Danica Patrick is the kids’ choice

By Mar 23, 2013, 10:00 PM EDT
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Sprint Cup rookie Danica Patrick added Nickelodeon’s famous orange blimp to her trophy mantle tonight, earning the 2013 Kids’ Choice Award for favorite female athlete.

“What?!!!!! Thank you tweeps for voting for me for this #kidschoiceaward!,” Patrick tweeted afterwards, perhaps in a bit of shock as her message may attest.

The Stewart-Haas Racing pilot and former IndyCar race winner won the vote over tennis queens Serena and Venus Williams, as well as Olympic gold medal gymnast Gabby Douglas. The KCA is being held this evening at USC’s Galen Center in Los Angeles, which allowed Patrick the chance to accept the award in person after finishing up her day at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana.

Patrick was 36th-quickest in today’s Sprint Cup final practice session and will start 40th for tomorrow’s 400-miler at ACS. Her results have fallen off decisively since finishing eighth in the Daytona 500 (average finish post-Daytona: 33rd), but Patrick isn’t worrying too much just yet.

“I know that I have a lot to learn and I know that as a group, we have a lot to learn together to figure out where the car is best for me so we can be closer more of the weekend,” Patrick said to the media on Friday at ACS. “But we will get it. I’m not discouraged or afraid at this point for anything.

“This is just the process that we go through. We will be fine.”

IndyCar disappointed by delay of video game but aiming to launch at start of 2024

By Mar 27, 2023, 3:00 PM EDT
IndyCar video game 2024
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An IndyCar executive said there is “absolutely” disappointment that its long-awaited video game recently was delayed beyond its target date, but the series remains optimistic about the new title.

“Well, I don’t know how quick it will be, but the whole situation is important to us,” Penske Entertainment president and CEO Mark Miles said during a news conference Monday morning to announce IndyCar’s NTT title sponsorship. “Motorsport Games has spent a lot of money, a lot of effort to create an IndyCar title. What we’ve seen of that effort, which is not completely obvious, is very reassuring.

“I think it’s going to be outstanding. That’s our shared objective, that when it is released, it’s just widely accepted. A great credit both to IndyCar racing, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, something that our fans love.”

In June 2021, IndyCar announced a new partnership with Motorsport Games to create and distribute an IndyCar video game for the PC and Xbox and PlayStation consoles in 2023.

But during an earnings call last week, Motorsport Games said the IndyCar game had been delayed to 2024 to ensure high quality.

Somewhat compounding the delay is that IndyCar’s license for iRacing expired after the end of the 2022 season because of its exclusive agreement with Motorsport Games.

That’s resulted in significant changes for IndyCar on iRacing, which had provided a high-profile way for the series to stay visible during its 2020 shutdown from the pandemic. (Players still can race an unbranded car but don’t race on current IndyCar tracks, nor can they stream).

That’s helped ratchet up the attention on having a video game outlet for IndyCar.

“I wish we had an IndyCar title 10 years ago,” said Miles, who has been working with the organization since 2013. “We’ve been close, but we’ve had these I think speed bumps.”

IndyCar is hopeful the Motorsports Game edition will be ready at the start of 2024. Miles hinted that beta versions could be unveiled to reporters ahead of the time “to begin to show the progress in a narrow way to make sure we’ve got it right, to test the progress so that we’re ready when they’re ready.”

It’s been nearly 18 years since the release of the most recent IndyCar video game for console or PC.

“(We) better get it right,” Miles said. “It’s something we’re very close to and continue to think about what it is to make sure we get it over the line in due course.”