NASCAR: Should Danica Patrick be a Hall of Famer?

Where do we draw the line?

Since Danica Patrick didn’t “pave the way” for other women racers, her being a woman should have no impact on whether or not she gets into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. She literally just happens to be a woman. She wasn’t the first, she probably won’t be the last, and she certainly has not been the most successful.

So if being a woman even remains in the discussion in regard to the Danica Patrick Hall of Fame talk, what that boils down to is literally people wanting her in just because of her gender.

If Patrick gets in solely based on the fact that she is a woman, when and where do we draw the line? Do we just start inducting people into the NASCAR Hall of Fame whether they perform well or not just because of who they are based on things such as their race, gender, religion or sexual orientation that have absolutely nothing to do with the sport itself?

Patrick has started 180 career Cup Series races with a top finish of only 6th place. She has never finished a single race in the top 5, and actually only has seven total top 10 finishes, with just one of those top 10 finishes coming in the last 90 races (10th place at Dover this year). She has not performed well, and she certainly didn’t “pave the way” for women racers.

Because of these ideas, a Danica Patrick induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame simply could not be based on anything other than the fact that she is a woman, and that is nowhere near being a good reason for an induction.