[The Champ]

Originally Posted by ho428

She won the pole for the Nationwide race at Daytona last year as well.

Where did she finish?

Tony Stewarts 1998 Nationwide average finish. 18.5 running 22 of 31 races. No wins 5 top tens, 2 poles.
Danica's 2012 Nationwide average finish, 18.8 running 33 of 33 races. No wins, 4 top tens, 1 pole.

You're correct on the 18.5 average finish for 1998. But remember - Tony was running a part time Busch Series and a full time Indy car schedule that year. Tony never raced a full Busch season as his performances EARNED him a Cup ride.

As to the 5 top 10 finishes however - they were actually top 5's - he finished 2nd twice (Rockingham and Loudon), 3rd twice (Dover and Atlanta) and 5th once (Charlotte). When he ran good - he ran real good. Like many part time rookies - he had several DNF's.

Now contrast that to Danica's 3rd season running Nationwide, only running NASCAR, and she didn't have a single top 5 - even though she had 11 more races...

Tony earned his Cup ride for the 1999 season by his driving performances as a part time NASCAR rookie and his history of WINNING CHAMPIONSHIPS in multiple series -

1997 Indy Racing League Champion
1995 USAC Triple Crown Champion
1994 USAC National Midget Series Champion

Only a Danica apologist could possibly try to compare Danica to Tony Stewart.