Is Danica Patrick Married

Danica Patrick's possible impact hard to gauge

Johanna Long was 18 years old when she outraced NASCAR Sprint Cup regulars David Ragan, Landon Cassill and others on the way to winning the prestigious Snowball Derby in December 2010 at 5 Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Fla. It was a big deal. Or at least, it should have been.

The Snowball Derby is one of the premier late-model stock-car races in the country, attracting some of the top drivers. Kyle Busch, the current Sprint Cup points leader, took time from his offseason to win it in 2009.

But after Long beat a field full of men -- including some highly regarded prospects such as Chase Elliott, Bill Elliott's son -- no fame or fortune followed. So now her family is footing the bill for Long to race part time in the Double-A level Camping World Truck Series, hoping for a sponsor and a chance to climb the ladder in NASCAR.

It's a familiar story. The purse strings rarely have opened for women coming up in NASCAR, a pervasive pink ceiling has held back advancement each time a prospect has come along. That's why some are embracing Danica Patrick's arrival full time in the Triple-A Nationwide Series next year, with a part-time Cup schedule in 2012 and a full-time Cup ride with Stewart-Haas Racing in 2013.

Patrick, the popular IndyCar Series driver who announced the move last week, is the first to break through and put herself on a top team with equipment second to none in NASCAR.

Where so many others have tried and failed, Patrick is the one who made it.

"There are tons of young girls and women that are in the motorsports ranks competing at local levels and regional levels all over the United States," said Kelley Earnhardt, sister of Dale Earnhardt Jr., who negotiated the deal to bring Patrick to NASCAR full time with JR Motorsports next season.

The New Agenda » Blog Archive » Danica Patrick Competes to ...

NASCAR is divided into three parts: the Truck Series, the Nationwide Series (much like a minor league) and the Sprint Cup (the Major leagues). Although there are women competing in each level, none has more fame than Danica Patrick.

Patrick formerly was a competitor in “Indy” style racing, but announced a few days ago that she would be concentrating all her efforts next year towards competing in the Nationwide Series. Along with Jo Cobb, she will be one of the two women competing full time in that series.

Patrick lost her 63rd consecutive Indy Car race Sunday at Sonoma, and if you didn’t already know her record is now 1 for 112, there’s an entire website that is dedicated to demeaning her and her career. Recently that site and others similar have become straight out sexist.

Jenna Fryer, an AP reporter covering NASCAR, observes :

It’s doubtful anyone has ever paid attention to what five-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson has worn to a press conference, but one publication noted that Patrick wore “orange hooker heels” to last Thursday’s announcement. She’s been referred to by her married name, Mrs. Paul Hospenthal, called “Mrs. Arrogant,” and had her underwhelming IndyCar statistics repeated again and again as fans debate whether she deserves a NASCAR ride.

Patrick’s first top-10 came in her 15th career start. By comparison, Indy Car star Sam Hornish Jr. had no top-10s in 11 Nationwide starts before he went to Cup, and Dario Franchitti had no top-20s in four Nationwide starts before he moved up. Although there were skeptics as to how they would perform at NASCAR’s top level, neither Franchitti nor Hornish were accused of not deserving a Cup ride.

So sexism is alive and well in one of the last bastion of male dominance: NASCAR.

I don’t know anything about car racing but I have heard her name so she does promote well(I couldn’t name even one male driver). But I also seem to remember she promoted herself with nude photos and I find that really disappointing and that would certainly be pouring gas on the flames of the kind of sexism where she is called a slut or idiot bimbo. I have never considered her a role model for my girls since I consider nude photo promotion degrading. Women in sports (and women’s sports leagues)are in a bind since they are expected to promote themselves to male audiences with paint by numbers tit and ass photos and in doing that they become unacceptable role models and champions for girls and women who would be a larger audience. You can see the same ineffective tit and ass promotion in bikini volleyball which used to be watchable when the women wore all manner of beach clothes and also women’s professional track which is now unwatchable since the thong poll vaulting with up thong cameras on the landing became standard for women.

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