Danica Patrick's 2009 IndyCar Season

I was waiting for the IRL season to end before posting this in the interest of not placing a hex on the rest of her season.

The 2009 IRL season saw great improvement from Danica Patrick over her previous season. Granted, she did not win a race this season but her performance over the whole of the season was vastly improved over her past performances. She finished the season in fifth place in the championship behind only the two Ganassi and two Penske drivers, essentially putting her first in class. This was quite an accomplishment given that Andretti Green Racing (or whatever they are calling themselves now) had far from a stellar or even average season.

Danica Patrick was consistently the best performer on a subpar performing AGR and consistently the best performing non-Ganassi or Penske driver. It would have been expected that Tony Kanaan would have been that driver but instead it was Patrick. What led to her taking that position? In my opinion two things: an improved attitude and better teamwork.

1. In past seasons, Patrick's attitude and temper were stumbling blocks. She lost her temper quickly and it prevented her from performing at her best. She did not handle adversity well and it showed. This season, she seemed to be an almost different person. It would have been hard to blame her for losing her temper with her team's overall performance but she handled with grace in public (I have no idea what she said behind closed doors). She had several incidents in the pits and on the track that she handled more professionally and coolly than she did in previous seasons. I have no doubt that the way she handled the negatives this year led to her improved performance.
2. It was obvious this year that Patrick was better able to work with her team and engineer to keep the car's setup not only stable throughout the races but to improve it throughout the races. She started out races with good handling and was able to maintain and improve the handling throughout the course of the race. She kept her frustrations in check and took what the race offered rather than overdoing things and ruining the day's performance.

Personally, I would love to see what the improved Danica Patrick could do in a Ganassi or Penske car.

Anyway, congratulations to Danica Patrick on an improved season in 2009 and good luck towards continued improvement in 2010.

Mac McCormick III