2011 has been a defining year for Danica.

I know it's been almost a year since I added any entries to this blog, but I most certainly have not stopped following what has been going on with Danica. As a matter of fact, I have met her once already this year at the Long Beach Grand Prix back in April and will see her again here in Sin City for the inaugural running of the Indycar World Championships in October. I know I planned on seeing her more this racing season (a.k.a. "DanicaStalk") since she was racing both Indycar and NASCAR, but life has a funny way of getting in the way of your passions.

In front of Danica's car before the start of the 2011 Long Beach Grand Prix.
Danica is getting ready in the background!

Danica and I after her 7th place finish at the 2011 Long Beach Grand Prix. She said, "Let me take the shot..."

As for Danica pulling "double-duty" in both the Indycar Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series, it's no surprise she is actually doing better at NNS than Indycar. I've been "ranting and raging" about Andretti Autosport's lack of a true commitment to, not only Danica, but all it's drivers during the 2010 season. And it has been most apparent during this 2011 season as well. Due to the lack of consistency both during qualifying and on race days, it's no wonder why "newer" teams like KV Racing, Panther Racing, and Sam Schmidt Motorsports are more competitive than Andretti.

On the NASCAR Nationwide Series side of things, it's like "night and day". The equipment, the strategy, and most importantly, the commitment is there. Consistently, the car and the strategy planning is always competitive, even if Danica isn't driving the #7 GoDaddy Chevy Impala on that particular weekend. It comes to show what kind of operation JR Motorsports has. A couple of weeks ago, Danica announced she will drive full-time in the NNS and participate in a few NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races with Stewart-Haas Racing during 2012. As for the Indycar Series, I know the only reason why she would even bother would be to only race the Indianapolis 500...that's it.

Danica with her 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Sereis #7 Chevy Impala.

Which now raises the question after the August 27th press conference, "Did Danica move to NASCAR full-time because of the money?" I'd like to say that financial opportunity was just part of it. There are plenty of reasons, that I can see, that makes Danica's move to NASCAR a very good decision. Let's go down the list, shall we...?

1) T.J. Patrick - it's been said that Danica's father always had a "weakness" for NASCAR

2) Indycar's decision to add more road courses than ovals - even though Danica definitely has great road racing ability, her greatest strength still lies on driving ovals. Where better than in NASCAR where 95% of all races are on ovals.

3) JR Motorsports - a team owned by Dale Earnhardt, Jr.; his sister Kelley Earnhardt Miller; his cousin and former crew chief Tony Eury, Jr.; and Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports. Those names alone just scream "#winning"...

4) NASCAR's enormously huge following - i still can't believe these numbers: NASCAR is the 2nd most watched sport on television in the U.S. and the 1st in attendance. With viewership like that, it's no wonder why Godaddy.com wants to make sure their #1 spokemodel has a ride. And despite Indycar having the historical Indianapolis 500, they cannot compete with NASCAR's answer to that: the Daytona 500.

I'm pretty sure there are plenty of personal reasons on top of the aforementioned. But seriously, can you blame her for dropping Indycar?

Overall, the brand that is "Danica" will be synonymous with racing. And in particular, racing "history". What Danica has accomplished these past 6 years on the racetrack has most certainly not been comparable to what Jimmie Johnson or Dario Franchitti has done during that period of time for their respective racing series. But it is what Danica has brought to Indycar, and now in NASCAR, that makes her more than just "a hot chick who likes to drive racecars". Every time she gets behind the wheel of her car, there will ALWAYS be that opportunity to witness true racing history. Of course, there have been a number of women who have been there before her, but this time around...the skills are most definitely there behind both the looks and the brand. And it is this history making opportunity that makes her the "huge draw" that will ultimately define her.