Danica Patrick, the Picasso of NASCAR? - MotorSportsTalk

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — As one of the most popular and publicized athletes on the planet, there are few secrets about NASCAR driver Danica Patrick that aren’t already known.

That is until Wednesday when Patrick’s boyfriend and fellow NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr., was asked by MotorSportsTalk if there was something he could reveal about Patrick that isn’t common knowledge.

Stenhouse took the question in good fashion, pondered his response and then surprised a bunch of reporters who aren’t very easily surprised by anything in the sport.

“I learned this offseason that she’s a really good painter,” Stenhouse said. “She started painting. We were at a friend’s house and my friend’s wife and her mom and their daughter were painting, and Danica started painting.

“She painted this picture of this barn and this tree that she was looking at, and it turned out real well. So I built the frame for it and we put it up in the house. I think she was a little surprised that I was surprised. I didn’t think she could do that, but it turned out pretty good.”

Apparently Patrick’s penchant for painting may have stemmed from the highly-publicized body painting commercial she did for GoDaddy.com and was featured on the 2012 Super Bowl telecast.

Stenhouse won’t be following in his girlfriend’s brush strokes, though, any time soon. He may be talented behind the wheel, but certainly not with canvas, an easel and a paint palette.

“No, I’m definitely not a painter,” Stenhouse said. “I can paint walls, but I’m not going to paint you a scene.”

Danica Patrick, race car driver, pin up icon, commercial spokeswoman and, of course, a GoDaddy girl has an artistic side? Could she soon be the Picasso of NASCAR?

Who knew?

In a continuing effort to help fans keep track of the on track action, SuperMotocross is in the process of developing and implementing leader lights for the unified series.

Currently Supercross (SMX) utilizes stanchions in the infield that are triggered manually by a race official. At least two stanchions are used in each race as a way to draw the eye to the leader, which is especially useful in the tight confines of the stadium series when lapping often begins before the halfway mark in the 22-bike field. This system has been in place for the past two decades.

Later this year, a fully automated system will move to the bike itself to replace the old system. At that point, fans will be able to identify the leader regardless of where he is on track.

The leader lights were tested in the second Anaheim round this year. An example can be seen at the 1:45 mark in the video above on the No. 69 bike.

“What we don’t want to do is move too fast, where it’s confusing to people,” said Mike Muye, senior director of operations for Supercross and SMX in a press release. “We’ve really just focused on the leader at this point with the thought that maybe down the road we’ll introduce others.”

Scheduled to debut with the first SuperMotocross World Championship race at zMax Dragway, located just outside the Charlotte Motor Speedway, a 3D carbon fiber-printed LED light will be affixed to each motorcycle. Ten timing loops positioned around the track will trigger the lights of the leader, which will turn green.

SMX’s partner LiveTime Scoring helped develop and implement the system that has been tested in some form or fashion since 2019.

When the leader lights are successfully deployed, SuperMotocross will explore expanding the system to identify the second- and third-place riders. Depending on need and fan acceptance, more positions could be added.

SuperMotocross is exploring future enhancements, including allowing for live fan interaction with the lights and ways to use the lighting system during the race’s opening ceremony.

Read more about SuperMotocross