Danica Patrick: Indy of the East?

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In: NASCAR Cup Series News

In the early 1970s, Ontario (Calif.) Motor Speedway and Pocono (Pa.) Raceway were constructed as auto racing moved from its smaller grassroots past and into a big business. Racing was the “Sport of the ’70s,” as any racing program from the early part of the decade will tell you.

Ontario, which was demolished in 1980, was a 2.5-mile replica of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway built about 2 miles from where Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., currently sits. It was dubbed the “Indy of the West,” and hosted its first 500-mile IndyCar event in 1970. Jim McElreath took home $150,384 for his big victory in the California 500.

One year later, the 2.5-mile Pocono facility opened and hosted its first 500-mile IndyCar race. Mark Donohue took home $87,874 for his big victory in the Schafer 500.

Pocono’s triangular layout was designed by two-time Indianapolis 500 champion Rodger Ward and remains unlike any other track in the world with three different corners each modeled after a different track. Turn one, which is banked at 14 degrees, is modeled after the now-closed Trenton (N.J.) Speedway. Turn two, banked at eight degrees, is a nod to the turns at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. And turn three, banked a six degrees, is modeled after the corners at The Milwaukee Mile in West Allis, Wis.

Of course, in the spirit of the ’70s, it was nicknamed the “Indy of the East.”

While Pocono hasn’t been referenced with that moniker since Richard Nixon was in The White House, Danica Patrick and the GoDaddy team are hoping the 2.5-mile oval is indeed the “Indy of the East.”

Patrick’s IndyCar record at Indianapolis is well known, having scored six top-10 finishes in seven starts, including a third-place result in 2009, the best finish ever for a woman in the Indianapolis 500.

But she won’t be driving an IndyCar at Pocono during Sunday’s Party in the Poconos NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. And the 2.5-mile oval is unlike any other in the world, despite its similarities to Indianapolis. With that in mind, Patrick, driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), spent two days testing there last week along with her SHR teammates Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman.

It was a productive test for the organization but probably most beneficial to Patrick, who had never even been on the grounds of Pocono, let alone driven any type of vehicle there.

Pocono will be the final track on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule that Patrick has not competed at in an IndyCar, Sprint Cup car or NASCAR Nationwide Series car.

And, why not save the “Indy of the East” for last?

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