He was kidnapped from his homeland at age 16 and taken to the north as a slave. At 22 he escaped from his captors and made his way back to his family in Britain. After being ordained as a bishop by the church, Patrick returned to Ireland as a missionary and devoted his life to teach the gospel to the very country where he spent six long years of slavery.

It is a remarkable story on many levels, not the least of which is that many credit Saint Patrick with keeping western civilization alive during the fourth and fifth centuries by taking it to Ireland. In his book, How the Irish Saved Civilization, Thomas Cahill makes this very case. Cahill shows how the Irish people—influenced as they were by the missionary efforts of Patrick—were able to preserve much of the newly established traditions and advancements of the West while the Huns and Visigoths ravaged Europe during the 4th and 5th centuries. Were it not for Patrick's obedience in returning to the very country where he was enslaved as a young man, the Western world—as we know it today—would have looked very different indeed.

That's all fine and well, but what does it have to do with NASCAR, right? Well, nothing really, but it does have a lot to do with another Patrick—Danica Patrick. Let's face it, NASCAR is hoping that Danica, with her return this Saturday, can do for stock-car racing what Saint Patrick did for Ireland—revive and invigorate it. Now I don't deny that Danica's presence in the Nationwide series is bringing attention to the sport, but is it really the kind of attention that will ultimately benefit NASCAR? I think not.

The three races that Danica ran earlier this year were an indication to me that NASCAR had no intention of treating Danica like any other new racer. Dale Jr's support of her makes her a surefire hit with most NASCAR fans, and the fact that she has no qualms about peeling off layers of clothing for GoDaddy ads also doesn't hurt her chances for selling a bunch of her gear. But all of this aside, I was horrified by the blatant lack of honesty when it came to evaluating her performance on the track. From drivers to commentators, everyone seemed to be incapable of calling Danica to task for her driving. While I understand that she should get the benefit of the doubt for her inexperience, this doesn't mean that everyone else should be blamed for her own mistakes.

This is what bothers me the most about the whole Danica affair. As much as she claims she just wants to be "one of the boys," no one has treated her in this way. I find it interesting that the very same group of people who would be adamantly against women on the front lines of military battles, are now losing their minds in support of Danica Patrick behind the wheel of a 750-horsepower NASCAR machine. If she can win races on her driving merits alone, that would be fine, but it should not come at the expense of the other drivers giving up positions and making excuses for her. We are already beginning to hear the hype about Saturday's New England 200, but we are also already beginning to hear the excuses as well. If she does well, we will hear about what a superb driver she is, but if she puts the car (not to mention other cars) into the wall and doesn't finish the race, we will be repeatedly reminded that stock-car racing and open-wheel racing are two entirely different things. While this is certainly true, it should not be used as an excuse to avoid critiquing her skill in either one. It may be the case that Danica is just not cut out for a stock-car; this isn't sexism if it is really true.

I am as interested as everyone else to see how Danica fares this Saturday. I wish her well and I hope that she is able to place high. I don't hold anything against her for wanting to be a part of NASCAR, every professional racer should aspire to the top tier. But I just can't bring myself to buy the hype and preferential treatment that she receives ONLY because she is a woman. (Would she be getting the same reception if she looked like Rosie O'Donnell?) I wonder if NASCAR fans would approve of a female who wanted to be a quarterback in the NFL. It puts every other player on the field in an awkward situation where they can't play to their true potential. No matter how much the female would protest that she wanted to be treated just like every other player, the moment an inside linebacker stuffed her helmet in the ground as he would any other male quarterback, the howls of protest would be unceasing. The fact of the matter is that the mere presence of a woman on the field—or the track—changes the game immensely. Players can't play and drivers can't drive in the same way as they would another man...just ask Michael McDowell.

And this is the real issue of Danica's return to NASCAR this weekend: how will it affect the other drivers? As long as Danica is running safely in the back of the pack, the leaders can race like they normally would. But if it comes down to a duel between Carl Edwards, or Joey Logano, or Brad Keselowski, or Kyle Busch, or any other driver and Danica for the checkered flag, will we really be seeing the man's best effort? Or will we be seeing the man allowing the lady to pass so he doesn't have to hear about how he beat up on a girl? Either way, we will never really know because the politics of the sport becomes the driving force, not the drivers themselves. And when this becomes the case, everyone loses and NASCAR becomes nothing more than a politically-correct, sponsor-driven dog and pony show.