DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- What would be bigger for NASCAR: Danica Patrick or Dale Earnhardt Jr. winning the 54th running of the Daytona 500?
The question was posed to Earnhardt as media day came to a close on Thursday at Daytona International Speedway.
"ME! FOR ME!," said Earnhardt, his voice growing a few octaves higher than normal. "Hell, she don't drive for me in the 500, so it wouldn't make a difference for me if she won or not.
"But if I won it, it would be a big deal for me. As far as what everybody else thinks, everybody is going to have a different opinion on that."
It's an interesting choice to ponder. A win for NASCAR's most popular driver in the biggest race of the year, ending a losing streak that dates back to 2008, would be huge for the sport.
But so would a win for Patrick in a sport in which no woman has come close to Victory Lane in the "Great American Race." Imagine all the casual fans that would draw.
A Patrick win would make national newscasts that don't typically mention NASCAR. It would have immense historical significance, like Tiger Woods winning at Augusta National.
An Earnhardt win wouldn't be nearly as significant.
But Earnhardt wasn't thinking about what's good for the sport when answering the question. He was thinking about what is good for him.
"I'm frustrated we didn't win last year," said Earnhardt, who owns Patrick's Nationwide Series car. "I'm ready to get back to that. I want to win a race pretty bad. Daytona, this is probably the worst odds for me all year because of the way the racing is here.
"This is going to be a fun experience, but I'm looking forward to getting to Phoenix and the rest of the tracks to start getting control of my destiny and to start making things happen and start winning races."
Yes, you are reading correctly. Earnhardt, once the king of restrictor-plate racing, believes he's better off at non-restrictor-plate tracks. That says a lot about what he thinks about the tandem drafting and uncertainty of NASCAR's effort to return to the pack racing that made Daytona and Talladega so unique.
"I am looking forward to going to a track where I am driving the car and I can make a difference," Earnhardt said.
You can debate that, too.
But for now the debate is Danica or Dale Jr. winning at Daytona. Who do you think would be bigger for the sport?
David Newton | email
ESPN Staff WriterABOUT THIS BLOG
David Newton
David Newton, an award-winning NASCAR writer, began as a national motorsports columnist at ESPN.com in December 2006. Prior to joining ESPN.com, Newton served as the lead writer for NASCAR.com.
Newton previously covered NASCAR, the Carolina Panthers, Clemson University and University of South Carolina athletics for The State in Columbia, S.C., from 1984 to 2006. He also served as a correspondent for Sports Illustrated, and covered seven Super Bowls, dozens of college bowl games, five Masters, two U.S. Opens, two men's Final Fours, one women's Final Four and every major race on the NASCAR circuit.
The 1981 Wofford College graduate has won numerous state and national press association awards, including the 2009 Aflac Motorsports Journalism Award and second place in the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) columnist category. He also grabbed second-place national honors for his coverage of University of South Carolina football from the Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) in 1992 and the award for excellence in news reporting from the South Carolina State Press Association in 2002. He has broken major national stories, including the Carolina Panthers' steroid scandal in 2004.
Comments
You must be signed in to post a comment