There’s no question that Danica Patrick has blazed some trails during her time in the NASCAR Cup Series, but she leaves after the Daytona 500 without an obvious heir apparent.
Since becoming the first female driver to win a Daytona 500 pole was one of her historic accomplishments, it’s only fitting that Danica Patrick rides into the NASCAR sunset on Sunday at the same track. She’s definitely opened doors for women in the sport, but the question is who is ready to walk through them.
The answer? No one. At least not right away.
During the build-up to the 2018 Daytona 500, the AP looked into the next generation of female NASCAR prospects. And prospects is the right word, because while the likes of Natalie Decker and Hailie Deegan could follow in Patrick’s footsteps, neither is anywhere close to ready yet. Decker is just 19 years old, Deegan even younger at 16.
There’s also a legitimate question of who will be the first female driver to come up through the ranks the way most of their male counterparts do: winning or at least competing for victories in the Truck Series and XFINITY Series. That’s no small thing considering Patrick came to NASCAR via a much different route, establishing herself in open-wheel racing before making the jump to stock cars.
Considering Tony Stewart, who perhaps not coincidentally was co-owner of the team where Patrick did her Cup Series racing, made it to NASCAR the same way, it’s a valid path. Yet it’s also one that’s not as readily accepted by fans and observers, one that surely led to some of the doubts about Patrick’s ability to hang with the Cup Series regulars.
Decker, Deegan and the other female developmental drivers won’t have to worry about that if they stay in the normal NASCAR funnel, going from the NASCAR K&N Pro Series and working up the ladder form there. But that also takes time, which is why a year or three into the next decade is the best bet for the “next Danica” to arrive in the Cup Series.
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The absolute best case scenario would be for one of these women to win a race in the K&N Pro Series in 2018, then maybe advance to the Truck Series and go from there. If that doesn’t happen, it’s likely this exact same discussion will be taking place at the same time in 2019, but that’s okay. There’s no need to rush things, and even if it takes longer than some people would like, the work that Patrick did to pave the way won’t be any less important a few years from now.