Nascar - Danica Done?

[DAB]

no ride for next year.

Danica Patrick done at Stewart-Haas Racing after '17; NASCAR future in question | Fox News

several other drivers are also unsigned for next year.

sponsor money is drying up, they better get a new model up and running soon, or we'll be down to 25 car fields real soon.

the Frances? oh, they are doing just fine with their cut of TV $$$. share with the teams?

[VatorMan]

They KNOW what they need to do. Road courses are the races that draw. Run Daytona as usual the first year and Daytona road course the next year. Crew chiefs would shit a brick. Fans love a race where you can get close to a track.

Case in point : The first year IMSA went to VIR, wife and I watched from the south paddock, about 50 ft from the track. No barriers, fences etc... in fact told the wife if a car comes at us at this point, well, I'll just say I love you now.

Thrilling, exciting, massive passing and seeing in the cockpit. That's racing.

[DAB]

Originally Posted by VatorMan

They KNOW what they need to do. Road courses are the races that draw. Run Daytona as usual the first year and Daytona road course the next year. Crew chiefs would shit a brick. Fans love a race where you can get close to a track.

Case in point : The first year IMSA went to VIR, wife and I watched from the south paddock, about 50 ft from the track. No barriers, fences etc... in fact told the wife if a car comes at us at this point, well, I'll just say I love you now.

Thrilling, exciting, massive passing and seeing in the cockpit. That's racing.

they have become boring parades, with 3 boring segments to boot!

[09SilverC6]

finally, the top 20+ finish average got the best of her

[boracayjohnny]

Originally Posted by 09SilverC6

finally, the top 20+ finish average got the best of her

Her hype train has left the station with her still looking at the candy machine. She's not a bad driver and she's not a good driver. She's just like you said, "Average".

Ok, the "Bad driver" might be a little over to the plus side. She often seemed to be in the middle when things go bendy.

[Jeff '79]

Originally Posted by boracayjohnny

Her hype train has left the station with her still looking at the candy machine. She's not a bad driver and she's not a good driver. She's just like you said, "Average".

Ok, the "Bad driver" might be a little over to the plus side. She often seemed to be in the middle when things go bendy.

her right leg is just a tad short to reach the gas pedal, fully.

[JRD77VET]

Originally Posted by boracayjohnny

Her hype train has left the station with her still looking at the candy machine. She's not a bad driver and she's not a good driver. She's just like you said, "Average".

Ok, the "Bad driver" might be a little over to the plus side. She often seemed to be in the middle when things go bendy.

She's good but good isn't good enough for high dollar sponsors.

So she finishes in the middle of the pack. That means she still did better than half the field.

Her problem was her marketing. They sold her as the next nascar winner who just happened to be female. They expected her to draw in more female fans but tried to sell her as a sex symbol. That didn't work for most females.

I wish her well in whatever she does.

[DAB]

Smithfield foods and Petty.

Don't forget who writes the checks.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sport...17001/?src=rss

[MrPeabody]

There's no big money in it, but I'd love to see her in a AA/Fuel Dragster.

[Mike Mercury]

the problem I've had with NASCAR is that it is no longer about the cars.

the personal rivalries that they try to now exploit are akin to the WWF

[boracayjohnny]

Originally Posted by DAB

Smithfield foods and Petty.

Don't forget who writes the checks.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sport...17001/?src=rss

Smithfield had continually told me they wanted to be with us, and I recently shook hands on a deal to extend our relationship.

A company with no stones is what I get from this.

[DAB]

Subway dropped their driver with one race to go. Sponsors are looking to get out of expensive deals. If the driver sucks up all the money, you'll have a slow car.

[boracayjohnny]

Originally Posted by Mike Mercury

the problem I've had with NASCAR is that it is no longer about the cars.

the personal rivalries that they try to now exploit are akin to the WWF

It's 43 of the exact same car. NASCAR throws yellows for questionable reasons. The races have become boring. Just a sample of what I'm seeing and what's left after all that. But who am I. I watch a race here and there. You want me to watch more, take out the boring and seem to be fixing races.

[DAB]

Originally Posted by boracayjohnny

It's 43 of the exact same car. NASCAR throws yellows for questionable reasons. The races have become boring. Just a sample of what I'm seeing and what's left after all that. But who am I. I watch a race here and there. You want me to watch more, take out the boring and seem to be fixing races.

Down to 40 this year.

35 next year would not surprise me.

[Fasglas]

Danica done?

When did she start?

[Olustee bus]

Originally Posted by boracayjohnny

It's 43 of the exact same car. NASCAR throws yellows for questionable reasons. The races have become boring. Just a sample of what I'm seeing and what's left after all that. But who am I. I watch a race here and there. You want me to watch more, take out the boring and seem to be fixing races.

yeppers

The Godfather's Blog: COMMENTARY: NASCAR Is Poorly Served By Situational Ethics

[RedLS1GTO]

Originally Posted by JRD77VET

So she finishes in the middle of the pack. That means she still did better than half the field.

The problem with that is the half she (sometimes) beats are in low budget cars. Since her 1st day in an Indy car driving for Rahal she has never been in anything but top tier cars and STILL can't even average a top 20 finish (24).

Outside of 1 freak lightning strike in an Indy car when she won a race because she was actually so freaking slow (unintentionally) that she managed to go farther on a tank of gas than everybody else, she was no better there.

180 Cup races... and not a single top 5. Think about that for a minute. Not a single top 5. In the best cars on the track and has never even been a threat to win a race. Not one single time. She's never mixing it up near the front, making passes, or doing anything. She simply cruises around mid-pack.

It's amusing to look at the stats of her teammates.

In that same 115 race span in Indy cars where she managed to luck into 1 win and lead a career total of 124 laps, her teammates won 17 races, 2 series Championships, 2 Indy 500s, and led almost 2500 laps.

While driving Cup cars: Her stats: 180 starts, 0 wins and 0 top 5 finishes. In that same time, her teammates in the exact same cars have 19 wins, 148 top 5, a series Championship, and at least 2 of her 3 teammates have made "The Chase" each year since it was started.

I would love to see her do well, mainly because it would be good for the sport as a whole but it's time to face the reality that she really just isn't any good.

[RedLS1GTO]

Originally Posted by VatorMan

They KNOW what they need to do. Road courses are the races that draw. Run Daytona as usual the first year and Daytona road course the next year. Crew chiefs would shit a brick. Fans love a race where you can get close to a track.

The TV ratings say otherwise...

NASCAR 2017 TV Ratings

Watkins Glen - 3.3 Million
Sonoma - 3.2 Million

Daytona 500 - 23.3 Million total (12 Million average)
Daytona July Race - 5.01 Million
Talladega - 5.9 Million
Brickyard - 5.6 Million
Bristol - 4.23 Million

Hell, even Dover (3.4 Million) and Pocono (3.56 Million) had more viewers than the 2 road course races.


As a bonus, 2017 Rolex 24 (way better racing than 3,400 pound stock cars bouncing around on a road course) had a peak of 714,000 viewers

The 2017 24 Hours of LeMans had a peak of 310,000 US viewers (less than the NASCAR Truck Series race the same day on the same channel)

[Mike Mercury]

[VatorMan]

Originally Posted by RedLS1GTO

The TV ratings say otherwise...

NASCAR 2017 TV Ratings

Watkins Glen - 3.3 Million
Sonoma - 3.2 Million

Daytona 500 - 23.3 Million total (12 Million average)
Daytona July Race - 5.01 Million
Talladega - 5.9 Million
Brickyard - 5.6 Million
Bristol - 4.23 Million

Hell, even Dover (3.4 Million) and Pocono (3.56 Million) had more viewers than the 2 road course races.


As a bonus, 2017 Rolex 24 (way better racing than 3,400 pound stock cars bouncing around on a road course) had a peak of 714,000 viewers

The 2017 24 Hours of LeMans had a peak of 310,000 US viewers (less than the NASCAR Truck Series race the same day on the same channel)

Good post. I guess I was putting my spin on what I'd like to see more of.