Patrick should stick with IRL
by JEFF OWENS, Special to FOXSports.com
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| Jeff Owens (NASCAR Scene) |
When is the first female driver to win a major open wheel race going to bring her pretty smile and vast sex appeal to stock cars, America's No. 1 motorsport?
Corporate sponsors everywhere are likely salivating at the prospect of catching a ride with racing's newest darling and taking her newly revved-up marketing machine to the sport that gives sponsors the most bang for their buck.
For the next few days, few sports stars will get more attention than the 26-year-old race car driver/model who won the Indy Japan 300 on Sunday.
And, riding her coattails, no sports sponsor will earn more valuable airtime and worldwide exposure than Motorola, Patrick's primary backer.
But given the state of Indy car racing — would the race have even gotten any ink or airtime had she not won? — how much more attention would Patrick and Motorola be getting today had she won a NASCAR race?
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Danica Patrick was already a star. She has been since she burst onto the racing scene in 2005 by leading the Indianapolis 500.
Since then she has become the most significant female racing star since Janet Guthrie, appearing on magazine covers worldwide, both for her looks and for her potential as a driver. She recently made a big splash as one of the swimsuit-clad celebrities in Sports Illustrated's popular swimsuit issue.
But to most, she wouldn't become a megastar — or be taken seriously — until she actually won a race.
Now she has.
And so the questions begin.
"So, Danica, when are you coming to NASCAR?"
If you can attract this much attention for winning an IndyCar race, just think what you can do if you could if you were driving stock car.
The First Time
With TV ratings and sponsorship dollars that dwarf other forms of motorsports, you could rival Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson as the biggest racing stars in the country.
She flirted with the idea two years ago, showing up at the track with Jack Roush and talking to various car owners before signing a long-term contract with Indy car's Andretti Green Racing.
So why not make the jump now, or at least at the end of this season? Why not make the move when your star is brightest, when numerous teams and sponsors would welcome you with open arms?
Because to make such a risky move would be a colossal mistake, one that could possibly destroy everything that Patrick has built and earned on her way to the top of the Indy car world.
As drivers like Juan Pablo Montoya and Dario Franchitti have discovered, winning in lightweight Indy cars is one thing; winning in heavy, souped-up stock cars is quite another.
Switching from sleek, high-speed open-wheel machines to bulky, finicky, somewhat antiquated stock cars is one of the most difficult moves in racing.
Only one driver in the past 30 years has been able to do it with much success, and Tony Stewart had extensive sprint car experience before becoming a Indy car and NASCAR champion.
As we are seeing now, Stewart is a rare breed.
Montoya, a star in both CART (now the defunct Champ Car) and Formula One, seemed to have made the transition easily when he won NASCAR races on the road courses in Mexico and Sonoma, Calif., last year.
But he struggled to make much headway on the ovals last year and seems to have taken a step backward this season. He may still become the second driver to master both forms of racing, but it will clearly take considerable time.
Franchitti, last year's Indy 500 winner and IndyCar Series champion, has been a major disappointment and has yet to land a full-time sponsor. Though he has run just seven NASCAR Cup races, he has finished 32nd or worse in six of them and is 38th in points.
Montoya and Franchitti are widely regarded as two of the best race car drivers in the world. If they are struggling to adapt to stock cars, how long would it take the less-accomplished Patrick to adjust to the aggressive, fender-banging style of racing?
Though she could still be a hit on marketing appeal alone, her star could quickly fade if she makes the move and struggles for an extended period of time.
And with the Montoya-Franchitti experiments a mixed bag so far, most team owners might be reluctant to take a chance on her, particularly with no guarantee that she would make the field each week.
Patrick would have no trouble landing a lucrative sponsorship deal and making a big splash. But she would have to join one of NASCAR's top teams to have a chance on the track.
And even then, she would be a longshot.
Why take such a risk when she currently has the IndyCar world at her feet?
Why make such a move when she alone has given America a reason to watch Indy car racing again?
Patrick should stay put and watch her star continue to rise.
Jeff Owens is a writer for NASCAR Scene, which is published weekly, 50 weeks per year. Visit www.scenedaily.com for more information. © 2007 Street & Smith Sports Group
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