Honda Canada threw a dinner for some of us in the media last night with Paul Tracy as the special guest and a major topic of conversation was Danica Patrick – will she or won’t she leave IndyCar racing in favour of NASCAR in 2012?
It’s pretty amazing when Tracy himself stands up to say a few words and asks the question that’s on everybody’s mind: does anybody know what Danica’s going to do?
The reason, of course, is that Danica Patrick is a celebrity, a lightning rod of conversation and controversy, and just about the only true star the IZOD IndyCar Series has.
Now, everybody knows who Paul Tracy is, and Dario Franchitti, and Marco Andretti – don’t they?
Ask my 94-year-old Aunt Jean. She doesn’t know who those guys are but she sure knows the name Danica Patrick.
When I was in Indianapolis this year for qualifying, Patrick had a tough time making the field and had to finally squeeze in on the last day. There were other great stories at Indy that weekend, but the next morning on my way out of town, I listened to the disc jockeys and all they talked about – to a man and woman – was Danica.
"Thank goodness she made it in," said one. "It wouldn’t be the Indy 500 without her," said another.
Patrick is in the second year of a part-time schedule in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Last Friday night at Daytona, she took the lead late in a race and the 60,000 fans in the grandstands were on their feet, screaming, when it happened.
So IndyCar will let her go at their peril. They have a hard enough time attracting people to some of their races, and their TV contract with the little-watched Versus network in the U.S. is an Albatross. In short, they need all the help they can get. (They do fine in Canada; TSN reports solid numbers, but the States are what count.)
So how do you keep her in IndyCar and yet satisfy her (and her sponsor GoDaddy’s) obvious urge to go NASCAR racing ?
I suggest that IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard convince Roger Penske to hire her. She can then drive for the best team in IndyCar, which means she would have a solid shot at winning the Indy 500 (which she wants), and on the weekends she isn’t racing an Indy car, she can drive for Penske’s team in the Nationwide Series.
Penske, of course, would get the GoDaddy sponsorship money that would enable him to provide her with first-class equipment in both leagues. And Penske on several occasions has said on TV in post-race interviews that she had impressed him with her ability and desire, two traits he considers extremely important.
GoDaddy would get more exposure – as many as 30-plus races in total – which is one of the reasons the Internet domain company has been after her to make the move to NASCAR, which races 35 or 36 times a year as compared to IndyCar’s less than 20.
And it would be the best of both worlds for Dancia Patrick, who is probably terribly conflicted by this whole business. Yes, she probably wants to go to NASCAR (likely with JR Motorsports or Rick Hendrick's organization) but she’s not ready for Cup (she’d be eaten alive) and Nationwide is the minors as compared to the major league that is IndyCar.
Oh, and it would likely mean giving up racing in the Indy 500 if she made such a move.
But if she moved to Penske, it would be a win-win-win for The Captain, Go-Daddy and Danica Patrick.
And when that happens, who knows? Maybe we’ll all get to talk about something else.
who's paul tracy. recognize the other names
Posted by: barry nobama | 07/08/2011 at 08:53 AM
The three lowest rated Indy 500s in history (the last three) have all had Danica Patrick in them and running/finishing in quite a high position on race day. IndyCar has done worse with her (including being forced to sign with Versus) than without her. Of the reported 13K-15K that went to Milwaukee or the "73K tickets scanned" at Texas this year, how many were there only because of Danica? Both of those were all time IRL/INDYCAR lows for attendance at each track too.
There is a portion of Danica's fan base who only watches her because she has posed for photos numerous times in bikinis. For the reported $12 million US Danica is being paid right now, the series could pay for an entire group of better looking and consistently much less dressed grid girls and probably have enough money left over to pay for an entire IndyCar bikini team as well. That would, at the very least, keep Danica's "drool bunch" happy and watching IndyCar races. Danicamania was big in 2005. In 2011, that ship is weather beaten and headed out to sea.
As for Penske, it's a funny thing about those 12 IndyCar championships and 15 Indy 500 wins he has earned: Selling more t-shirts on a race weekend than anybody else doesn't do much to add to those totals. Hiring winning drivers does. After all, you HAVE heard the report that, if Penske had the chance, he would hire Simona de Silvestro away from HVM in a heartbeat, haven't you?
Posted by: Tony Joseph | 07/08/2011 at 12:41 PM
"and Nationwide is the minors as compared to the major league that is IndyCar"
Wow, you can't honestly believe that. Indycar might be a lot of things, but "major league" isn't one of them. Ratings for Nationwide races is multiple times higher than Indycar... in fact, the Nationwide series is the second highest rated motorsport in North America behind the Sprint Cup series.
Posted by: A realistic Indycar fan | 07/08/2011 at 12:51 PM
Nope, we will still be talking about her.....because sitting in a Penske, with Roger calling the shots, she will start winning (at least on ovals).... and then we'll be talking about that. I truely believe she would win Indy if she were driving for Roger Penske or Chip Ganassi.
Posted by: Andy Morris | 07/08/2011 at 01:10 PM
Do you think that Danica Patrick will race in the IZOD IndyCar Series until she retires from auto racing?
Posted by: Chris Fiegler | 07/08/2011 at 09:05 PM
It's a sad day for motor racing when a driver gets so much attention just because of being a female. They are much better drivers than Patrick in Indycar. Racing is racing not a bloody fashion show!
Posted by: clive Rayman | 07/08/2011 at 09:48 PM
Danica, let her go to Cup and we'll see how good a driver she really is :-) I'm sure Indy Car will survive without her.
I certainly wouldn't miss her !!
Posted by: ex CART fan. | 07/09/2011 at 07:43 AM
When the minor league of NASCAR out draws and out pays the top INDY league it doesn't make sense for GoDaddy or Danica to stay in Indy.
Posted by: Mark | 07/09/2011 at 01:09 PM
I think she's 'Penske Material'.
Posted by: APP | 07/09/2011 at 07:01 PM
Follow the money! Love her or hate her, she is a smart cookie.
Posted by: David White | 07/10/2011 at 11:52 AM