Daytona 500 2012: Extra Day Will Help Calm Danica Patrick's Nerves

With the Daytona 500 taking a postponement due to rain, mother nature has given rookie driver Danica Patrick an extra day to calm her nerves.

Indianapolis hasn't been too kind to Patrick, as she has experienced a rough start to her 2012 season.

To start things out, she crashed her car into the wall at the Gatorade Duel qualifying races for the Daytona 500. It wasn't a good start to her season, but she was at least still given a starting spot in the big race.

To make matters worse, she found more trouble with her Nationwide series car, where she lost control of her vehicle after being nudged by her teammate, Cole Whitt, as his car pushed her into the wall, eventually taking her out of the race.

Given Patrick was in the top spot of the pole for that race, her elimination was quite discouraging for what was looking to be a promising start to the year, and perhaps a nice boost of confidence heading into Sunday's race.

With the rain delay, she has been lucky to be given another day to recover and rebuild her confidence heading into what could be a huge statement for her career.

No doubt would two consecutive crashes through off anyone's game, so it is important that Patrick is able to take this extra time to calm herself. If he she can do so, she will definitely be in position to make some noise in her opening appearance with the Sprint Cup Series.

One can only hope that she won't find herself in a tough spot once again, as three crashes in three races would certainly be a very bad way to start the 2012 season.

Jeff Chase is a Featured Columnist for the Chicago Cubs and Arizona State football.
Follow @Real_Jeff_Chase