<
        >

          Your Turn: Is Danica Patrick ready?

          • ESPN.com
          Nov 21, 2012, 03:24 PM

          Our experts get to have their say every Tuesday, debating the week's burning questions in our Turn 4 wrangle.

          Now it's Your Turn.

          We're selecting one hot-button topic each week and letting y'all have at it. We invite you to cast your vote in the accompanying poll and then steer down to the Conversations section below and tell us why you voted the way you did.

          Prefer Twitter? You can tweet your response using the hashtag #ESPNYourTurn.

          We will collect the top tweets and most engaging comments and publish them below. Check back throughout the day to see if yours gets posted.

          This week's topic: Is Danica Patrick ready for a full-time Sprint Cup campaign?

          What do our experts think? In this week's Hot Button special, Brant James writes that she has built positive momentum toward her first full-time Cup venture in 2013 with Stewart-Haas Racing. David Newton counters that Patrick still has yet to prove herself in a stock car.

          What say you, NASCAR Nation? Is Danica ready?

          Now have at it …

          The best from Twitter (#ESPNYourTurn)

          Follow the ESPN.com crew on Twitter: Terry Blount | Joe Breeze | K. Lee Davis/ESPN Motorsports | Ed Hinton | Ryan McGee | David Newton | Marty Smith | Matt Willis

          The best from ESPN Conversations

          • leviteprez -- It matters little if she is ready or not ... the fact is ... SHE IS EXTREMELY MARKETABLE ... and thats what matters in a sponsor driven sport ... NASCAR needs her at the TOP level. Get over it ... she's there.

          • 01AMGFan -- No, Danica is not ready for a full-time campaign in the Cup Series. No doubt, Danica has driven some impressive races in Nationwide this season; she's particularly been impressive on the road courses. It's strange, as Danica never gelled with road courses in IndyCar. However, if Danica was a male who didn't have such large financial backing, based on her results she wouldn't get a full-time Cup drive.
          2012 was Danica's first full year in a stock car, and considering she didn't win much in IndyCar, she still needs to prove herself in a stock car and win some NNS races. Arguably, in fact, Danica needs to prove herself as a winner in motorsports, period. Patrick's sponsors might be itching for a full Cup campaign, but in the long-term, ignoring her developmental needs will prove more costly.

          • txtechjmacattack -- No. She had an average finish of 18.8 in the Nationwide series with only 17 lead lap finishes in 33 races. But if you want to know how her season will go next year, she had only one lead lap finish in her ten Cup Series races and an average finish of 28.3. With Regan Smith moving over to JRM's Nationwide program, this would've been a perfect year to stay in the No.7 and learn with an experienced teammate. Instead, she's poised for a nightmare year.

          • bluescreen73 -- Her 10th place finish in the Nationwide standings doesn't look as impressive when you realize she finished 17th in the car owner points. Danica's been racing at a high level for 8 years now and has ONE fluky fuel mileage victory. When are the kid gloves going to come off? Nelson Piquet, Jr. is way more ready for the Sprint Cup Series than Danica is.

          • miller_time52 -- No, just no.

          • stomp347 -- 33% said yes ... they don't understand the sport.

          • More on ESPN Conversations.