Danica Patrick News: NASCAR Driver Says 'I Really Don't Care' About Kyle Petty Criticism [VIDEO]
Racecar driver Danica Patrick said Friday that she wasn't fazed by critical comments made about her abilities as a driver.
Retired NASCAR driver Kyle Petty dissed her on Speed Channel's NASCAR Race Hub last week.
"She's not a race car driver," he explained. "She can go fast, but she can't race. I think she's come a long way, but she's still not a race car driver. And I don't think she's ever going to be a race car driver." He also said that she was "just a marketing machine."
In a news conference at Kentucky Speedway on Friday, Patrick addressed the comments first hand.
"I really don't care," she admitted. "I don't. It's true there are plenty of people who say bad things about me. I read them. People want me to die. At the end of the day, you just get over that stuff and trust that you're doing a good job."
Patrick is in her first full season as a NASCAR driver after competing in a limited run in 2012. She won the pole position at the Daytona 500 in February, becoming the first woman in history win a pole position in a NASCAR Sprint Cup race.
Patrick's former boss, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who helped lead Patrick to success on the national level had his own response to Petty's comments Friday.
"I have to disagree with Kyle," Earnhardt said. "I think she's a tough competitor. On every occasion, she's outrunning several guys on the circuit. If she was not able to compete or not able to run minimum speed or finishing in last place every week, I think you might be able to say Kyle has an argument. But she's out there running competitively and running strong on several accounts. I think she's got a good opportunity and a rightful position in the sport to keep competing, and she might surprise even Kyle Petty."
Patrick said that the most important thing going forward is keeping her team happy, which includes Internet domain company GoDaddy as her primary sponsor.
On July 6, Patrick will be competing for a spot in the next race, the Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola at Daytona International Speedway, in Daytona Beach, FL.
Watch Patrick addressing Petty's criticism here:
