NASCAR: Fans’ Displeasure with Danica Patrick’s Post-Wreck Interview Is Unwarranted

Danica Patrick caught a lot of grief on social media after she seemed more concerned about herself instead of others following a wreck at Kansas last weekend.

On Saturday night, NASCAR saw an extremely scary incident take place. Something went wrong with Joey Logano’s 22 car, which caused him to get into Danica Patrick. The two began wrecking. Aric Almirola got caught in the high lane. Unable to get down on the track, he plowed into a sideways 22 car. The impact caused the rear of Almirola’s 43 car to fly up into the air.

Patrick quickly exited her flaming 10 car. Logano also emerged from his wrecked car. Danica was clearly unhappy not knowing what the heck just happened. Joey tried to explain. Meanwhile, Aric Almirola was still in his car with what was later revealed as a compression fracture of his T5 vertebra.

The red flag came out as Almirola was removed from his car by the safety crew, who did an outstanding job given the situation. Logano came out of the care center first and gave a truly heartfelt interview showing concern for Almirola. He was clearly shaken up by what had just happened on track.

Then came Danica out of the care center. Her interview was more about how her luck hasn’t been great. She showed how frustrated she has been when she is having a decent run and then gets caught in something totally out of her control. Then she got to Almirola at the end of the interview.

Social media blew up with Danica-hate. Following live, I read tweets saying things like she is a terrible person and she is selfish and doesn’t care about others. All because she was talking about her race instead of Almirola’s situation first. I completely disagree with any comments made against her as a person following the interview.

Danica was minutes removed from jumping out of a car that was on fire when she gave that interview. Her night came to an end as someone else’s car failed and Danica just happened to be in the way. Say what you want about her talent, but she is undoubtedly a competitor. She was ticked off that she couldn’t finish the race. The fact that the wreck could’ve hurt her physically was running through her mind as well.

Of course she was concerned about Aric Almirola. Her comments weren’t quite Joey Logano’s, but Danica was clearly shaken up and hoped for the best for Aric. Every driver, crew member, fan etc. was praying for Almirola’s well-being, including Danica Patrick.

One interview I want to compare Danica’s to is that of eventual Kansas race winner Martin Truex Jr. After emerging from his car in Victory Lane, he talked about how happy he was and how well the race went in his first interview. There was no early mention of Aric Almirola, and yet no heavy criticism across the social media world because of it. If the roles were reversed, would Truex Jr. have received that criticism after leaving the care center and would Danica have gotten a pass in victory lane? We may never know, but chances are the answer is no.

Danica Patrick is one of the most popular drivers in NASCAR. You either love her for it or hate her for it. If people want to criticize her for her poor performance on track, I completely understand and have no problem with it. But when she is getting bashed for being a human due to an interview she gave minutes after one of the scariest wrecks we’ve seen and she’s been in in some time, I can’t get behind that.

Must Read: Winner Spotlight on Truex Jr.

The most important thing stemming from this is that everyone involved is going to be alright. Logano and Patrick both were able to walk away and Almirola will make a full recovery from his injuries.