A letter wrote to Danica by Bob Margolis

Dear Danica,

I know its been quite some time since Ive written you, but Ive moved and taken a new job and you know, all those things kind of keep you busy and time just seems to slip away.

Im doing fine. The wife and kids are enjoying my being home more often. All those weekends on the road had become a bit of a drag on the family, so you can imagine how great things are now that I get to spend more time at home.

And you? It looks like youre having a tough year. I watched the IndyCar race from Sonoma last weekend and it appears as though you just werent that competitive. You finished 16th. Did Simona DeSilvestro finish ahead of you again? I guess its been that way all year. Youre having the worst year of your IndyCar career -- only five top-10 finishes in 13 races so far. You did have a great night in Texas back in June when you finished second, but overall, I guess you could say youve had a really lousy season.

Whats the problem? It might be that the Andretti Autosport cars arent that good to begin with. I look at how your teammates Tony Kanaan, Marco Andretti and Ryan Hunter-Reay are doing and while Hunter-Reay might have won at Long Beach, the rest of the season has been pretty mediocre for the lot of you. Have you talked to team owner Michael Andretti about that? Does he know how competitive you are? Does he know how frustrated you can get when youve got a bad race car underneath you that doesnt let you drive that way you want to? Maybe things will get better as the series turns to the final four races, which are all ovals.

Whats going on with your NASCAR deal? Ive been watching the Nationwide Series races youve been in. I guess youre not doing too badly, considering youve only raced six times. You did pretty well at Chicagoland in July. Finished 24th there and you were only two laps down to the leaders. That was your best result this season. Good for you!

Ill bet youre taking a lot of heat from the press about your NASCAR career, especially since youre driving some of the best equipment in the Nationwide series, a veteran crew chief in Tony Eury Jr. and youre still not doing better than run mid-pack and finishing laps down to the leader.

Is NASCAR racing that tough? Did you underestimate how hard it was going to be? Or were there unrealistic expectations by everyone on how quickly youd be able to adapt to driving a much heavier race car than youve been used to driving? Ill bet you wish you could get more seat time than you get in a stock car.

best of danica
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Im convinced that youre a true oval racer and it shows from your history on ovals in an IndyCar. I mean, thats where you scored your first IndyCar win, on the oval in Japan a couple of years ago, and those tracks are where youve had your best finishes. So, you can see why Ive always thought that by making the move to stock cars, where the racing is predominantly on ovals, youd do very well. Im still convinced that once you understand the subtleties of stock car racing, youll show them you can get it done and those top-10 finishes will come rolling in.

Now, you know Ive not always been a big fan of yours. Especially those times when I disagreed with all the marketing campaigns youre involved with, especially those goofy GoDaddy.com commercials. And those bathing suit photo spreads in the mens magazines while I admit you do look exceptionally good in them I still question whether or not its something good for your image as a professional race car driver.

Maybe after your NASCAR career takes off, people will stop seeing you as just a hot chick that likes to drive race cars and see you more as a serious professional. Keep that in mind, will you? Especially when youre asked to do something really stupid and demeaning that involves using your sex to sell something other than your racing skills.

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Danica Patrick should ...
o Focus on IndyCar racing
o Focus on NASCAR racing
o Accept an F1 ride
o Be left alone to learn at her pace

So, speaking of NASCAR, what is your game plan for 2011? I know youre in your final year with Andretti Autosport. The other day I heard Kelley Earnhardt at JR Motorsports talk about how shes working to put together a program for you in the Nationwide Series. The people at JRM are pretty smart. Theyve not rushed you into a full season of racing your first year out and they understand youre just getting started in stock cars. I heard you talk to Dale Earnhardt Jr. and that he has helped you a lot. Do you talk to the teams other driver, Aric Almirola, who will drive full time for the group in 2011? Hes really talented and can probably help you out.

What about IndyCars? I guess your time with Andretti has been a mixed bag of good years and a bad one this one. Are you still interested in driving IndyCars full time? Or are you more focused on NASCAR now? To be honest, the Indy 500 has always been where Ive seen your most consistent performances and you did almost win that race in 2005.

Anyway, I guess youve still got time to decide what to do about next year. If you ask me though, I think you should focus more on NASCAR and drop the whole IndyCar thing, except for the Indy 500. Thats the only race that really matters, isnt it?

Its tough to make the transition from IndyCars to stock cars and to be honest, only a couple of drivers have done it successfully Tony Stewart and Juan Pablo Montoya. Even Sam Hornish Jr. has struggled and Im not convinced hell ever get stock cars.

Now, dont get me wrong when I say this, but youre no Tony Stewart or Juan Pablo Montoya, so maybe you should stop this switch-hitter thing youre doing right now. You know, racing both IndyCars and stock cars. Even Montoya says its crazy to try and do both in the same season, and hes an Indy 500 winner and a CART champion.

Almost forgot to ask you about Formula One. Did you see that F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone now says that youd make a great addition to the grid? Its obvious that hes changed his mind about you since 2005 when he said that women should be dressed in white like all domestic appliances in reference to your fourth-place finish at Indy that year. Now hes saying that having you in an F1 car would be a perfect advertisement for the F1 race in Austin in 2012. Imagine that!

Id stay away from Ecclestone and his crowd. Theyre known for eating their young, if you know what I mean. And besides, by 2012, I expect youll be racing in the Sprint Cup Series. Or might I see you in a Cup car for the 2011 Daytona 500? Im hearing rumors

Stay in touch. Good luck this Saturday night in your Indy Car at Chicagoland. And Ill see you at Dover next month for the Nationwide race.

Your friend,

Bob