Danica to NASCAR

[rustyBob]

Ron...

i will be sitting in front of the TV with a big bowl of popcorn and an ice tea and hopefully i can stay awake to watch the whole race..........any bets on who will take the checkered flag ????

[Don]

From USA Today:

" After huddling with Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick and receiving congratulatory texts and Tweets from Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Chad Knaus (crew chief for four-time Cup champ Jimmie Johnson ), Patrick decided to move up her NASCAR debut to Saturday’s Drive4COPD 300. The Daytona race will be the first of 13 Nationwide Series events for Patrick’s No. 7 Chevrolet as she makes a part-time transition to stock cars. "

[Ron61]

Bob,

No bets. It is to early in the season and they will all drive like maniacs to try and get into the big race. Some of the Go or Go Home drivers could cause some big accidents.

Ron

[rustyBob]

well i'll take a shot at it...........

race#1 Ky Bush or Edwards

race#2 Kenseth or a long shot Ambrose

i'm probably wrong on both guesses.....but you never know.

[Ron61]

Well now I know who to not bet on. I think Bill Elliot has a shot at it and so does Harvick, though I don't want him to win.

Ron

[rustyBob]

I was wrong on both races.........oh well

[Ron61]

So was I. In fact I watched Michel Waltrip sweating out the second race more than the race. I actually expected more wrecks as the ones that had to race their way in would be pushing as hard as they could.

Ron

[SPF2245]

"Juan Montoya is probably, car control-wise, one of the most amazing human beings you've seen in a car and he struggled for three years at this level, and she's not Juan Montoya. She's not Dario Franchitti and she's not Tony Stewart. She's not really shown over there [in the Indy Racing League] and won races and done stuff over there numbers-wise. She's just a marketing machine. Let's look at the facts and be blunt about it." - Kyle Petty (funny, it's true, but bringing up numbers isn't something Kyle should be doing...'cause his SUCK)



Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/mul...#ixzz0fLxEN4MB

[Ron61]

Yea, I remember the years he and his Father wasn't speaking as Kyle thought he knew it all. But I am hoping that she will succeed. And as we all know, numbers from the past don't necessarily mean a person can't do well at another sport.

Ron

[Don]

Will be interesting if there is increased TV viewing in the Nationwide race this afternoon:

AutoWeek.com

" Danica Patrick's appearance in last weekend's ARCA 200 helped earn the Speed Channel a 2.30 rating (about 1,723,000 households). That's 59 percent better than last year's 1.45 rating (1,062,000 households). All told, Nielsen Media Research said more than 2.4 million viewers watched some portion of the telecast, an 87 percent increase over last year's 1.3 million. "

[Ron61]

Don,

I am sure the ratings will be higher as she is a big draw and many people won't have a lot to do outside with the weather the way it is. And I saw that she is starting 15th because of the rain out of qualifying. I hope that she does well. but it will be a lot different than the ARCA race.

Ron

[Ron61]

Well Danica did pretty well until she got caught up in that wreck. I was happy to see Stewart win instead of Harvick or Bush. I thought that Dale Jr. had a great chance until his wild wreck.

Ron

[rustyBob]

Good thing Danica wasnt up side down in her wreck or it would have been a "hairy crack up"..........

[SPF2245]

This is a quote from her after the race, ""So I'm just going to tuck in behind someone ... or he should let me go." This attitude of people just allowing her to pass them is going to be her deal-breaker. If she can accept that none of the other drivers are going to give her a break because who she is, then she'll do fine. But if she brings her IRL attitude of everyone needs to make space for her, she's going to end up not winning races and leave us with more classic Danica...crying about how she's been done wrong.

[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

[rustyBob]

To many rules spoil things and NASCAR has to many rules.........
NASCAR has to much control over the shocks,rear gears
and design of the cars.........
if they want to slow down the cars get rid of the 4bbl carb.
and run a 2bbl carb and stop fartin around with restrictor plates.