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Saturday, February 6, 2010
DANICA SUE PATRICK
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- For a few minutes, at least, Danica Patrick had the fastest qualifying time for her Daytona debut. It didn't last very long. Patrick briefly held pole position early in Friday's ARCA qualifying session, eventually falling to 12th as other drivers posted faster speeds.
The IndyCar star will make her widely anticipated stock car debut today -- and, as her crew chief noted, at least she's starting close enough to the front to see the pace car.For fans and fellow competitors, it will be the first real chance to see whether Patrick has the potential to replicate her IndyCar success behind the wheel of a stock car.That helps, but there's really no way to simulate the tension of racing at high speeds in a tight pack or the complexities of working in the draft -- tailgating the car in front of you to avoid wind resistance -- to zigzag through the field.No. 3 returning: The famed No. 3 is returning to Daytona International Speedway, and without an Earnhardt behind the wheel.
Austin Dillon, a grandson of Richard Childress, is bringing one of NASCAR's most prominent numbers back to the sport's most storied track.
Dillon will race a black No. 3 in next week's Camping World Truck Series season opener at Daytona. He will be the second to drive a car with the number that essentially has been retired since Dale Earnhardt's death on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500.Dale Earnhardt Jr. drove a blue No. 3 Chevrolet in the Nationwide race in February 2002, and he took it to Victory Lane.
The 20-year-old Dillon knows the history of the number well, since he grew up watching the Earnhardts turn the 21/2 -mile, high-banked track into their personal stomping ground. The trucks are expected to be instrumental in mobilizing food and supplies in Haiti.
NASCAR team owner Roger Penske, chairman of Penske Corp., called the tragedy in Haiti "almost unimaginable.
