Danica Closer to AGR deal

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Originally Posted by drewdawg727

This post is mainly for Mark...because I feel like I have to disagree with him on what he has posted...



What did she prove yesterday at Infineon? That she got ran off the road by Dan Wheldon and her RF got damaged? I would say look at the fact that she DID make the top 12, and although it was a really rotten idea for her to wait until the last 3 minutes of the session to go out and place a lap, she qualified her best on a road course this year. I think she would have done a fair job in the race if she was given the chance.

And what about her attitude stinks? I was an extreme Danica-hater before this year, but I have to admit that she has cooled off a lot and realized that there is more to racing than stomping and whining. I'm not her biggest fan now, and in fact I still think she has a lot to learn and mature, but look at how she has performed this year. 5th in points, that means something. She has kept her nose clean and performed better than we all expected her to. Give credit where credit is due man...which leads to your next quote:



If you remember, she has a win on an oval, fluke or not. She has 4 poles on ovals, she has top 5s in 4 of the first 5 races and is awfully close to everyone's favorite Indy 500 winner (yet never ICS champion!!!) in the points.

In order for Danica to keep stability in her racing life, she NEEDS to stay in ICS. And this is going to hurt, but the SERIES needs her to stick around also. We love to hate Danica because she is the main cause for drama and she is, like it or not, the figurehead of this series. We lose our figurehead, we lose all the creepy/stalker Danica fans (pun?) that are carrying our dreadful ratings.

I like that Danica is staying in the series. Give her one more year...see if AR can get someone on the team to set up cars again and we'll see what happens.

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I respect where you're coming from but lets not make excuses for her failures. She didn't get "run off the road by Wheldon". Granted it wasn't her fault but this is racing and if she didn't qualify a season best 11th on a road course she would never be in that situation. The fact her car was damaged cost her 1 lap but they fixed it and she went out to run for points. She had opportunities to race with packs on numerous occasions during the race and she was dusted by everybody on the track except Duno and Carpenter...AGAIN! At one point, she pitted with TK and they came out of the pits togethe on cold tires. I was curious so I paid attention. Nose to tail practically coming out of the pits and Danica was 6 seconds behind TK at the end of the out lap. This while she was desparately blocking a gaggle of faster cars being a lap down (all eventually got past).

The fact she even got into the 2nd round of qualifying was due to a very lucky draw on the groups. She used 2 sets of Reds to barely get in...which is why she didn't go out unti the end of R2, she had now tires left and had to wait. Where did she end up? When you have to spend every resource to qualify mid-pack and other suffer misfortune then you're not getting your job done. Also note by comparison to teammates, she was 5th out of 5. And this was her best RC qualifying effort of the year?

With respect to ovals, she generally has a car that should finish 5th to 8th in every session. to give the benefit of the doubt (including Rahal and Moraes) lets say to 10th. This due to the underfunded teams not having proper resources to compete on speedways. Where does she run almost all of the time? Back half of the top 10, usually 7th to 10th. Granted she finishes races and that improves her position in every race becase she rarely, and I mean rarely makes a pass on track. In other words, she underperforms relative to her equipment.

I like almost all of what I'm reading here. I can't stand her and my disdain for her is ever growing for reasons posted by my hero BB (although BB tried to credit her for being an average driver followed by a thorough discreditation of her career). All you have to do is look at FACTS. By facts I mean her career stats all the way to the beginning. I don't mind she's halfway attractive to some people but lets be honest. If she never does the FHM shoot she never sniffs a top level race car. Her record and her skill PROVE she isn't a very good. Is she competent? Yes, in these cars she can keep them off the wall. But that isn't a race car driver. To be a race car driver, you have to push the envelope, compete, and improve. She has none of this and while there may be 2 or 3 drivers in the series less talented than she is...they are there for the same reason she is....FINANCIAL BACKING.

Final thing, Danica garners so much attention for what she isn't. Is she good for the series? Heck yeah at this point. Frankly, she isn't even news if there aren't people out there that don't know any better talking like she's the second coming of any good driver. She basically gets a massive following from people that either don't know any different or for their "you know what" bank, period. Otherwise...she's not even in the news because just finishing races doesn't cut it.

Don't get me wrong with what I've posted about Danica. My favorite female driver is Shawna Robinson, who had a stock car career that briefly reached Cup. Attractive, smiled more than odd occasions and pleasant.

T3, for the exact reason that you say that she is a "good driver" just because of the equipment in....that cannot be proven. The only way you can prove something like that is to put her in a "red car" and see how she does with it. Or, conversely, let her drive the z-line or dollar general car around an oval and see what she does.
You're making claims on comparing her driving to something you've never seen her drive, so just let the results speak for themselves and stop being so critical.

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Originally Posted by Ken

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYyKpucUS-c


^and i suspect the above was a linchpin in what essentially has become stalled negotiations for danicas people...


the fact that the attempt at Viral marketing failed miserably just shows she isn't nearly as marketable as (her) folks want her to be.....



and i believe Gary owes me a rootbeer!

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Oh, damn! You are right. Well, my two IRL excursions for the year are over. Are you going to KY or Mid Ohio next year? We'll figure out some way to pay this off.

Gary

Here's an honest question, guys - seriously: if Danica adds to the IRL, where would the IRL be without her? I know that would be really hard to quantify (if you believe that), but where would you see the series without Danica?

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Originally Posted by drewdawg727

T3, for the exact reason that you say that she is a "good driver" just because of the equipment in....that cannot be proven. The only way you can prove something like that is to put her in a "red car" and see how she does with it. Or, conversely, let her drive the z-line or dollar general car around an oval and see what she does.
You're making claims on comparing her driving to something you've never seen her drive, so just let the results speak for themselves and stop being so critical.

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I don't think I ever said she is a "good driver". If I did I'd put a bullet in my eye socket right now. I don't think it has be be proven that an AGR car is better than a Conquest or a Coyne car on ovals. That is just a logical fact. On ovals, I compare her speed and competitiveness to first of all her teammates, and secondly the red cars. Personally, I think NHL and KV have shown they are equal to AGR on superspeedways....nobody comares to Penske on TCGR right now (AGR used to before Danica ruined it all). I don't expect Danica or anybody to be 1-4 expect those guys. So from 5 to 10, where does she normally practice, where does she normally qualify, and where does she normally race? P7 thru P10 consistently. That means to me that she is a problem. I understand she's fifth in points, I understand she finishes top 5 occasionally but every single time due to attritrition and strategy. The only thing she does do that is good is finish...and combined, all that to me means she's not capable of being on the limit of the car.

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Originally Posted by TURN3

I don't think I ever said she is a "good driver". If I did I'd put a bullet in my eye socket right now.

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Gee i'd feel terrible if you did that on my account.... :D

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Originally Posted by drewdawg727

Gee i'd feel terrible if you did that on my account.... :D

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All in good fun buddy!!!

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Originally Posted by Jag_Warrior

Here's an honest question, guys - seriously: if Danica adds to the IRL, where would the IRL be without her? I know that would be really hard to quantify (if you believe that), but where would you see the series without Danica?

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This may be a minority opinion, but I don't think it would make any difference. She isn't getting much coverage during the races, the major media mostly only mentions her when she is at some photo shoot, and some of the hype has worn very thin. She has her fans, but she also has her detractors. She might add a bump in the ratings as a curiosity, but for the most part, the IRL and everyone in it is ignored by most sports fans outside of Indy. If she fades away, someone else can take the limelight.

When Helio was in DWTS, everyone though that would have an impact. It didn't. When his legal problems made the news, that was thought it would have an impact. Ratings and viewing didn't change.

It isn't all about one person, it is about the overall show and all of the personalities and stories. The league (and the fans) need to look around and see what other stories are out there. After all, this isn't the Danica Racing League, even if some fans seem to think it is.

I think that the "celebrity" aspect of her, and to a certain degree Helio, DO bring some more people to the track itself for the race. Maybe not a huge number more, but they do add to the promoter's marketing ability. As far as tv though, I do not think Danica has done much at all for the ratings since maybe 2004/2005. As was said earlier, the on-track product is what keeps people coming back and draws their interest. The few viewers that watched the IRL on tv purely for Danica or Helio have left a long time ago. People say all the time about how NASCAR is big because of all the marketing/celebrity aspect of the drivers. I'd say that's a portion of it, but I think people just like the racing in NASCAR and having big colorful relatively fast cars with easy numbers to follow and lots of beating and banging to the finish. The IRL will never win on the popularity of the drivers. Fast, competitive, dangerous racing with technologically advanced cars running on a wide variety of circuits is what help make CART so big. Andrettis, Foyts, etc. certainly were crucial, but then again with Danica we're unfortunately not talking about an Andretti or a Foyt.