become so sophisticated as compared to the "olden days" that it’s not all that easy. Maybe that explains why Dario Franchitti and Paul Tracy and a bunch of others – most of whom are terrific racers – flunked their NASCAR tests.

But not that many years ago, racing drivers went from one kind of car to another all the time – and were successful at it, too.

Mario Andretti went from sprints and midgets to front-engine Indy cars to rear-engine Indy cars to stock cars and won races while driving all of them. People forget that Andretti won the Daytona 500 in 1967, two years after he was rookie-of-the-year at Indianapolis.

Jimmy Clark went from Formula One to Indy cars to stock cars (he was doing just fine driving through the field in a NASCAR race at Rockingham Motor Speedway in 1967 when he experienced engine trouble that sidelined him).

Janet Guthrie, who will be forever remembered as the first woman to qualify for the Indy 500 in 1977, qualified for what was then called the NASCAR World 600 on Memorial Day a year earlier, in 1976, and started in the top 15, sandwiched between a couple of guys named Bill Elliott and Dale Earnhardt Sr.

A.J. Foyt? Show him a race car and he could drive it and win in it. One weekend years ago he ran a NASCAR race Saturday and then flew to California for a Formula 5000 race on Sunday.

More recently, Tony Stewart went from midgets and sprint cars and then adapted to rear-engine Indy cars like a duck does to water. And many of the stars of the Sprint Cup series today – Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne and Casey Mears, to name a few – were open-wheel stars when they first attracted attention. They didn’t seem to have too much trouble adapting.

Jimmie Johnson, arguably the best stock car racer of his generation, got his start in off-road racing, as did Robby Gordon.

I could go on and on.

So what’s the big deal about Danica Patrick? All sorts of people have done this before, so why not her?

Comments

[Matti Lilleberg]

To put Danica's name on the same page as those other racers is bit unfair. Andretti, Clark and Foyt for eg., are some the greatest racers in history and their genius made it look easy to switch over. The amount of pro drivers who have failed to make the switch over must be at a ratio of 100 to 1.
Having said that, I would like to add "Go DANICA GO!"

[Lou Modestino]

The "big deal" is that, "today", the majority of race drivers in open wheel cars have a problem moving to a 3,800 lb. stockcar. Because there's a major difference between the light weight open wheel cars like midgets, sprint cars and Indy Cars VS the NASCAR Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Trucks. Many have tried it and have not had success. The drivers you use for examples, who have successfully made the transition, are a small group compared to countless others that have given the top tier of stockcar racing a try and failed to impress the talent scouts.

[Rob Sykes]

thing is..the icons you sighted were winners everywhere...among the best of the best..miss pouty hissy fit isnt..she's a mid pack talent in a top pack car who lucked into a win..in a way..i want ehr to fail miserably cause i'm not a fan of someone using sexuality in sports to get big bucks..male or female..in another way..i hope she succeeds so good tintop drivers like chrissy wallace might get a second look...am leaning towards success cause my mom used to drive amatuer rallies with my dad in the 60's when iw as a tyke in and around toronto in thier porsche 356 so have an ingrown appreciation for female drivers

[steve humphrey]

I agree that great racers can drive anything but Danica isnt fit to carry Foyt or Andretti's helmetbag. She is a cash cow and I am now bracing for more sleazy Go Daddy TV commercials.Someday there will be a great woman driver, but her name will not be Danica.

[steve humphrey]

ohhh... I forgot my favorite driver. Ben Hur !

[DJL]

Many drivers have easily made the transition from open-wheeled to CRASHCAR without a problem. But in the last 10 years, there have been plenty of drivers who haven't been able to make that switch. Some were great in open-wheel, and some weren't so hot. I wish Danica was one of the greats, but her performance in Indy cars make it clear she isn't. I'm not saying she's crap, she's certainly better than a lot of the men, but as somebody already mentioned, she isn't anywhere near as talented as Andretti, Clark, Foyt or Stewart.

Speaking of drivers switching cars, I'm really curious to see how well Kimi does in a WRC rally car.