Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
She probably could be posing for another provocative photo shoot in a chic men's lifestyle magazine, or she could be knocking out a few dozen transcontinental interviews via satellite.
Danica Patrick instead will spend a weekend halfway through the IRL IndyCar offseason doing what turned her into a cultural phenomenon: racing -- and not in an Indy car.
"More than anything, it's staying sharp," Patrick says of teaming with Rusty Wallace, Allan McNish and Jan Lammers in the No.2 Pontiac Crawford for Howard-Boss Motorsports at Saturday's Rolex 24 at Daytona. "I could devote all my time in the offseason to developing the business side and the marketing, but if other drivers are doing it and I'm not, they're taking a step forward and I'm standing still."
Patrick might hone her reflexes during the longest and physically taxing race of her career, but the primary benefactor will be Grand American Road Racing. Patrick's choice to take a break from burnishing her Q rating certainly won't hamper a sports-car series hungry for A-list exposure.
Founded in 1999, Grand Am has benefited the last five years from an influx of Nextel Cup stars at its 24-hour crown jewel, drawing champions such as Kurt Busch, Bobby Labonte, Terry Labonte, Tony Stewart and Matt Kenseth.
This year, Champ Car and the IRL interlopers outweigh the Cup crowd in the Rolex 24. Indy 500 winners Dan Wheldon and Eddie Cheever and past champions Paul Tracy, Scott Dixon and Jimmy Vasser are among the 17 active open-wheelers in a 200-driver field.
The biggest Indy-car name, though, is Patrick, and a dose of Danica-mania at Daytona International Speedway could provide the Rolex with a jolt of popularity unseen since the late Dale Earnhardt and his son kicked off the NASCAR crossover trend in 2001.
Grand Am President Roger Edmondson says ticket sales are running well ahead of last year, and that's likely thanks to Patrick. The 23-year-old former cheerleader's on-track success and sex appeal drew record crowds to IRL races and drove record clicks on Internet search engines after becoming the first woman to lead the Indianapolis 500.
"I'm confident she'll bring more fans," Edmondson says. "I'm absolutely sure she'll bring more media. There's no question of her star power."
Patrick raced road courses almost exclusively before entering the IRL last year. During testing, she outran Wallace, the retired Cup champ who is making his Rolex debut.
Patrick and Wallace are driving for a team that has excelled with outsiders. In 2004, Andy Wallace, Stewart and Earnhardt Jr. were 20 minutes from bringing a checkered flag to Howard-Boss when the suspension broke. Last year, a faulty gearbox dropped a Wallace-Stewart Pontiac from first to third in the last two hours.
In his 18th consecutive Rolex start, Andy Wallace will be teamed with Stewart for the third year. The veteran doesn't mind being overshadowed by teammates who parachute into his series once a year.
"It's 100% positive," he says. "It's very important to get all these names in the race as a magnet to lift the profile of sports-car racing up. We need more fans. We have a fantastic product. We just have to get people to see it."
Note: Drag racer "Dyno Don" Nicholson, voted No.18 on the list of the NHRA's top 50 drivers, died Tuesday after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease. Nicholson was a pioneer in Stock, Factory Experimental, Funny Car, and Pro Stock competition. He was 78. Nicholson earned his "Dyno" nickname as one of the first to utilize the benefits of a chassis dyno in the late 1950s.
To see more of USAToday.com, or to subscribe, go to http://www.usatoday.com
© Copyright 2006 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.
