Danica makes her Sprint Cup debut, and it's finally over.

After being postponed twice, the Daytona 500 had finally started under the lights at 7pm EST. Unbelievably, after just the first lap, Jimmie Johnson gets pushed into the wall and collects 6-7 cars. One of those cars happened to be Danica's...dammit. Not her fault, or even Jimmie Johnson's. After watching the replay, I blame Elliot Sadler on that one.

Danica trying to dodge Jimmie Johnson's wrecked car to no avail.

Danica then goes back out during lap 70 of the race. The Baldwin Racing and Stewart-Hass Racing teams worked feverishly in the garage to get Danica's #10 Chevy Impala back in the race. I know Danica is one "pissed-off chick" if she refused to get out of the car while the teams were working on it. It was definitely over an hour sitting in that car while everybody was scrambling around trying to fix the complete rear end of that race car. After hearing her thank the team for getting her back out there despite being down 62 laps, you can hear the disappointment in her voice since she was quite confident she would do well for this Daytona 500. It's been a pretty rough weekend for her, and even rougher "debut" in Sprint Cup. Danica eventually finished 38th overall down 64 laps.

Yes, I am Danica's biggest fan. And, yes, I was a NASCAR fan way before Danica even showed interest in stock cars. But as a longtime fan of racing, this Daytona 500 was one of the most bizarre I've ever watched. There were stretches of monotony as drivers were trying to keep their cars from overheating for the end. Then it started to get interesting halfway through since there was a $200,000 prize for the leader after lap 100. And again, monotony for 30 laps. Then word got to drivers that a storm was coming and they started getting racy again. Then the unthinkable happened...during a caution with 40 laps to go, Juan Pablo Montoya was getting back on track after pitting and all of a sudden his car loses control and slams into one of the jet dryer vehicles. A huge fire breaks out at turn 3 due to all of the jet fuel the dryer vehicle was carrying. The race was then red flagged. Fortunately, JPM and the driver of the jet dryer truck walked away.

Jet dryer vehicle on fire at lap 3.

This Daytona 500 was all about "WAITING". We had to WAIT for the rain to pass to start the race. Danica had to WAIT for over an hour for her car to be repaired after only 1.5 laps. We had to WAIT for almost 2 hours for fire damage to the track to be fixed with 40 laps to go. There is even footage of Danica taking what looks to be a bathroom break, Carl Edwards greeting fans, and Brad Keselowski tweeting during this WAIT. They went back to green with 34 laps to go and Matt Kenseth held back a charging Dale Earnhardt, Jr. to finally win the 54th Daytona 500. It took a 31 hour delay and 6 hours after the start to complete this race.

BTW -- I am quite impressed with Clint Bowyer's karaoke skills.

Daytona 500 postponed.

The Daytona 500 has been postponed for the first time in its 54-year history. It's scheduled for tomorrow at Noon (EST) / 9am (PST). Should be an interesting work day...

Danica finishes 38th for the Drive4COPD 300 at Daytona.

After starting at Pole and having a really decent showing for the first 1/4 of the race, Danica gets wrecked by her own teammate, Cole Whitt, going into turn 3 around lap 52. What can you say...rookie mistake. Danica looked real strong during the beginning of the race with team owner, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. pushing her around the track at the beginning. Then she started falling back toward the middle of the pack during laps 30-40. Then during laps 50-52, Danica gets pushed by Whitt way too early in turn 3 and she loses control of the car and slams into the wall. JR Motorsports manages to get her back on the track being down 48 laps. Danica finished 38th, Dale Jr. finshed 15th, and Cole Whitt finished 7th to round out all of the JR Motorsports drivers. Just want to say, "Thanks, Cole!" and James Buescher still sucks.

Danica gets pushed out of control by Cole Whitt

ESPN Feature: Danica's New Attitude

People always ask me, "Why Danica?". Watch this video and you will understand why.

Danica's New Attitude

Hell of a Speedweek for Danica, huh?

Danica was all over the news last night for what looked like one of the most scary crashes ever at Daytona during the first Gatorade Duel race's final lap. Below is video footage of the final laps of the Duel, and her answering questions about the crash during a press conference this morning.

Gatorade Duel 1 Final Laps
Danica sounding off about the crash.

The irony of it is that as relieved as I was to see Danica was OK, I told my friend crashes like this tend to become omens of having a great race after. Apparently, it wasn't too far from the truth. This morning/afternoon, Danica becomes the second woman in NASCAR history to get Pole Position for a Nationwide Series Race. The first being Shawna Robinson at Atlanta on March 12, 1994. I am most certainly proud of her, and would like to send a congrats out to Tony Eury Jr. and JR Motorsports for some incredible work during the off-season.

Danica wins Pole Position for the inaugural NNS race at Daytona.

And thus, it begins.

Danica getting interviewed at the 13th Annual Media Dey at Daytona.

The 2012 NASCAR season has officially begun this past weekend and with it, DanicaMania is on full throttle!  Danica will be running 10 Sprint Cup races for Stewart-Haas Racing and the full Nationwide Series schedule this year for JR Motorsports. Which despite the past two years running in a handful of NASCAR races, it's still very "different" for me as DanicaFanBoy to not see her in an Indycar. Danica is guaranteed a spot in this year's Daytona 500 due to some crazy NASCAR math and ran her first qualifying laps this morning. Below is video of the qualifying run.

2012 Daytona 500 Qualifying Video

Danica on cover of "Anytime Fitness" magazine.

Danica is on the cover of the latest Anytime Fitness magazine, which is given out to members of the Anytime Fitness gyms. In the interview, it covers Danica's campaign to bring awareness of COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. it also covers questions concerning her move to NASCAR and her off-season activities.

Danica finishes 18th at Richmond.

Each of the nearly 3,000 stars on her car represents one of the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

In a car designed by GoDaddy.com CEO Bob Parsons, Danica ran her first NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Richmond International Raceway. She finished 18th despite making a small mistake by getting into the rear quarter panel of pole setter, Brad Keselowski. Danica went into turn 3 halfway through the race a little too fast and got into Keselowski of which spun him out. Oops! She admitted it was her fault. Still, a great finish after starting 32nd. I believe she most certainly learned a lot today.

Danica on cover of August "WellBella" magazine.

Danica is on the cover of the August issue of WellBella magazine. She is interviewed about her diet, nutrition habits, and how she is working on bringing awareness of COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. A form of this disease had stricken her late grandmother. Below is a link to a flash version of the full magazine issue. Also below is a link to the official COPD awareness website of which Danica is a spokesmodel.

WellBella - August 2011
Drive4COPD.com

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.