Mark Martin may coach Danica Patrick

dpkimmel2001

dpkimmel2001

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I guess it couldn't hurt. He doesn't have much left to focus on this year anyhow.

From ESPN.

The popular IndyCar driver has spoken with NASCAR's Mark Martin about working with her and says she's open to any help she can get in figuring out the nuances of driving stock cars.

"It would be nice if somebody could help me, whoever it is -- I would take any help," Patrick said. "Like he [Martin] said, you need somebody to get in the car and say this is the setup, go drive it after they've driven it. It's one thing to say drive this line, do this or that, but when you don't have maybe the car that can do that, it's just words, so it would be nice for someone to throw me in a car after they've driven it so I get a real feel for it."

Patrick's part-time foray into NASCAR hasn't gone particularly well as she's tried to get a feel for the harder-to-drive stock cars. She ran the first three Nationwide races of the season, finishing no higher than 31st, and added four more races when she had breaks in the IndyCar season with similar results.

Now that the open-wheel season is over, Patrick is slated to run the final six Nationwide races, starting Saturday at Auto Club, and hopes the consistency of no longer flip-flopping between series will turn out better results.

Martin could be the one to help her.

The stock car veteran spoke with Patrick for about an hour when they first met in Phoenix in 2006 and stopped by to talk with her at Dover two weeks ago. If he can fit it into his busy schedule, Patrick would be all for having a 40-time Cup winner in her corner.

"He's incredibly busy, obviously, with a full season and I would take anything he'd be willing to give," said Patrick, who finished 10th in the IndyCar Series standings after taking second at the season finale in Florida last week.
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I think it would be most beneficial to Danica if one of the veterans (especially Mark) worked with her. I think most of the guys out there do not want to see a girl in Cup and I suspect that is why she has not gotten the much needed advice and guidance.
 
IMO, it would be a huge plus for her to do well in this sport and benefit all of the drivers. I'd hope that they would see this as well. She's already proven that she impacts the ratings, but as long as she continues to run at the back of the pack that will fade fast.
 
mark is an excellent choice as driver coach for her. relatively close in height and weight and mark knows how to setup a car to run fast. she doesn't really have a *nascar driving style* so emulating mark's style wouldn't be a bad way to go. i can't think of anyone better to give her advice on all aspects of being a nascar driver.
 
Mark has been extremely unselfish in mentoring new up and coming drivers. He's the class act of Na$car. If/when he retires who'll replace him as a mentor?
 
SST55 said:
Mark has been extremely unselfish in mentoring new up and coming drivers. He's the class act of Na$car. If/when he retires who'll replace him as a mentor?
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Most likely no one, he is the last of the "old school regime".
 
SST55 said:
Mark has been extremely unselfish in mentoring new up and coming drivers. He's the class act of Na$car. If/when he retires who'll replace him as a mentor?
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Burton is the only one I can think of.
 
SlowNeasy said:
mark is an excellent choice as driver coach for her. relatively close in height and weight ...........
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I'm surprised that Spike hasn't already said that they look the same. :D

Seriously, Mark is an unselfish mentor that would probably be a big help to her.
 
All I will say is, you could anyone you want coach her, it aint going to make a difference. Danica Patrick is where she is because someone(for some unknown reason) thinks she is marketable. As a driver, she doesnt have much talent, potential, or upside.
 
You mean her nonexistant chest, chisseled chin and jaw line, manly cheekbones, and long sloping forhead?
 
Spike said:
You mean her nonexistant chest, chisseled chin and jaw line, manly cheekbones, and long sloping forhead?
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YEP


28072xcitefun-danica-patrick-sports-10.jpg
 
Seriously, that picture is not sexy. She is arguably the ugliest woman I have ever seen.
 
She had a real solid run going today until she got Bueschered. She's clearly got the ability, she just needs experience and mentoring.
 
Shes been mediocre at best(and that is being incredibly generous) with arguably the best equipment in the Nationwide series. She has no future in NASCAR.
 
Spike said:
Shes been mediocre at best(and that is being incredibly generous) with arguably the best equipment in the Nationwide series. She has no future in NASCAR.
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did you watch today's race spike? she did a great job and was headed for a top 10-12 before she got wrecked, no fault of her own.
 
SlowNeasy said:
did you watch today's race spike? she did a great job and was headed for a top 10-12 before she got wrecked, no fault of her own.
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You know he's not going to see it that way.When you talk Danica to Spike you have to refer to her as a he until he takes off those man goggles.
 
One race where she wasnt been dreadful(but still managed to end dreadfully) does not a good driver make.
 
I read a similar article on Yahoo Sports the other day and it mentioned in it that says Martin helped her at Dover, but is not available to be a driving coach for her.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/news?slug=jh-danica100810

When Danica Patrick declared she would give NASCAR’s Nationwide Series a try, the expectation was that whatever shortcomings she had on the track would be offset by her impact off it – drawing fans to the races and eyes to TVs just with her presence.

Seven races in, Patrick’s off-track impact appears to be negligible.

Aside from the 33-percent jump in viewership of the season-opening race at Daytona, TV ratings have been either flat or down when Danica competes. And her ability as a draw at the track, at least for Saturday’s Nationwide race at Auto Club Speedway, is unknown, said track president Gillian Zucker.

“In terms of what her being here [means] compared to Kevin Harvick being in the race, I can’t quantify that,” Zucker said.

In other words, there is no noticeable bump.

The most obvious reason why Patrick hasn’t provided the spark many expected is her underwhelming performance on the track. Her best result so far is a 24th, two laps down to the winner, while her average finish in seven races is 31st.

Two weeks ago at Dover, a track difficult for even a seasoned veteran, Patrick labored through a horrendous weekend in which she qualified 42nd out of 43 cars, slammed the wall hard on Lap 70 after blowing a tire and limped home 35th.

None of her struggles is unexpected or unprecedented. She’s not the only open-wheeler to find the shift to NASCAR difficult.

She is, however, the only one who’s trying to do both at the same time, and that makes her learning curve for NASCAR much, much steeper. Flipping back and forth between the two is like playing ping-pong one week, tennis the next. While it may be a way for her to maximize her bottom line, any driver will tell you it’s not a good strategy for success on the track, especially not on the one where you’ve never been before.

Before this year, Patrick, 28, hadn’t raced a stock car even once.

“I wouldn’t be driving both cars,” Juan Pablo Montoya, the most successful driver in the last few years to make the switch from open wheel to stock cars, said last October. “You’re going to get comfortable in one thing, and then you’re going to make it to the other thing, and every time it’s going to be like night and day.”

Now, though, day is over and it’s only night. With the IRL season complete, Patrick will compete in six straight Nationwide races – no IRL, only NASCAR – beginning with Saturday’s CampingWorld.com 300.

This is the singular focus she’s needed since the beginning.

When talking about her understanding of NASCAR, Patrick doesn’t pretend to know much. She’s a novice, admits it and welcomes help from anyone willing to give it.

She says that her struggles aren’t because she doesn’t understand how to drive the track, but rather she doesn’t know how to set up her car in order to be able to drive the track comfortably in the first place.

In other words, she’s defeated before the green flag ever drops.

This is where she said she could use help from the likes of Mark Martin, who paid a visit to Patrick following her wreck at Dover.

“I just felt bad, that’s all,” Martin said Friday. “They need some help.”

Patrick says she would welcome a driver coach – Martin says he is not available – who could set up her car so that when she gets in it she can concentrate on driving it, not trying to figure out how to make it drivable.

“I’m looking for the same things that everyone else is – some improvement in performance, some more consistency and speed out here in these last six races,” Patrick said. “Whoever it is, I would take any help. Like [Mark] said, you need someone to put you in the car and say this is the set up and go drive it after they’ve driven it.”

Eight months ago, Patrick made her NASCAR debut to much fanfare. She was the bell of the ball – for a few hours anyway. Since then, however, she’s been greeted mostly by ambivalence, which, based on her results, is just about right.

Now, she has six races to change that.
 
StewartHaas-Gibbs Racing said:
Can't believe no one beat me to this...

well at least she won't learn how to win championships from him :ninja:
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Martin has 5 championships in IROC (1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2005)

Spike said:
One race where she wasnt been dreadful(but still managed to end dreadfully) does not a good driver make.
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All I have to say is if your such a good stock car driver why aren't we talking about out there instead of Danica?
 
Nascar24rainbow said:
“I’m looking for the same things that everyone else is – some improvement in performance, some more consistency and speed out here in these last six races,” Patrick said. “Whoever it is, I would take any help. Like [Mark] said, you need someone to put you in the car and say this is the set up and go drive it after they’ve driven it.”
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i wonder if she's talked to buddy baker. he's the only nascar driving coach i can think of. i'm pretty sure ryan newman would recommend him.
 
BobbyFord said:
I think most of the guys out there do not want to see a girl in Cup and I suspect that is why she has not gotten the much needed advice and guidance.
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Really ? How many drivers have you talked to? Who are they ?
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
IMO, it would be a huge plus for her to do well in this sport and benefit all of the drivers. I'd hope that they would see this as well. She's already proven that she impacts the ratings, but as long as she continues to run at the back of the pack that will fade fast.
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Hasnt faded for jr.......
 
Mark Martin and Danica Patrick working during Nationwide practice on Wed at CMS.

What do you think he's telling her?

I think he's saying that she needs to start by putting on a fire suit.

scaled.php
 
not sure what he's saying but looks like his hands are zeroing in on those non-existent boobs. <g>
 
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