By Sam Atwell

One of the most anticipated debuts in NASCAR ended up in a crash in the Nationwide Series race on Saturday in Daytona.  Danica Patrick very well may have finished in the top 20 if it weren’t for a crash that took her out of the race on lap 69.  Danica and Crew Chief, Tony Eury, Jr., had adjusted on the car and had made it better and she was headed to the front.  Danica talks about her first race and her disappoint on todays edition of The Race Report Update.

By Sam Atwell

The debut of Danica Patrick in the Nationwide Series is just hours away.  The impact that Danica has had on Daytona is already measurable.  Her prescence in the ARCA race last week led to the highest ratings ever for an ARCA race.  The attention she has drawn from the media all week long has put a bigger spotlight on the Nationwide Series race this weekend.  The one question that remains, in my mind, is are the expectations set too high for Danica?   The answer depends on who you ask.  Her car owner hasn’t set expectations too high, consistent runs, competitive and staying out of trouble.  Danica voices the same expectations as her owner, but I have to believe that in her mind her expectations are higher than that. 

With 13 races on her schedule I would consider her first year a success if she can finish the 13 races with an average finish somewhere in the top 20.   I think that there may be a couple of top ten finishes anything more than that will be a bonus.  Top fives and wins, in my mind, are out of the question.  The lack of wins and top fives are not because of a lack of talent, but because all but one of her races will be run with several Sprint Cup drivers in the field.  With the exception of the race on October 23, 2010 at Gateway International Raceway all of her races are companion events with the Sprint Cup Series.  At companion events you have a larger number of cup drivers racing in the Nationwide Series.  When the cup regulars fill the field in companion events they dominate the top ten.  With those top tens spots filled it will bump Danica down to a finish in the low teens, maybe even high twenties.  If Danica were to race strictly against Nationwide Series drivers then I could see her with some top five finishes. 

Even if the unthinkable happens and she is a complete failure it is still a pleasure to have her in NASCAR and to see a renewed interest in the Nationwide Series.   

By Sam Atwell

It comes as no surprise to me or anyone who listens to The Race Report that Danica will be racing in the Nationwide Series race on Saturday.  I stated on the show several weeks ago that she would be in the NNS race in Daytona, even after they said her debut would be in California the following week.  There was no way the PR machine named Danica was not going to be on the biggest stage of the NASCAR season.  The fact that she did a good job in the ARCA race is just a bonus and makes the decision for her to race on Saturday in the Nationwide race look like a performanced based decision.  The ARCA race was a good start for Danica and I think she will be fine in the Nationwide race, a top ten?  Not so much, but if she finishes in the top twenty I think that will be a fantastic NNS debut. 

Kevin Harvick picks up his second straight BudweiserShootout win and starts the 2010 season off on a positive note.  He joins a list of Neil Bonnett, Ken Schrader and Tony Stewart as consecutive winners of the race.  Kasey Kahne had his best career finish of the Shootout and Jamie McMurray picked up his second consecutive top-five finish.  Pretty good racing for the first time out with the new aero package.  There were five leaders and 12 lead changes, Carl Edwards led the most laps with 42.  Overall a great way to get the season started.

Can someone tell me again why Derrick Cope was in the Budweiser Shootout?  Does the Budweiser Shootout really need start and parkers?  15 laps was all Cope could manage to complete?  I do understand the desire of NASCAR to open the field to more drivers but can they at least have done something in the sport in the last 5 years.  In the last five years Cope has 11 starts.  In those 11 starts he had an average finish of 38.7, at least Saturday nights 24th place finish will help Cope’s average finish.