Danica Patrick: NASCAR Driver Attempts to Steal Honey Badger Nickname

Danica Patrick needs to get a bit more creative.

A month before her first race as a full-time NASCAR driver, Patrick is looking for a new nickname to kick off her the new adventure. Think of it as rebranding herself.

With a catchy name like Danica that rhymes with everything under the sun, you’d figure it wouldn’t be very hard.

Instead, she is trying to rip the nickname of a college sophomore. During an interview at Daytona International Speedway, she talked about her love of LSU’s Tyrann Mathieu’s nickname:

"

And the honey badger, it was last year, I think, somebody showed me this video of the honey badger, and the commentator on it was very, very funny.

Anyway, the honey badger, he doesn't give a crap, he takes what he wants.  And that's how I'm going to be this year, like a honey badger.  But I feel like it's a little diluted with the football player that has the honey badger nickname, too.  He's No. 7, as well.

"

The infamous YouTube video has really upped the star status of the animal, and now, everyone wants to be associated with it. The difference is that Mathieu was given the nickname and Danica is trying to copy him.

Danica claims the honey badger has a similar set of beliefs as she does on the track: "I don't know, it's a mindset.  I even have a honey badger picture on my screen saver on my phone to inspire me.  It takes what it wants."

Nicknames don’t work like that.

Dani, Daniko or even D-Pat all suck, but are better than her idea.

Let new boss Tony Stewart provide you with a nickname. After all, “Smoke” is by far the coolest handle going in the sport.