Now in its sixth year, Danicamania continues even though the crowds around Mrs Hospenthal seem, at least upon first glance, to be dwindling a bit. Perhaps that’s due to her lack of amassing wins, or her participation in some questionable commercials, or her flirtation with the other side of American motorsports. Or maybe it’s all that and the fact that she never really got herself a good rival get people fired up.

Goodness knows IndyCar fans have tried to tie her to a rival. First there was Sarah Fisher, who Danica had some blunt words for way back when. But Sarah hasn’t had the equipment or the schedule to really give Danica a good run. Then there was Dan Wheldon, and that was a lot of fun for about a week before everyone realized Danica wasn’t going to be able to hang with Dan most weekends so long as he was in a Ganassi car. Then there was Milka and the towel, and as amusing as that was that certainly hasn't resulted in any kind of competitive rivalry.

Now it looks like many fans are hoping Simona De Silvestro will emerge as some sort of “anti-Danica” to generate a lasting storyline. I understand why they are trying to tout this would-be rivalry entirely based on gender, but to your humble host this seems as artificial as a rivalry based or nationality or car number or hair color or whatever. Sure, I’d love to see Danica and Simona battling it out because that would be great for the series, but right now it makes little sense to pit them against each other since there’s nothing either of them has said or done anything to garner the attention of the other. It makes as much sense as saying Sarah Fisher and Milka Duno are now some kind of rivals.

However, in the quest to find a rival for Danica we might have overlooked the fact that she already has one, and that rival is not a girl. (And yet, I know at least one person who refers to this particular driver as a “girl”, but that person is also a fan of Danica’s so I don’t know what to make of that. Sorry for the non sequitur.)

My point, if I can stay on it, is there is growing evidence of a rivalry with Ryan Briscoe.

Exhibit A:

In May of 2007 Ryan was hired to drive for Jay Penske’s fledgling Luczo Dragon team, prompting Danica to offer her two cents:

"I would say this to his face, so I'm not saying anything out of line, but he crashes," Patrick told the New Jersey Express-Times.

"I've seen it before, I've been a victim sometimes when he just has some brain fade."

Ouch! At first glance that could have been just an off-handed comment from an overly-confident driver, but a year later...

Exhibit B:

You’ve probably seen it dozens of times, but the Danica v Briscoe stompapalooza at Indy in ’08 never really gets old. They both look so amusing – Danica marching through the pits like some miniature Terminator bobblehead while Briscoe hunkers remains frozen in his car pretending to be Invisible Boy.



But amusement aside, for many people this incident served as a reinforcement of Danica’s “brain fade” verbal smack down of Briscoe – one of whom most assuredly was Danica herself.

Exhibit C:

Before presenting the piece de resisitance it’s important to note a little history and context. “Danica Patrick” might be the most recognizable name that comes to mind when contemplating young ladies from Roscoe, Illinois, but second on that list would be “Nicole Manske”. Manske in fact was once on the same cheerleading squad as as the young Ms Patrick, and of their relationship Manske once said in 2005:

"Naturally, I'm supposed to be objective and treat all drivers equal, but I watch the speeds, and when I saw hers going 225, 226, 227, yeah, I cheer…I told her, 'Great job.' It's just really cool because she's the real deal. How can you not be proud of her? She's gone further in her career than I have in mine."

Keep that quote in mind, friends, because as you’ll see Manske has definitely changed her tune now that she covers N****R for ESPN. And now that she’s married to...you guessed it, Ryan Briscoe. It’s a small world after all.

And with that we throw you to the ever exciting world of twitter this weekend, starting with SBNation’s Jeff Gluck.

Ha, @nicolembriscoe is going to get me in trouble. She wants me to comment on overhyped Danica's poor, slow qualifying effort. But I won't.

You might think he’s making that all up just to start something, except that a few minutes later Manske said...

@jeff_gluck um...think you just did. You have to speak for all of us who don't have freedom of speech!

Well then! Is it getting hot in here or is it just me?



Some of you might suddenly find your hair on fire at this because Manske is not just a driver’s wife but is also the host of a show that focuses on another racing series that now features Danica Patrick. And you have a great point and I hope you go ahead make it because I’m not going to do so at the risk of derailing my “rivalry” angle today. I am focused like a laser, but you can make of this what you want.

Like I said, my point is it definitely looks like Danica and Ryan have more than a little of animosity going on, although the one thing we're missing is Ryan saying something inflammatory. So far in 2010 he's looking like the third best driver on a two-car team, so fanning these flames might actually help raise his profile.

Regardless, these two certainly have more than a little history of dislike going on here, and that’s the kind of stuff where a real and lasting rivalry comes from. How this plays out on the track remains to be seen since Ryan and Danica haven’t exactly been racing near each other this year, but it’s something to keep an eye on because the Danica v Briscoe lack-of-love-fest has already outlasted Danica’s other contrived rivalries.

(Thanks to Jerry Wilson for recently bringing this to our attention.)

In 1988 I was a freshman at Purdue University, and yes, I realize those nine words just lost me half of my readership. Anyhow, on an otherwise unremarkable day I recall sitting in my dorm room in Wiley Hall watching a news cast where the talking head revealed how the St Louis Cardinal football team was packing up its truckload of losing seasons and heading West to my home state of Arizona.

The room next to mine was occupied by two fine young sports fans from St Louis, and within mere seconds of the airing of this announcement one of them got up, walked over to my open door, stood there and said simply to me “You can have ‘em.”

That pretty much sums up my feelings about the media coverage of Danica Patrick’s first official N----R race tomorrow. It’s not that I want her to be gone from the Indy Racing League – goodness, no – but that now some other group of sports fans has to deal with the media circus and all the skewed coverage that goes along with her involvement with motorsports.

"I can't believe I'm getting interviewed today. She must have finished early." - Tony Stewart

For all the coverage that Danica has brought to the IRL over the last few years, I would say more than not has been coverage brought to herself. That's not necessarily her fault as I don't think her intention was to ever overshadow her sport, but as a fan who has watched five years of races where every driver not named “Danica” has be ignored for what seems like half of the broadcast.

I once asked a representative of ESPN if he realized their coverage seemed to focus half of their broadcast on a single driver, and he earnestly replied that was correct, and that their studies or surveys showed that HALF of the audience is watching only to see Danica. It was quite the "jaw meet floor" moment.

Then again, when the ratings for an ARCA race on SPEED basically doubles (or triples, or quadruples) that of every IndyCar race other than The Indy 500 last year, it's hard to argue with that.

"According to the 'media' not only is Danica the most amazing racing driver since Dale Sr. but she is also related to Jesus lol." - Scott Speed

Of course, if broadcasters are going into the event thinking that one competitor is responsible for half the audience then they're most assuredly going to play it up. The "Jesus" comparison isn't beyond them because for years Danica was proclaimed as the savior for the IRL. And to some extent she may have been, as soon after her arrival the IRL ownership purchased and bimergified with Champ Car.

But there is also the possibility that for all the fans she added that there were others who stopped watching altogether what had effectively become the DaniCar series. I won't suggest that it's an equal amount to those she added, but it's not exactly a secret that over the last five years the ratings and attendance for many events has gone DOWN, not up.

"We've never had a female -- in my era -- that's been competitive. I think most of them have just been here because they're female. I think Danica's the first real female racecar driver that's coming in here. I'm not saying she's going to be competitive overnight but she's the first one who's got any sort of credentials that should be racing cars." - Kevin Harvick

Perhaps the most annoying aspect of having Danica involved in any racing series is the endless chatter of how well she compares to other women drivers, as if that were some other form of driving class. We're often told the car doesn’t know the gender of the driver, but innumerable race fans with their Swimsuit Editions stashed at their bedside most certainly do.

It's only human nature, I suppose, to be fascinated with women in what has for so many years been a men's sport, but at some point it would seem this has to end, right? I mean, at some point between Jackie Robinson and Barry Bonds we stopped saying "black baseball player", so there has to be a point where Danica and other drivers without the Y chromosome are simply "drivers". Obviously though, we haven't reached that point. It would seem we're not anywhere near it.

As I said before when I suggested she was undoubtedly the IRL’s “Driver of the Decade”, Danica’s participation in any motorsport event fundamentally changes the coverage of the sport. There will ALWAYS be more cameras and microphones pointing to her before, after, and most distressingly during any race in which she participates. It’s because a huge portion of the viewers wouldn’t be watching the race if she weren’t in it. Yes, I get that, even though I personally would prefer to watch footage of actual passing on a race track than Danica Patrick driving around by herself.

But now it’s time for stock car fans to get a taste of this. They thought they were getting a nice 10-ounce Daytona sirloin this week, but instead they’re being served 72 ounces of wall-to-wall coverage of a driver who isn’t even racing in the main event. I can’t revel in schadenfreude here because after years of this I know the feeling all too well. At first it’s so seductive to think of the interest of having a capable and fetching young lady competing in your sport, but before you know it every other person in your sport is rendered to near insignificance.

"Maybe ESPN could cover Danica on ESPN2 and the other 50 plus cars on ESPN Classic or something." - Regan Smith

Yup. Welcome to our world, stock car fans. I hope you enjoy the show.

What does this one say?



Photo: GoDaddy.com/Nate Ryan twitpic

Proving that there's no such thing as "concrete" good news for the IndyCar Series when Danica Patrick is involved, Patrick's official website gave eagle-eyed visitors a glimpse of the tiny speed diva's plan of attack for the future in advance of an official announcement.

The image, part of a Flash loading screen, shows Patrick wearing a GoDaddy.com racing suit - not surprising considering that only hours before her handlers had rolled out the official news of her three-year deal with Andretti Autosport and GoDaddy.

What is a bit surprising is that Patrick is clearly wearing the wrong GoDaddy.com suit. Wrong, that is, for a driver whose primary focus is supposedly her IndyCar career.

Anyway, we post this for your convenience to prove that, in fact, it is possible for Danica's new GoDaddy colors to possibly look uglier.

Our long national nightmare is over. At last, there is an official contract announcement from Danica Patrick!

Danica Patrick confirmed a sponsor deal to drive an IndyCar for the next three years on Monday -- and her plans to drive a part-time schedule for JR Motorsports in NASCAR's Nationwide Series in 2010 remain on track as well, a source close to Patrick said.

Patrick unveiled the GoDaddy.com-sponsored Indy car she will drive for Andretti Autosport on Monday in a Good Morning America appearance. The company said in a statement that the deal to drive the car is through 2012.

That, according to the source, had to take place before she could finalize any plans in NASCAR.

(MORE from ESPN.com)

Jay Busbee of From the Marbles calls this news "underwhelming". Sorry, N-word fans. The rest of you can check out her new neon green ride.

Blah blah blah, blah blah Danica Patrick blah blah N****R blah blah blah.

The two most popular drivers in auto racing -- Danica Patrick and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. -- may soon be involved in a limited N**** arrangement, N****R team owner Rick Hendrick confirmed to SI.com.

According to Hendrick, the plan would be to put Patrick in the JR Motorsports team that is owned by Hendrick driver Earnhardt, Jr. with sponsorship from GoDaddy.com.
"We have no deal but she has spoke with Kelley Earnhardt [Dale Jr's sister who handles that teams business affairs] about a limited number of N****R races in that car," Hendrick told SI.com. "I have had some conversation and Kelley Earnhardt has had some conversation with that but Kelly is heading that up.

(MORE from SI.com)

Blah blah blah, Danica blah blah blah blah blah.

Add Michael Waltrip Racing to the list of N****R suitors for IndyCar Series star Danica Patrick for 2010.

Team owner Michael Waltrip said on Tuesday he's met with Patrick and given her a tour of the team facility. He is willing to put her in a limited number of races in the Nationwide and Truck Series. "Whatever she wants," he said.

(MORE from ESPN.com)

Blah. Blah. Blah.

Who knew this otherwise trite little tweet from Danica Patrick would foreshadow today's HUGE news:

I cant believe I have actually been sleeping well since coming home from japan. Getting my solid 8-9 hours per night!

She may be resting easy because The Worldwide Leverage Tour appears to have ended - right where it started. Curt Cavin delivers the scoop that will now allow Fanicas to exhale.

Danica Patrick is now, officially, staying in the IndyCar Series.

Patrick signed a three-year contract to remain with Andretti Green Racing during last weekend's event at the Twin Ring Motegi circuit in Japan. She will continue to drive the No. 7 car with a Motorola-based sponsorship.

Same team. Same sponsor. Very interesting.

I'm still trying to soak it in, or maybe it's dragged on so long this is all I have to say about it. I guess my first thought is whether you're elated, disappointed, or just plain shocked at the news, give a moment to thank pressdog - the WWDT project worked.

My second thought is that P1 is going to do a total Snoop Dance when I give her the news. My third thought is...what does this mean for Marco Andretti?

At this time your humble host is not able to comment on my conspicuous absence over recent days, however I will categorically deny certain vicious rumors I have read. Let me say in no uncertain terms: I did NOT fall into a crushing state of depression over LindyCar Thackston stealing what little readership I had at Silent Pagoda, I did NOT have my password to my site hijacked by M.I.T. Pre-Emeritus Interuptus JR Hildebrand after I off-handedly called him "Jimmy Neutron", and at NO POINT was I chained as a love slave in the basement of Lauren Bohlander's lounge. (I might strongly consider applying for that position, though.)

Despite my absence it seems I haven't missed too much because almost all anyone has been talking about for the last week and a half is innumerable sentences containing the words "Danica" and "N****R". It appears to have all started with an article at ESPN, which led to several blog posts, as well as poor Curt Cavin having to answer daily questions on something that hasn't actually occurred.

# Sept. 3: On Danica and Alex Lloyd - 09/03/09
# Sept. 8: On Danica and IMS surface - 09/08/09
# Sept. 9: On Danica and Grand Am - 09/09/09
# Sept. 11: On Danica and Osama Bin Laden - 09/11/09
# Sept. 13: On Danica and Kanye West - 09/13/09

I can see how a lot of people want to chatter about such a subject, but again - NOTHING ACTUALLY HAPPENED. To recap: Tony Stewart says he talked with her, that she's looking to run some stock car feeder series in the next year or two, that she really wants to race tin tops for a living, and all of a sudden it's IndyCarmageddon. No contract was signed, no official announcement was made, and most importantly no new sponsors were hooked up to Danica's gravy train. All that happened was that Smoke said she "looked him in the eye" and told him this is what she wanted to do.

How is this news? As if anyone on a job interview - and when you think about, the Danica World Leverage Tour was a lot like a prolonged one-woman job fair - would say something different. As if we didn't already know Danica and her mysterious cadre of handlers haven't already been publicly talking up the idea of her in the most widely watched racing series in America? As if we're all suddenly shocked, SHOCKED that there's gambling in Casablanca.

Yet poor Bob Kravitz, who I last saw sleeping on Race Day at Indy this year, went into his best Chicken Little impersonation, saying nonsensical and contradictory things like her departure "won't kill the sport, but it will deal the open-wheel types a painful and possibly even fatal blow."



I'm not sure that was actually Bob, but before we all get navel-gazing about what the A.D. (After Danica) era would be like we need to remember she's still probably going to be in the IndyCar series for the immediate future. Yes, someday soon Danica may find herself elbow deep in studies similar to the Sam Hornish Jr Stock Car Education Curriculum, and she may have some as yet unknown fairy sponsor drop a $30 meeeeelion dollar package into her lap to jump to the Cup series, and she may find herself racing around for 30th place not because she can't drive the car but because she can't drive as well as the other 42 more experienced drivers. Someday. Not today, probably not this year, and maybe even not next year. But someday, maybe.

Friends, the WWDT mission has not failed. Not yet, at least. Somebody tell Hitler to take a breath and chill, because no matter how much wanderlust Mrs Hospenthal might have currently she will still for the foreseeable future be stuck with us and we will be stuck with her. Just remember this in case the three-week delay between Motegi and Homestead gets filled with even more hysteria.

Good news, IRL-o-philes! Danica Patrick, erstwhile Maxim model, former winner of the informal "Most Awkward Cheesecake Photo Pose Ever," current Go-Daddy Girl and - oh yeah - racing driver, told Sports Illustrated's Bruce Martin that she is likely to stay in the IndyCar Series instead of making a rumored (and extremely ill-advised) move to NASCAR.

The onetime one-time IRL race winner and famed Indy 500 top-fiver has seen a breakthrough in negotiations with Andretti-Green Racing after it was announced this week that AGR will split its promotions arm off into a separate concern. According to Patrick, having to deal with AGR partners Kevin Savoree and Kim Green was one of the reasons why she was looking at tin-tops in the first place:

"Yes, I would prefer to talk to Mike than to Kevin because he is a larger owner in the team, and when I talk to Mike things get done... I believe his heart is in it and he has a passion for everything from the business to the driving side, and he can relate to what the driver does as well."

Reading between the lines, of course, one gets the sense that Danica's asking price of $17 million for three seasons behind the wheel likely didn't go down Savoree's craw as smoothly as it might have Andretti's. Anyone connected to the IRL knows that, for better or for worse, Danica can write her own check because of the absolutely disproportionate level of exposure she generates for the league compared to virtually anything else besides the 500-mile race itself. But it is possible that Savoree, concerned with not only the competition side of the AGR business but also with its promotions arm and other assorted responsibilities, could have seen the giant chunk of cash destined for Ms. Hospenthal's bank accounts and had a minor bout of skepticism.

Michael Andretti, of course, knows that essentially his race team's financial survival could hinge on Danica's presence therein. AGR has struggled markedly this season after the "red car" teams of Penske and Ganassi took their game to a new level, and with Tony Kanaan's bad luck streak and the invisibility of both his son Marco and Hideki Mutoh, Danica has actually been the best driver on the team all year. So naturally it is in his best interests to get Danica signed as quickly as possible.

Danica, for her part, is not stupid. The actual likelihood of her becoming a NASCAR driver was about as probable as it was the last time she was up for contract - which is to say, not very likely at all. While Danica has as healthy an ego as any superstar athlete, she is also possessed of at least a baseline amount of common sense, and that common sense says that her choices were either to be a contender in the IRL or to cool her heels in NASCAR's minor leagues for a while before "proving herself" to the stock-car community. She is no fool - she has seen what has happened to her confreres who have tried to make the Big Leap to the Big Time, and at this point only Sam Hornish looks to be within sniffing distance of success after a couple of years of struggling and dues-paying.

In short, the Fanica Panicka about her defection was likely a wee bit overblown.

Still, while it is probably not a "big public relations victory" for the IRL as Martin suggests, it's still good news that their most relevant driver will be back in their most relevant race next year. If a Savoree-less AGR can get their program back on track, she might even be a favorite to win the Borg-Warner Trophy. At the end of the day, that's what matters most to Danica.

A while back we first heard the name "Takuma Sato" mentioned in connection with a potential IndyCar team headed by Gil de Ferran. Then it was "Scott Dixon". Now he's supposedly talking to "Graham Rahal". We don't know if this is serious because we don't know if there are any actual sponsors involved who would help pay for these drivers, but give Gil credit for mastering the USF1 method of dropping names to generate publicity for a team that doesn't actually exist yet.

So which name is next to appear in a published de Ferran rumor? Danica Patrick? Sebastien Bourdais? Dr Jack Miller?

Oh, and in case you've wondering where I've been the last few weeks I've been preparing to start my own IndyCar team. I'm considering partnering with Bill Gates and Warren Buffett as potential investors.

Photo: Dan Smith