In part one of my exclusive with ESPN NASCAR reporter Nicole Briscoe, we discuss Danica Patrick, who like Briscoe attended Hononegah Community High School in Rockton IL. Danica was a cheerleader on the JV while Nicole Briscoe was on the varsity squad. Briscoe was a couple years ahead in school, and they weren’t close, but they did know each other.
(Update: part two of this interview, where she gets rather critical of her beloved Green Bay Packers)
Following NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup Media Day, the top 12 drivers will took part in ‘NASCAR Contenders Live’ — a fan Q&A event held at the Grand Ballroom of Navy Pier. At the event, hosted by Nicole Briscoe (see picture below) the drivers discussed the most competitive time of the season, The Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
Briscoe told me that Patrick is actually the only person, outside of her best friend that she’s known since age 8, she still sees from her high school; because of work obviously. But they haven’t shown up together at any high school reunions or anything.
A native of Roscoe, Illinois, and former Miss Illinois Teen USA, Nicole Briscoe, previously known as Nicole Manske, and today sometimes known as Nicole Manske Briscoe got a lot of national media coverage when she started co-hosting The Speed Report on Speed Channel as well as hosting NASCAR Now on ESPN2. She also hosts NASCAR Countdown that airs on ESPN before NASCAR races. In December of 2009, Nicole married her boyfriend of 4 years, IndyCar series driver Ryan Briscoe.
Paul M. Banks: “What do you think of Danica’s rookie season at Cup level?”
Nicole Briscoe: “I think she’s like every other rookie I told her this the other day, the hard thing is she came into the series with so many eyes on her. And because of that you have all these inflated expectations. And that’s not fair for anyone in their rookie season, but it’s really not fair for her. I think she’s had moments of brilliance, Martinsville stands out. Daytona we kind of expected her to do well. She both qualified well and raced well, so she’s had those moments, but she’s also had those moments where, I believe it was Vegas, she was passed six times by the leader.”
“She needs to work on consistency. But if you look at Ricky Stenhouse Jr. who’s also a rookie, who hasn’t been a beacon of consistency either. I think she’s in line with what you’d expect a rookie to do. Next year will be a big year for her. Not only will she have a full season under her belt, but look at her teammates: Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Tony Stewart- that’s a pretty awesome lineup.”
“If you think she has expectations now, if those guys are all performing next year, she’s got to step it up and move on from there.”
Paul M. Banks: “I crunched the numbers, well actually I did nothing and let Fox Sports crunch the numbers for me, and there were some pretty impressive names on this list, from their rookie years, and Danica Patrick compared pretty favorably. But she has so much higher expectations than those guys…
Nicole Briscoe: “You can come in with those expectations and you can run middle of the road, but because she has all those eyeballs and expectations that goes with being not just a sports star, but a pop culture sort of star, you have to do something with it. And if she can’t that’s fine. But is it enough to stay middle of the road, and sustain a career- and that’s why I think next year is a big year for her.”
Paul M. Banks is the owner of The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports. An analyst for 95.7 The Fan, he also writes on Chicago sports media for Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter (@paulmbanks) and Facebook