After being criticized by the son of racing legend Richard Petty last week, respected drivers like Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson have NASCAR rookie Danica Patrick's back.
"I have to disagree with Kyle (Petty)," Dale Earnhardt Jr. said last week at Kentucky Speedway according to NESN.com. "I think she's a tough competitor. She works really hard at what she does and she has run some really good races. 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."
Petty, currently a Fox Sports/TNT analyst, made his comments during an interview on Speed TV's "NASCAR Race Hub."
"Danica has been the perfect example of somebody who can qualify better than what she runs," Petty said during the interview. "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."
Patrick laughed off Petty's remarks when asked this weekend, but fellow drivers have come to her defense like Earnhardt Jr. and future teammate at Stewart-Hass Racing Kevin Harvick.
"To drive them fast is something that is just not going to happen overnight," Harvick said according to NESN.com. "I don't know that I would go as far as calling her not a racer because she's raced her whole life and I think on a continuous learning curve. She's obviously dedicated at what she does to try to get better and knows she has a lot of hurdles to overcome in a short amount of time."
Harvick added that it is very difficult to switch from IndyCar to NASCAR and said what Patrick is trying to do is not easy.
Former Sprint Cup winner Jimmie Johnson agreed with Harvick's comments, saying that it takes "years" for drivers to fully adjust to the "environment" on a NASCAR race track.
"IndyCar guys and girls don't have a lot of side-by-side racing," Johnson said according to NESN.com. "It takes awhile to figure it out. They're different cars and the racing that takes place on the track, the door-to-door racing, that's just something that takes laps."
The popular driver had her only top-10 finish at Daytona 500 when she finished eight. Patrick became the first woman to win the pole in a Sprint Cup race and finished eighth in February's Daytona 500.
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