Danica wants to be NASCAR contender

Danica Patrick sat on stage in the Homestead-Miami Speedway media center last month, tossing her hair over her shoulder, smiling and yukking it up with reporters about the Thanksgiving dinner she was going to cook, the good wine she’d serve and the “friendly” folks she’s encountered in NASCAR.

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Moments earlier, she’d launched into an overly technical rundown on how her car was performing that weekend.

She looked and sounded more relaxed than at any time in her much-hyped, highly-scrutinized IndyCar racing career.

“I feel at home,’’ Patrick said.

And it really seemed so.

It’s an unprecedented and intriguing balancing act. For someone whose fame was enhanced with bikini photo shoots and red carpet glam, Patrick seems to relish the “just one of the guys” acceptance she feels in the NASCAR garage.

It means she starts her new job as full-time Nationwide Series driver and part-time Sprint Cup competitor with a clean slate and maybe even a fair shake.

As Patrick finished out her NASCAR portion of the 2011 season, in which she drove on a part-time basis while also competing in the IndyCar Series, it felt a long way from the days when track promoters felt compelled to gush and fawn over her mere presence at their event or a need to lavish her with gifts like designer high heels.

The crowd of reporters assigned to report her every mood, movement and mistake has diminished exponentially in the two years since her grand arrival on the good ol’ scene.

At her stock car debut at Daytona in 2010, photographers, television cameramen and reporters were literally falling over themselves, fans and other drivers not to miss a minute of Danica Mania.

But finally the focus and interest about her has shifted from viewing her as diva to accepting her as a driver - more competitor than curiosity.

There are still Danica Doubters. They are the IndyCar faithful who feel betrayed by her departure and convinced she never fully lived up to her open-wheel promise. They are the NASCAR Old Guard, who refuse to believe any woman can cut it at the highest level of stock car racing.

There are even some “old school” racing reporters still reluctant to admit there is talent and potential amidst the often circus-like atmosphere that surrounds Patrick.

And there are fans who scoff at what they perceive as her unearned rock-star status.

Patrick is smart enough to know that there will always be some who want her to succeed and some ready to “I-told-ya-so” if she doesn’t.

But that isn’t what motivates her.

Shake her hand. Look her in the eyes. Her determination is palpable. She wants to win.

All the other "stuff," like celebrity status and popularity, is a great bonus, but not the reason she climbs into a race car.

It’s too easy to dismiss her transition to NASCAR as a money move.

In the long run, it would do her no good to come and collect huge paychecks without delivering results. This isn’t IndyCar, where they are just happy to have a full field, a famous face on the grid and a driver to market.

She will have to produce and she will be held accountable, but hopefully more justly so.

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During her time in IndyCar, it often felt as if Patrick was made to defend her popularity, to promise that next win, to explain herself. And she was forced to do that more than any other person lining up next to her any given Sunday.

She won’t have that pressure in NASCAR. The expectations are more realistic and she knows she must earn the attention along with the respect.

She doesn’t have to prop up a series or maintain an image. All she has to do is learn, compete and improve. And with a full year under her belt … contend.

In her 25 NASCAR Nationwide races scattered over the past two years, she’s improved her average finish from 28th at the end of 2010 to 17.4 in 2011. Last year she completed 96 percent of the laps possible in her 12 starts and picked up her first top-10 finishes (three) including a career-best fourth.

And with the "luxury" of completely focusing on stock cars now in the best equipment available with championship teams (JR Motorsports in Nationwide and Stewart-Haas Racing in Cup), with champion mentors, Patrick should at least get credit for putting herself in the best position to succeed.

Now to do it.