Notebook: Danica is Livin’ Large in New York

A good friend of mine thought I’d like this photo he took of a building-sized Motorola ad featuring Danica Patrick. He was right. This was taken near Penn Station in New York City and in case you can’t read it, the words say “Moto Danica - Head Turning Performance”.

I know that some hardcore race fans will argue with the “performance” part (and a few with even the “head turning” part) but they’re probably missing the big picture here. Getting named to dozens of “who’s hot” lists, being the subject of hundreds of newspaper and magazine articles and appearing on numerous television and radio shows, not to mention thousands of web sites, I’m starting (just starting?) to wonder if maybe Danica Patrick is becoming more a celebrity who races as opposed to a racing celebrity.

That’s not meant to take away from her on-track performance. No, she hasn’t won yet, but she’s worked hard and shown pretty steady improvement. Lately she’s even shown she’s capable of going wheel-to-wheel with the “big boys” of the IndyCar Series. I think she’s going to win eventually though I really don’t care to predict when that will happen, I think predictions like that are a waste of time. But in this day and age, with the ability to attract high-dollar sponsorships being required to even “play the game”, what constitutes being a “successful race car driver” anyway? I can’t help but think that perhaps the rules are being changed right before our very eyes.

Go Danica.