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[/media-credit]To say that the 2012 NASCAR season has been a steep learning curve for Danica Patrick is an understatement. In her first full season in the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS), Patrick has had her share of ups and down as well her share of obstacles in making the transition from open wheel racing to stock cars.
Her 2012 season started out with a pole at Daytona for the Nationwide Series event. Patrick was figured to be a strong threat for a top-5 finish during that race when on lap 50 she was spun by her teammate Cole Whitt entering turn 3 prematurely ending her day after only 72 laps. That weekend she also made her first career start in the Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) at the Daytona 500 and was collected in a crash on lap 2 on her way to finishing 62 laps down in 38th place.
After a tough opening stretch of the season in the NNS, Patrick recorded her first top 10 finish of the season with an eighth place run at Texas in April. Two more great runs at Darlington and Talladega soon followed and it looked like the No.7 team was starting to hit their stride. Patrick also competed in the Southern 500 at Darlington during that stretch where she started 38th and finished 31st.
From that point on it has been a mixed bag of ups and downs for the Roscoe, IL native. There has been three races that stick out this season that truly shows she belongs in NASCAR.
The first race that comes to mind is the Subway Jalapeno 250 at Daytona in July. Patrick started third and quickly showed she had one of the cars to beat maintaining a top-5 position for most all the event while leading 12 laps and at times it looked like it might be the weekend she went to victory lane until lap 82 when she was involved a wreck that ended any chance of victory.
Road America was another race where Patrick showed her true talent, running in the top-10 all day long and by race end was in the top-5 until being spun by Jacques Villeneuve on the last lap relegating her to a 12th place finish. Two weeks ago at Montreal was her most impressive showing. She started fourth and led 20 laps until mechanical failures ruined what would have been at worse a top-5 finish.
Which leads to this weekend at Bristol. NASCAR’s toughest and most demanding track. Patrick was doing double duty this weekend racing in both the NNS and NSCS. Many wondered how Patrick would fare in her first ever cup start at the famed 1/2 mile bullring. While the results show she finished in 29th her run was much better than the results indicate. Patrick was on the lead lap in her first cup start at Bristol for over 400 laps and was in position to secure at worse a top-20 finish until lap 434 when she was spun by Regan Smith ending her night with 66 laps to go. The night before Patrick finished ninth in the NNS race won by Joey Logano.
In my honest opinion, Patrick has made leaps and bounds improvement in 2012 and has a great support system behind her in Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Stewart along with a big fan base. The question is this, is she full time NSCS ready? After last night I for one think she proved beyond all doubt she belongs. She is still transitioning and still learning these stock cars seeing some tracks for the very first time. I think the rest of 2012 will be a great learning tool in preparing for a full cup schedule in 2013. If she can show results and progress like she did at Bristol this past weekend then 2013 could be a great year for Patrick with results better than anyone expects.
