Never kept track of the sport. I always assumed she was pretty good considering how much she appeared in mainstream media. This is pretty eye opening.

Richard Petty was dead nuts right on Danica. "She can drive a race car, but she's not a race car driver". Well said King....well said.

"If her name was Patrick Danica, no one would have given them a second glance" - Richard Petty

This summarizes her well: Jeff Gordon was once told over the radio, that’s Danica in from of him and he replied, “Ya I can see all five lanes of her”

Remember one race, the guy said, "Drivers... And Danica... Start your engines!" It was a hilarious slip

The problem with Danica was, her crashes took out a lot of other drivers. They had to pay for Danica's "fame".

D.A.N.I.C.A. Does Anyone Notice I Crash Alot

I remember being excited to follow a woman in Motorsports when she first hit the scene. We all followed with interest. And I vividly remember her crashing, and then crashing again, and then again and again. To which point I think we all just started second guessing our excitement.

Problem with Danica is she could get into the wall all by herself and still blame another driver.

I remember how everyone was going on about how she was a "trailblazer", like she was the first female to drive at Indy. They forget Janet Guthrie, Lyn St. James, Sarah Fisher... Danica simply had a powerful publicity machine that hyped her up to oversaturation. She's like todays music industry darlings: not outstanding on talent or ability, but very attractive and easily marketable.

I know this is kinda late, but my friends and I used to place bets as to how long Danicka would last before wrecking. Was fun.

Another important lesson that just because someone has a job doesn't mean they're good at it or earned that position.

they made her car as bright as possible so people could avoid her and she still managed to get into numerous wrecks...

Essentially a 9 minute Danica Patrick wreck compilation

For comparison, one recalls Amelia Earhart becoming quite famous for being the first woman to fly great distances around the world in solo engine planes. But she was not technically sound nor did she practice much and when she entered local flying races, she often finished dead or second from last.

I had ties with her dad for a while. Talked about the monster truck business (which he was in for decades), and other stuff like his schedule. Was a fan of her’s when I was like 18, but my love for NASCAR just decayed over time.

Unfortunately, Danica made it dangerous for everyone on the track. I was hoping that she would be a far better driver than she was. My husband and I would make guesses on how many laps it would take her to wreck.

Danica drives the same way in real NASCAR as I used to in NASCAR PlayStation games, just crashing as spectacularly as possible

This is why I love when the Sky F1 pundits ask for her opinion on racing matters. Sure she has raced but I’m not sure how much expertise she can provide on the pinnacle of motorsport.

She was eye candy for the purpose of bringing in more fans.

She kept a lot of people in business by recycling the scrap metal of all the cars she wrecked!

Her interview on JRE a few years back was really interesting. She’s not a car lover, owns zero sports cars, and drove whatever SUV her sponsor gave her. She openly says she didn’t care at all about cars or driving. Really strange career bc it’s a person who’s not interested in the cars, the media saying she’s gods gift to Motorsport, and her trailing and crashing constantly.

Danica wasn't there to win races. She was there to bring advertising $$$$$. Judging from all the ads back then with her in them. She did her job.

Btw that initial clip talking about “car control” was actually just her failing to get her car broadside across the track to wreck out the drivers coming up. If you watch you’ll notice that she did that EVERY time she wrecked. I’ve seen other racers wreck other drivers but she is the only one I’ve seen pull this crap. It’s a miracle that she didn’t get anyone killed.

Long story short she wasn't that good. There have been worse drivers but those drivers weren't hyped up buy NASCAR and the NASCAR media as Superstars before they had ever even hit the track.

My memories of her…always wrecking, always blaming someone else, temper tantrums, me first attitude, DW having the big O every time he talked about her.

She gave NASCAR fans what they really wanted. T & A and Gossip!

She admitted in a interview that she new nothing about cars. That statement should tell you what kinda driver she was.

She was one of the reasons I lost interest in NASCAR. She got more undeserved attention and we were sick of having endless updates about her during races while numerous other drivers were ignored!

Very good analysis and conclusion. I do recall that Danica "Crash" Patrick was a legend in her own mind, however. Having an abrasive personality doesn't work well for anyone, especially when her estimation of her abilities didn't match reality.

She was a failed marketing attempt by NASCAR to draw in new viewers and sponsors. She’s really lucky to have not ended up a fatality- a testimony to the engineering safety of the cars and safety equipment.

I used to be a custodian at Go Daddy and they had her car in the building. Every night I'd have to ride the floor machine to clean the building. One night I accidentally smacked it right into her car.

Kyle Petty said as she started racing “she will never win a race.” I thought it was a pretty shit thing to say, but it turns out that he wasn’t wrong.

Met her a few times at sponsor events, and she was not happy and had an attitude. Everyone who met her was sad to see how disgruntled she was. Gave stupid canned answers and not fun to talk to. Tony Stewart on the other hand was so fun and talked to us like a regular person.I think deep down she knew she was a bad driver.

Thank you for a great video! It was very enlightening and you explained everything well.

I'd almost forgotten about Danica Crashtrick. Thanks for the vid!

The saddest thing here is that her case illustrates best the problems in racing, from stockcars to even F1. Many drivers are there just because they bring in more money. Not because of their talent. Some are marketable (i.e Danica Patrick) and others through their rich family can bring in dollars (i.e Nicholas Latifi, Mazepin...).

In her entire racing history, she won one race, and that was a substandard race held in Japan.

During a trip through Albuquerque in 2015 I visited the Unser Family Racing museum (an awesome place which every racing fan should see!). Al Unser Senior happened to be there that day, and it was a tremendous honor to meet the four-time Indianapolis 500 winner! Al insisted I try out his new Indycar simulator, and it took awhile to stay off the walls and get even some semblance of speed. All the while, Al Sr stood watching over my shoulder - at one point he said speed it up Rick, you're about to be lapped by Danica Patrick!

Her NASCAR career was about as good as her personality

How bad was Danica patrick? “Yes”

A moment of silence for the people behind the scenes that have to piece together the twisted mess of a car when Danica is done thrashing the living snot out of it.

lol!! I stoppped following NASCAR around 2008-2009. NO JOKE I always assumed she was actually a top 10 driver from the way the media talked about her.

Couple times I went to Dover I wore headphones that allowed you to listen in on the drivers and their spotters. I listened in on Danica and all she did was complain about the car the entire time.

Wow, what a crash magnet. Even when not involved, she gets involved.

more wrecks than top 20's. speaks for itself.

The only driver I can remember that finished in the back of the pack but still got tons of attention. Kind of like Tiger Woods in the latter part of his career.

It’s a miracle she survived. I find NASCAR to be boring af because there’s nothing interesting going on as everyone is just driving in circles. But after seeing this it makes me realize that it’s not easy as things can go south quickly.

The most impressive thing is the other dude's ability to not hit her after she crashes.

She always reminded me of a *NAKED GUN* gag wherein anything within 50 yards of her bursts into flames. Her car, other cars, the walls, the track, the flags

Does anybody remember a lady by the name "Janet Guthrie"? Not sure of last name. She made BIG waves in the racing world too .She was a class act!!🇺🇸😎

Yeah, it wasn't just that she was bad, but she actively hampered other drivers. And everyone had to put up with it for the PR.

I would love to hear what her pit crew thinks of her driving.

Everything Danica did -- or, more accurately, didn't do -- was magnified because girl. She got a lot of recognition she didn't deserve and is therefore held in more disdain than she deserves. In a perfect world, most people would never have heard of her.

I remember seeing her win the pole for a Brickyard Race, and then drop back to 6th on the First lap. I never got over that.

Her career was both stunning and brave.

Danica was actually a pretty good driver - as long as no other cars were on the oval!

In championship level equipment, only 7 top 10 finishes, and 31 DNF's in 190 starts. Not to mention an average finish of 24.1 and a best points finish of 24th. That's how bad she was.

Crashes are hard on bladders, and race car drivers are checked often for bladder damage. Danica had so many crashes, she should probably be checked on a daily basis.

She won one race in her career - Indy Car in Japan, when she was at the back of the pack (again) and, when everyone else ahead of her crashed out in the rain, managed to reach the finish line.

She was actually very good for the auto parts replacement industry, distributors and junk yards….

Great work

From Day 1, she was racing in arguably the best equipment available. Tons of money from sponsors. She still managed to finish most races in the slowest third of the field. Just a novelty act like the black guy bubba something-or-other if he's still racing today.

So my family was very involved in Indycar and the IMS from the 1960s-2010s (sponsored different drivers like AJ Foyt). My grandfather helped her land one of her first sponsors during her indycar career (peak motor oil). When she came up to our suite to grace us with her presence, she was very cold and outright indifferent to my grandfather, who only had a mere two months left to live as his cancer had spread all over his body wishing the span of a year. I have resented her ever since. I understand having to keep your guard up in a male dominated sport but my grandfather really did just want the very best for her, he wanted a driver my sisters could look up to. Instead we got Danica!

I remember a race in Kansas, I bet with my friends that if Danica Patrick crashed in less than 30 laps I’d get $300. Fastest money I’ve ever gotten.

It takes a lot of skill to have a Hendricks motor and still somehow manage to finish low.

Loved her in open-wheelers, and groaned when she went to NASCAR. I was hoping she'd do well, but I knew she wouldn't. She just didn't have the background for it, and waited much too long to get started in stock cars

The fact that I don't even watch NASCAR and KZfaq still recommended this video tells me what I need to know. Watched anyway. Good video, easy to follow for someone who only has a passing knowledge of the sport.

Danica's biggest flaw was her inability to remain focused and control her child sized temper. When I saw her stamping her little feet like a child, and blaming her crew for a loss in Indy cars, I lost 92%of my respect her. I figured, if she carried that attitude over to bump and grind Winston cup(whatever it is now)that she would burn out. Would anyone like some suggestions on lottery numbers?

Danica Patrick was on some Sunday morning TV show. That’s what really got her into NASCAR. I don’t watch it for the last decade. It’s no longer racing.

She drives like that on the freeways around Scottsdale too. I heard AZ pulled her drivers license for maxing out her points with tickets. She's well known with law enforcement.

Undoubtedly the best female stock car driver ever? Janet Guthrie would like a word with you. She, without absurd sponsor backing and riding for a nobody team, was able to put it in the top 10 5 times in her only real season. With the backing that Danica got, Guthrie probably could’ve won some races

Honestly she was everywhere. Even people who didn't watch NASCAR and racing in general knew who she was because she was everywhere. I just assumed she was a good driver and broke stereotypes.

“Started with a bang sitting on the pole” nice

My buddy raced w/ her. He was only on dirt with that crooked wing oval thing and a tube framed Monte shelled Frankenstein. He was in his mid 20's and had been in so many wrecks he was done. Just watching her on a big screen at a sports bar instead of flipping burgers was it for him.

I have to disagree with you regarding INDYCAR. Her finishes sound impressive until you see that INDYCAR fields are HALF the size of nascar fields. Also remember that she spent a few years driving for Michael Andretti, one of the top teams. When she left for nascar, Andretti smirked “I could always count on Danica to finish 13th...” She had ONE victory in over 100 starts, putting her on par with another driver who got a sweet opportunity without merit: Marco Andretti.

So from what I've learned from this video as long as nobody else was on the track she was a great driver.

NASCAR is so exciting. I am surprised it is not more popular.

Nice, went to see this after I didnt even knew who she was on the Drive to survive series... about as what I expected to be honest

Zero top 5 finishes in 5 years at a team which never failed to win a race That performance is just utterly shocking

I love the south park episode "poor and stupid". This reminds me of it so much. Hilarious!

She was the original nascar DEI.

I mean I see it like this. No one hyped her as the next Dale Sr. and she never finished dead last in the point standings, so there were several dudes worse than her every season she drove. I don't remember anyone hyping her as the best driver. She was just hyped as being the best female driver to ever do it....which she was.

She consistently was given some of the best cars with the most funding yet still was mediocre or worse when she wasn't crashing, in both Indy and stock cars. She also would blame anyone and everyone but herself. Now she's a pundit for Sky Sports Formula 1 without knowing a single thing about Formula 1.

You could point to scores of drivers over the past decade that she outperformed. However, she had the best equipment so expectations were much higher. She was average at best. She was a marketing dream.

I remember her either wrecking by trying to take someone out or crashing on her own and always finding a way to blame it on someone else. She could drive a race car but wasn’t a race driver

I wonder if the larger car and weight ratios as she was driving the NASCAR vehicles was a significant factor. From all appearances the Indy cars appear smaller and more agile, responsive to smaller handling while I could see the NASCAR being harder to steer and much more weight to keep balanced, especially in the turns.

The ONLY reason most people even know her name is because she was marketable and her PR team knew they could make big bucks off this stunt, more if she actually did well. She was young, female and (most would say) attractive and that’s the ONLY reason she became known.

She drove for some of the best racing teams in both open wheel and Nascar. I think one victory. A pretty lady and a horrible driver. I called her middle of the pack Patrick.

I do not closely follow auto racing. But, I do check on the standings of the Indy and Stock Car racing several times a year. You are correct in that she did better in Indy cars. Yet, whenever I looked at the stock car standings it appeared that while she was not in the top group or the 2nd top group... she was ahead of more people in the standings than she was behind. So she was at least a slightly better than average stock car race car driver. Pretty amazing for someone who only started stock car racing later in her driving career. I believe that you are correct in that if she had stayed with Indy cars that she would have been a well respective threat in almost every race for many years. So she was a race car driver. She was just in the wrong cars on the wrong tracks when she tried stock car racing. I wish she had returned to Indy cars.

There’s a reason my friends and I called her “TV’s Danica Patrick.”

Danica had talent, she should have stayed in Indycar to increase her skills. instead she took the money and was rushed through the nationwide series to cup, that is much too fast for someone who was use to racing open wheel cars.

Her success in open wheel racing had more to do with how they weighed the cars than her actual skill. Often times her car/driver weight was 50 to 100 pounds lighter than the other competitors. That is a lot.

There are a lot of Drivers who don’t do very well in the sport. What bothers me is that she got to keep racing where any man with her record would have been cut or washed out. It just smacks of powers that be who really want to see a woman do well, even giving her more opportunities than an equivalently skilled man would have had.

Bro until I watched this video, I forgot Danica Partick was even a NASCAR Racer.

My main complaint with Danica was that she was nothing more than a marketing gimmick. She may have had a successful career in NASCAR had she worked her way through the ranks, advancing via success like most other drivers (notice I say most). Her obvious privilege did not help her. And it made her the target of other drivers. It's a shame because she set women in motorsports back 50 years.

She was pretty consistent.... At crashing. The most truest thing ive ever heard. She was literally nascars "token woman".

NASCAR peaked in the 90s. ❤

Indy is a different beast than Stock Car racing or F1. In Indy there are a lot of cars on the track, the vehicles can grip, and the position of the car in relation to the track is easily visible. It tests the driver and the vehicle differently. There are circuit, road, and oval courses in Indy putting the vehicle under a lot of stress through a season. It's not something you can unlearn easily so I am not surprised Danica crashed a lot making that transition. Most of the stock car drivers have decades driving under those conditions where they need to be consistent and push the vehicle to its limit every time. They worked their way up. They understand their vehicles to a very fine degree which builds tenths of a second every lap ultimately giving them several laps over others.

She committed the CARDINAL SIN!! SHE OPENLY CRITICIZED HER CREW!!