Danica to NASCAR

[Ron61]

One of her problems at the start was she wouldn't get within two car lengths of the car in front of her and that caused her to lose the draft and go down a lap. Next week at Fontana should tel a lot about what she has learned.

Ron

[Don]

Realistically, the first race in a totally new environment without the benefit of extended practice and test sessions , what is the expectation at the Nationwide level ? If Danica caused an accident, there sure would be comments, a no win situation.

How many other drivers over the years have entered the Nationwide and Cup races with a very aggressive driving style and their own unique personalities ?

In the 2009 IRL season, Danica was the highest finisher , 5th, of any driver on a Team other than Penske and Ganassi , and finished higher than the other 3 drivers that raced for Andretti. The 4 Penske and Ganassi drivers won every race except 1, the first and only win for the Dale-Coyone ( sp ? ) Team. While having only 1 win, probably many other open wheel drivers that wished they had the same accomplishments at the IRL level.

Running only 13 races this year and mixing the two different styles of racing and cars will add to the challenge. Just entering the pits is different, where in the IRL a button is pushed to control the pit lane speed.

All that said, along with the NASACR rule changes and hopefully more to come, anything that helps to improve the attendance, TV ratings, competition, reduce boring races, etc will help to retain and attract sponsors and dollars, especially for the underfunded Teams. Got to be difficult when at the Nationwide level some Teams qualify to just start and immediately pull out of the race and receive starting purses for other Team cars and/or funds to run a full race at a later date.

From MotorSport.com

" When Patrick was asked if she thought her presence was overshadowing the Daytona 500, she responded, "By no means am I trying to take anything away from anybody else, including the Daytona 500. But if I can do anything to help the series and perhaps drag in some sponsors, I'm happy to do it."

Regardless of what Patrick does on Saturday, the Sunday newspapers, the Internet sites and television news programs will give her plenty of coverage, which is another win-win situation for racing. "

http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=357365

[Ron61]

Don,

How many other drivers over the years have entered the Nationwide and Cup races with a very aggressive driving style and their own unique personalities ?

Kyle Bush immediately comes to mind. Also Jeff Gordon. He wrecked so many times his first year that some thought he wouldn't make it.

Ron

[Don]

TV Ratings for the Nationwide race at Daytona:


" With an average of more than 4.2 million people watching, ESPN2’s live telecast of the NASCAR Nationwide Series season-opening race Feb. 13 from Daytona International Speedway set a record as the most viewed Nationwide Series race ever on cable.

ESPN reported that the fast national rating for the race, which included the NASCAR debut for IndyCar Series driver Danica Patrick, was a 3.2, up 33 percent from the 2.4 rating last year and up 28 percent from the 2.5 for the 2008 race. This year’s telecast averaged 4,271,365 viewers, breaking the series’ previous cable record for TNT’s coverage of the 2006 Daytona race, which attracted 3,954,798 viewers.

ESPN2 peaked with a 3.5 household coverage rating for the last 20 minutes of the race with Patrick already having crashed out of the event.

“While Danica certainly helped bring people to the telecast, she wasn’t the only factor,” said Julie Sobieski, ESPN vice president for programming and acquisitions. “Great Daytona Nationwide racing action kept viewers through to the checkered flag.” "

[Ron61]

I think if they go ahead and make some more rule changes and put more of the car building and set ups back into the hands of the drivers and crews they will do better. I watched Kyle Petty and Kenny Wallace arguing about putting more emphasis on what the people want than what the drivers and teams want. Petty was dead set against is as he said they put out a lot of money and that should be the first concern. Wallace came back with, "They have listened to the drivers and others in NASCAR for the last 3 years and the ratings have gone right down the toilet. I like this listening to what the fans want and I think it will be a huge help. If you don't want to listen because it may cost you money, then get out of racing." Of course Kenny Wallace tends to get carried away at times.

Ron