I believe in free enterprise and allowing someone to do whatever they want to do – within reason.
But if I were the Indy Racing League or Michael Andretti, I’d be having a very serious discussion with my attorneys right now.
Lost in all the hype about Danica Patrick possibly coming to NASCAR – the rumors have had her racing for everyone from Tony Stewart to Rick Hendrick to Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Michael Waltrip (Waltrip? How’d he suddenly get into the Danica sweepstakes?) – doing some type of likely combination of ARCA, Camping World Trucks and/or Nationwide Series to get her feet wet in stock car racing.
That’s all well and good. I won’t fault her for wanting to explore her horizons as a professional race car driver.
But how many millions of dollars do the IRL and Andretti, co-owner of Andretti Green Racing, have invested in Patrick’s past, present and – if we’re to believe rumors that she’s already signed a three-year contract extension with AGR that is supposed to be formally announced this weekend – future?
Even though she’s the IRL’s answer to Dale Earnhardt Jr., the most popular driver in the series, Patrick is walking a very tricky path by moonlighting in NASCAR.
As much as you never want to wish serious injury on someone, there’s no question that injuries are a significant reality of racing. What happens if Patrick gets hurt in a stock car or truck, which precludes her from racing in one or more IRL races next season? What about all the tens of thousands of fans that bought tickets to upcoming IRL races with the express purpose of seeing Patrick, and then her little venture into NASCAR effectively knocks her out of her regular day job for an extended period of time?
Many NASCAR drivers – hell, athletes of all different types – have contracts with their teams or owners that restrict and even outright prohibit their participation in risky behavior, from riding motorcycles to piloting an airplane to jumping out of one. Heck, I wouldn’t be surprised if Jack Roush already has a new contract addendum prepared that will prohibit Carl Edwards from playing Frisbee again any time soon, given how he broke his foot doing just that several weeks ago.
So, why didn’t AGR or the IRL invoke some type of similar clause to keep Patrick from trying her hand at NASCAR? Or, did she call their bluff and say that if they didn’t go along with and approve of her NASCAR aspirations, that she’d simply pull up stakes and move to the stock car world full-time right away, thus putting a serious dent in a series and team that are already dented up.
The latest word is that one of Patrick’s primary IRL sponsors, GoDaddy.com, is reportedly willing to fork over a ton of cash to put Danica in a stock car in 2010. That’s all well and good; I don’t begrudge them spending the money or her getting a good healthy chunk of that money for her side job, as well.
But what happens if she gets hurt and is in neither a stock car or truck or an IRL open-wheel ride for GoDaddy.com and all her other sponsors?
Naturally, I don’t want to see Patrick or any other driver hurt while behind the wheel, but it’s an occupational hazard that drivers contend with every time they climb into a four-wheeled cockpit, knowing that in a split-second they can go from healthy to seriously injured or worse.
Just because Edwards survived his horrific ride at Talladega this spring without a scratch, or Joey Logano came out unscathed after his eight-revolution barrel roll at Dover a couple weeks ago, doesn’t mean that drivers can no longer get hurt in NASCAR.
I commend NASCAR for all the safety innovations that it has built into the new-style COT; those innovations have allowed guys like Edwards and Logano to walk away from wrecks that 10 years ago could have likely caused serious injuries or even death. But those innovations can also cause a false sense of security among drivers, believing themselves to be near-bulletproof because the cars appear to be the same way.
More than likely, if Patrick gets in a wreck, she’ll be okay. But if not, the already fragile popularity structure of the IRL will take a direct hit, like a freight train running through the middle of the league. What will the IRL become without Patrick if she’s injured in a NASCAR or ARCA event?
Then again, the IRL may want to utilize the next three years – the reported length of Patrick’s new contract with AGR – to start looking for and building up another new superstar to take Patrick’s place as the top popularity draw within the league.
For, if the rumors of her long-term intentions are true, Patrick will likely leave the IRL for NASCAR in two or three year’s time, anyway, putting them in the same position then as it could find itself in far sooner if something goes terribly wrong in her soon to be new side job.
