FORT WAYNE – And now, the Dayton-ica 500.

Yes, I know Tony Stewart is your defending NASCAR Sprint Cup champion.

Yes, I know Chad Knaus and Jimmie Johnson – spiritual descendants of the legendary Smokey Yunick, who wrote the book on making the rules cry uncle – is still trying to slip a fast one or two past the tech boys.

Yes, I know Dale Jr.’s still out there, trying to jump-start his fast fading career. And Jeff Gordon’s still around. And Carl Edwards. And the Busches, Kyle and Kurt, who haven’t thrown any tantrums just yet, but it’s still early.

None of that matters. It’s all Danica Patrick all the time now.

She’s guaranteed a spot in the big one next week thanks to a deal cut with Tommy Baldwin Racing, which turned over its 2011 car’s points to Patrick. The top 35 in points are guaranteed a spot in the 500, and Baldwin’s No. 36 car finished 33rd.

And so, let the hype and/or caterwauling begin.

The latter will rise up from those who don’t realize, first off, that these kind of deals get struck all the time, and who think (as they did in Patrick’s IndyCar days) that she’s a stroker who hasn’t earned this. It’s a fair point; right now she’s a part-time Nationwide driver who’s shown only occasional flashes of promise. Why has she once again getting jumped to the front of the line?

Well, you might want to ask the individual who actually followed her into the restroom the other day looking for an autograph.

Which is to say, she’s a ratings/marketing monster, and NASCAR is no dumber than IndyCar was. It knows a walking ATM when it sees one – not to mention when it desperately needs one.

The numbers don’t fib, after all. According to Nielsen, TV ratings for the Nationwide series jumped 33 percent in 2010 when Patrick joined the show, and her merchandise sales for 2012 are already in NASCAR’s top 10. And as with IndyCar back in ’05 or ’06, NASCAR could use those numbers.

No wonder everyone was at full gush about her last week.

“She’s very grounded. She’s just normal,” Ricky Stenhouse Jr. told Lee Spencer of Fox Sports.

“She fits in well and wants to do this NASCAR deal right,” Kenny Wallace added.

“There is no doubt in my mind she is going to be good in these,” said her boss, Stewart, who went on to reiterate what he first said last month about Patrick being a quick study.

“In the short amount of time that I’ve worked with her, she’s so good at processing information and what she learns on the race track,” Stewart said then. “She can explain it to you right away and very accurate. I think her feedback is excellent.”

As for Patrick herself … well, as with IndyCar, NASCAR is doing her a disservice in its eagerness to cash in. The hype around her has not only given her an outsized sense of entitlement, it’s obscured the fact that she can, actually, wheel a race car. You don’t finish in the top 10 in the Indianapolis 500 five years out of seven if you can’t.

And so, when she says Trevor Bayne winning Daytona as a 21-year-old rookie makes it a tangible reality for anyone, it’s hardly an outrageous boast.

“I think there is a real chance, if luck falls our way, to perhaps win,” she said last month.

In NASCAR’s wildest dreams.