Will Danica Patrick come to NASCAR?

Danica Patrick is once again atop the news headlines in NASCAR. Rumors have surfaced that she is close to a deal with JR Motorsports. The deal will put her in a JR Motorsports car, most likely the 5, with sponsorship from GoDaddy.com. The domain name seller is already a sponsor of her and the JR Motorsports team. So the two being put together wouldn’t be a problem; the deal would likely be between 12-15 races for two years. Her races would likely come on off weeks in her IRL racing schedule.

            One of the biggest factors in her not coming to NASCAR is her price. She reportedly wanted between $300,000 - $600,000 dollars per event. And for a partial schedule, that is just asinine. Her price is unknown for JR Motorsports. But a large advantage for her coming to the sport is the marketability. She will be the only female driver to enter the series in years. Plus, she has a celebrity status that is almost that of Dale Earnhardt Jr. himself.

            Danica will provide NASCAR will good media attention. This is necessary from all the negative attention they’ve received recently. From the uncharacteristically boring Talladega race, to Jimmie Johnson stinking up the Chase for the 4^th year in a row, and their rule changes, NASCAR hasn’t had a lot of smile on these past two-three weeks. Danica will provide the sport with many new fans, and sponsors. She has a large fan base already, and will only grow. Women are a large part in NASCAR, they normally cheer for Kasey Kahne these days, but that might change when Danica hits the tracks sometime in February for Speedweeks at Daytona.

Comments

[Nascar Catalog]

She will bring her marketability and brand to nascar, which in turn should draw more attention to the sport. Other then that (and money) I do not see her making an impact on the track itself. It is a drastic change from Indy to a stock car and I don't think she will have what it takes to be a star in the sport.

[Jake Lancaster]

Whether or not she has success has yet to be determined. She has yet to impress me in the Indy Car Series(IZOD Indy Car Series now). I am not surprised that she is coming to NASCAR. I personally think she will run a limited schedule for at least 1 year. When will she get in Cup? I'm not sure she ever will. However, she is good for the sport.

Being a star however? I have to disagree with you on that. If she wasn't a star, we wouldn't be talking about her would we? Success does not equal stardom in NASCAR. Dale Earnhardt Jr. hasn't had a lot of success since 2005 (in terms of wins), yet he is the biggest star in NASCAR. Jeff Gordon has only 1 win in two seasons now. He is another huge star. Kasey Kahne wins, but not as much as the bigger names in racing, he is a star. A great example is Kenny Wallace. Every NASCAR fan knows him, but could you tell me when the last time he won a race off of the top of your head? I can't. But every NASCAR fan loves him. Danica will be a star no matter where she goes. Her success? I don't foresee a lot of it happening for her, but we can never be sure.

Thanks for reading,
Jake

[Brian Miller]

Danica Patrick isn’t going to solve NASCAR’s problems. The situation they are currently in with boring races and unhappy drivers and fans is an internal problem within the sport. It isn’t going to be solved by a Patrick. Sure, she will bring all of the attention, especially at first. But if she doesn’t perform and put her car in contention to win races, eventually people are going to stop following what she is doing and television especially will stop giving her the time of day.

Drivers like Dale Jr, Jeff Gordon, and Kasey Kahne are all marketable drivers, sure, but they have the following they do for the success that they have shown in their careers. As hard as it may be for some fans to remember, Dale Jr. used to be winning races, Jeff Gordon has won four championships, and please don’t overlook Kahne’s six win season in 2006. These drivers have all earned their marketability and Danica will have to do the same.

[Jake Lancaster]

I don't recall saying that Patrick will solve NASCAR problems; only that she will be good for the sport. NASCAR needs some good news, not bad. All of the media attention directed at NASCAR has been negative for a while now. NASCAR needs to fix something or their sport will be in shambles.

And yes, Dale Jr. has won I BELIEVE 18 races (or 17). Gordon has numbers in the high 80s and will be a strong contender for the race Sunday at Texas. Kasey has won 11 races in his career of 6 years. That's about 2 a year, which is respectable considering he drives for Evernham Motorsports/Gillett-Evernham Motorsports/Richard Petty Motorsports (Did I get them all?)and not Roush or Hendrick or Gibbs.

But Brian, I agree with you. Danica will have to contend within a short time period. Franchitti couldn't do it, Villeneuve couldn't do it, and Carpentier was fired for personal reasons (still not sure why to this day) and they all had very good open-wheel backgrounds. Patrick will be in the best equipment, she will need to contend to stay good in the public's eye in NASCAR. But then again, she doesn't win in the Indy Car Series, and she's still popular. I guess we'll just have to see how it turns out for her.

[Brian Miller]

My comment about about Danica fixing NASCAR's problems was simply personal opinion, I wasn't referencing or questioning your writing in any way. However, I do believe that NASCAR's problems are all brought on by themselves. With the calls they've made and the way they've reacted to some of the situations they have been put in, really they have put themselves in the negative spotlight. Don't you think that NASCAR could do some things differently or at least make it known that they are at least noticing that its their fault?

I believe they have started to do that a little bit, but I would like to see more.

I agree with you though, I do think we have to wait and see what happens to her.

Oh, and don't worry, I think you covered all of their name changes, haha.

[Jake Lancaster]

NASCAR problems are of course brought on by themselves. Nobody else can bring on a problem to NASCAR without NASCAR's approval these days. The biggest problem they have is boring racing. Maybe not for each race, but for a season in general. Every year since the Chase began Jimmie Johnson has dominated it. He had unfortunate circumstances in 04, and 05. But since then, he's been on a roll. All of Hendrick Motorsports has for that matter. One idea I've toyed in my head was the idea of a salary cap. The NFL does it, why can't NASCAR? Revenue sharing might be too extreme for a sport that is virtually based on the economy, but perhaps shouldn't be dismissed.

NASCAR needs to let the drivers drive, and they just need to make sure nobody says certain words on t.v., or intentionally tries to hurt someone. The drivers are some of the best in the world, let them do their thing. Don't tell them how they have to drive and talk and act in front of the t.v. and on the race track. It's not fair to them.

Also, I did forget that they merged and created Evernham/Valvoline racing. Technically, the 10 car for the 2006 season was only half owned by Evernham.

[Canada Guy]

NASCAR is the perfect symbol of our cheerful self destruction. While global warming is getting worse, and pressure is growing for our leaders to reach a strong agreement in Copenhagen, millions of fans are cheering this extravagantly wasteful "sport".

http://www.selfdestructivebastards.com/2009/11/nascar.html

[Jake Lancaster]

Dear Canada Guy,
I will be the first admit that NASCAR is not the best sport for "going green." But if you are going to comment on one of my articles, at least make your comment relevant to the subject at hand. And bashing NASCAR or trying to rally troops to your cause might not be the best idea when you are on their home field. This is a NASCAR-based website. And I would appreciate it if you would take your anti-NASCAR attitude away from my readers and myself.

I have the authority to change your comment or even remove them if I wish, but I won't do this. I think that every person should have a voice, but that voice should be heard on topics that are at hand. Your "NASCAR is the tool of the Devil" article (which I read) has no relevance to my article above.

So, I will use you as an example, a regular, Jeremy Mayfield if you wish, and if you post something like this again on a topic that doesn't matter, you'll be subject to the removal of every comment you post.

[Sam Wright]

I don't see how Danica is going to be able to concentrate on two drastically different races at the same time; it will be interesting to see how her joining the Dale Jr. team works out for her career in both scenes