See ya, Danica - may all your tires go flat

It’s official.

 After months of rumour and speculation – and denials and lies – Danica Patrick announced today that she will drive full-time for Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the NASCAR Nationwide Series in 2012 and up to a dozen Sprint Cup races for Tony Stewart.

So we knew all that. We’ve known it for months. It’s been no secret. So if you want more of the details of her media conference today in Phoenix, click here.

But this is what I want to know: Why did she make the announcement now? Who benefited from this? Nascar, maybe, but what do I know? I can tell you this, though. the IZOD IndyCar Series sure didn't.

Right after the announcement, she left right for Infineon Raceway in California, where the Indy cars are racing this weekend and where she is still employed by Andretti Autosport.

Do you think she’s going to be welcomed with open arms in that paddock?

Do you think she’s going to enjoy hearing the non-stop boos that will be directed her way from fans in attendance and on social media from now until the end of the IndyCar season in October?

Most important, do you think Andretti Autosport is going to do much more to prepare her car for a race beyond backing it off the trailer?

This was really a dumb thing to do because the timing was all wrong.

Why not wait till after the last checkered flag of the IndyCar season at Las Vegas in October? I could have written her script:

“I want to thank everyone I’ve worked with in Indy cars since I joined the series, starting with Bobby Rahal who gave me my first big chance as well as Michael Andretti. But the time has come for me to move on and while I regret I didn’t win the Indianapolis 500, I now have my sights set on Daytona. I wish everybody here in IndyCar, Randy Bernard and the rest of the drivers and teams, the best of luck and – who knows? – I might still see you at Indy sometime and since life takes strange twists and turns, I might even be back here in future.”

Now, that would have been a classy exit.

Doing what she did today (or her sponsor, GoDaddy, made her do) lacked class. Yes, she’s going to big league stock car racing but she didn’t have to throw the IndyCar Series under the bus on her way out.

I’m a big Danica Patrick fan. Or have been. And I knew this day was coming. If the announcement had come at the end of the season, so be it. But there are still five races to go and I’m angry at her for doing this now.

I hope when she gets to California that all the tires on her car are flat.

And if I had a GoDaddy account, I’d cancel it.

Comments

[Ron P]

I think your anger is misplaced. Drivers and teams have been doing the mid-year swap forever. I hope Danica wins big in NASCAR, and I don't even care for her that much.

[Jerry]

Actually, this does make sense from a business perspective, if Stewart-Haas needs a public commitment to convince other sponsors to sign on the dotted line for 2012.

Regardless, I think there's something much more important than Indy fan and Indy garage reaction that I'd be interested in hearing your take on -- now that this is official, IndyCar has taken one more step into shadows. They knew this was coming, but have either been unable or unwilling to take steps to stop it.

Fans aren't going to start coming out to Indy races just to boo Danica Patrick. They've just lost their most mainstream star, and one of their big sponsors, and there's no sign anybody is coming up to replace her. You, yourself, have mentioned that they seem to be out of good ideas, and their plan of 'going retro' isn't working.

So what happens now?

[allenparkpete]

She never made her mark in Indy Car and now that NASCAR has her they'll play 'novelty toy' with her for a few years till that whole thing gets tire. As one who used to watch Indy Car faithfully till it turned into a comedy and one who watches NASCAR it'll be personally painful to me to hear the upcoming Danica cheerleading. As a fan I've been through it during her open wheel years but to hear it again, let's just say I won't hear it again, the TV and the internet will be shut off.

It's also interesting what your blog didn't say as its not official but she and Go Daddy will race at Indy next year in the 500 as that's the only race that matters to her outside NASCAR. Maybe that's a smart move; maybe its not...but its a cynical move for sure.

[JB]

Amen Norris. For serious Indy racing fans she was a sideshow anyway. Given Danica's financial clout and resources, her results in the series, or lack there of, speak volumes. In equal machinery I would put my money on Simona without hesitation.

[Bill Taylor]

Too much of a hassle to cancel my GoDaddy account and restart my website elsewhere so I guess I'm stuck with them. I wonder how long they'll be stuck with Danica Patrick. I've never been the fan of hers that you have; I see her as little more than a semi-talented opportunist ready to dance to whatever sponsorship tune is played within her hearing. I suspect that when she goes nowhere in NASCAR and the novelty of having her there wears off, GoDaddy will quietly cut her loose. As ye sow...

[Tabber]

Way to counter unprofessionalism with the same. In return, I hope all your screens go to blue.

[Adam]

I don't see why it was bad timing from her part. We all suspected so it is better to get over with it earlier than later.

If Andretti does not prepare her car up to top standard for the remaining races, Go Daddy would just pull the money out of the team. Andretti would not win in this.

Overall it does not matter where she races in the future.

[Peter]

Wow, you're taking this almost personal. She left. She may have had poor timing with her announcement, but she made a business decision. Good or bad. Wishing her tires go flat? A little harsh, for sure. Maybe even a little unprofessional.

[Molly]

That's a really immature comment to make. Why are you taking this so personally?

[Ken Chevis]

I guess I am going to have to change my favourite soap box comment from "an average driver in an average racing series" to "a back marker in the third best racing series".

[Nick Danger]

Now comes the tricky part, becoming competitive. Norris, as a Torstar columnist you have an obligation to follow the Atkinson Principles. Surly (stop calling me Shirley) this poor woman's career has been manipulated by sexist corporate pigs, exploiting this world class athlete as nothing more than a sex object. Warren Coniam wasn't as cute, but he was good!

[Greg W.]

Prediction:
Danica will "get the call" from NASCAR and win the Daytona 500.

[John JR Revelle]

Two laps down and in 17th place Danica Patrick, will be the most common phrase heard in NASCAR all of 2012. She should stick with Indy cars and bump that record of 1 win up before becoming an also ran with the likes Of Mike Skinner and Joe Nemechek. Doesnt Dale JR have the balls to put a good young ,up and comer in that drivers seat?Or maybe he is thinking more about using his balls in that other manner. I know what Tony Stewart is thinking.... they dont call him smoke for nothing.

[John JR Revelle]

correction: Dave Danzer ,a rookie driver won a 50 lap feature at the famed Oswego Speedway,on Saturday night by beating out Joe Gosek and Randy Ristkes. See you Norris at the Classic !

[TedNes]

Don't-ica/Can't-ica will not make an impact on the track in NASCAR, but she definitely will in Souvenir alley, and in the paddock, where 1000's will fawn all over her......I never understood the love affair people had with her in IndyCar---she's a mid-packer at best----and do ya really think that a bunch of NASCAR driver's are going to just give her room because she's a girl?.....Allmendinger has struggled, Dario washed out, and they both have more driving talent in their pinkies than Danica does in her whole body......she'll be around for awhile though----she'll be doing laps at Daytona in 2015, driving the tour bus....

[jay]

Indycar?...bring back CART...now that was real racing.

[John McManus]

Andretti not prepare her car? It's not as if Andretti is a top team. All 4 drivers are fighting for best in class ( and loosing 6th most of this year).

Danaka nfinished 5th nin point 2 years ago beating one of the good team ( Penski/Ganassi) drivers, Tony and Mickael. There was no way she could have finished higher with that equipment.