Danica Patrick says Richard Petty entitled to his opinion

From ESPN.com

Analysis by Travis Garth in SRM 334

I decided to analyze the sport of NASCAR in this week’s class discussion. A few weeks ago NASCAR hall of famer Richard Petty was prompted on the subjected of Danica Patrick, he stated: “This is a female deal that's driving her. There's nothing wrong with that, because that's good PR for me. More fans come out, people are more interested in it. She has helped to draw attention to the sport, which helps everybody in the sport." Petty also states that, “The only way she will win a race is if everyone else stays home.” Richard Petty’s comments bring an interesting theme in NASCAR racing. His comments suggest that the drivers that win the most races do not receive the most attention in the sports media world or in the sport itself. This suggestion is supported by the fact that Dale Earnhardt Jr. won NASCAR’s most popular driver award for a record breaking 11 consecutive years despite only winning one race in the past five years. Also, Danica Patrick was the most popular driver award winner in NASCAR’s nationwide series and has yet to win a race in her career. It seems that NASCAR is becoming a popularity contest for drivers who have not proven their skills on the racetrack. On the other realm of the spectrum there is a driver like Jimmie Johnson who has won 26 races in the past five years. He also won the championship for five consecutive years and earned another championship in 2013. Even with Jimmie Johnson’s proven success in the sport he has yet to win the most popular driver award. With Jimmie Johnson’s career still in progress the media still tends to overlook him and other winning drivers in the sport.

Overall, it is intriguing that the most publicized drivers are not the ones who are winning the races. In competitive sport, where the overall goal is to win, the winners on the race track still lose in the world of sports media. This poses the question of how the drivers that are winning the races must feel, and what role sports media plays in the sport of NASCAR.