Danica Patrick\u2019s NASCAR career has not been one to write home about, but she\u2019s had her fair share of achievements, which cannot be brushed out. She has a pole in Daytona, and even logged seven top 10 appearances in the sport, including one in the iconic circuit. Still, Patrick has always been a criticized figure, and Kyle Petty, one of NASCAR\u2019s greats, took swipes at her even before she entered the racing fraternity.<\/p>\n
Kyle Petty stated in 2010 that while Patrick<\/a> possessed talent and commanded considerable marketing power, she hadn\u2019t replicated the race-winning achievements of counterparts like Juan Pablo Montoya, Dario Franchitti, or Tony Stewart. He argued she would generate instant buzz for NASCAR, but only sustained success would validate her long-term presence in the sport.<\/p>\n Petty expanded<\/a> on his assessment during Speed Channel\u2019s NASCAR RaceHub program. \u201cThey (open-wheel) took her, and the marketing machine that she is, and they went there\u2026 She\u2019s just a marketing machine, so when you look at it like that, from what she does on the racetrack\u2026 She\u2019s going to help the sport, she\u2019s going to help the publicity of the sport, she\u2019s going to help a lot of that stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n Of course, Patrick wasn\u2019t a fan of what said<\/a>. But instead of firing back at the icon, she decided to shrug it off.<\/p>\n She addressed criticism of her NASCAR career from the former driver turned television analyst, insisting his commentary carried no weight with her. She declared, \u201cI really don\u2019t care. I don\u2019t. It\u2019s true there are plenty of people who say really bad things about me. I hear about them, or I read them, or I read them on Twitter. People want me to die. At the end of the day, you just get over that kind of stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n