Local Press'es Take on Danica at LBGP

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Originally Posted by TURN3

Are you talking about 5 or 6 years ago? I can only assume with your referrence to when Danica "almost won" Indy...not sure when that was. Maybe you mean the year she was in the lead without enough fuel to go the distance at full-rich. "Almost" winning Indy is what Rick Mears did when Gordy beat him, "Almost" winning Indy is what Scott Goodyear did when Al Jr. beat him, not sure how being passed with 14 laps or so to go is "Almost" winning anything when you end up 4th a straightaway behind the actual winner.

If that is the timeframe you were referring to, I misunterstood you so my reply may not have made sense. Either way, Indycar/CART/IRL/Champcar/USAC/AAA existed well before Danica and it or some new evolution of it will exist well past Danica's existence in another 2 years or so. Danica was more important during her first 2+ years probably 3 of her career while the split was winding down but what was even more important? Indy. It may come a surprise to some but Indy existed before Danica and in fact will also exist well past her. If it weren't for Danica spinning and taking out 3 contenders the year she lead, she would never have been out of sequence to be in a position to lead without enough fuel. Fact is that happened and she led a few laps by circumstanes that she created...and Indy is what made her a star...not vice versa.

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Yes, all that is true, all true, and as you get older, something ten years ago, seems like last year, and just a couple of years ago, I watched men walk on the moon, live on TV, in living black and white----something many of you can not say!!!

Indy was the thing that created her and that was the race I was referencing; however, as time has passed, Indy has become far less than what it was.

As a youngster in the sixties, it was the OVERWHELMING race over everything else, including that backwoods feeder series known as F1 or LeMans, and Daytona was not even a blimp on the radar screen..... Unfortunately as to other open wheel racing, there was Waktins Glen and some USAC events that most folks pretty much ignored, but INDY WAS INDY!!!

And there was a time when the month of MAy was the RACE, and nothing else raced at Indy. Indeed, who would have ever thought stock cars, motocycles, and f1....

The final blow came with the split, and I figured whoever had Indy would be the survivor, but the split went on far too long, the magic disappearred, even from Indy.....and nascar filled the vaccum for many---and it says it all, when what i thought to be the last really talented potential superstar for either series that got himself major PR was Tony Stewart, and then he went nascar.....well....



So frankly even Indy will suffer greatly from TV viewership being down further, sponsor interest being down further, if DP blows and goes away...

and Indy better figure out a lifeline or else....it just becomes another racetrack for stock cars and motorcycles...

sad so sad, as I feel part of my heritage is being lost, year by year...

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Originally Posted by NickFalzone

I think the mistake here is believing that a "star is born" rather than the reality these days: "a star is made". Danica is a star because media companies have promoted her. Granted, she had some looks and some OK driving ability to assist in their promotions. But Danica is the most popular and recognized star in IndyCar purely because corporations for several years now have put money into promoting her image. As the rodeo-guy we have in charge now has said on several occasions, the series needs to do the same for many of the other drivers in the field. Franchitti, Briscoe, Rahal, Hunter-Reay, and many others COULD be corporate "brands" should certain companies choose them. I think Simona could as well. IZOD has already started to promote many of them, and I think we will see a new "star" or two in the series within the next year. And it will NOT be a "coincidence" or a "star is born", it will simply be a lot of corporate money thrown at one or two individuals that gets their image into public consciousness.

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Dream on, they got nothing to offer to the media wizards...no pop, and none of them appear to be ground breaking, ie, a woman winning the Indy 500---those few moments when she lead the 500, whenever that was, that did it for her.....and why sarah fisher, lyn and the rest are still in the dark.

and DP has plenty of pop, even if it means taking a shower or two with the camera on....Yeah, I could not imagine, though it might happen, Rahal doing the shower scene with Hunter Reay, vis-a-vis my signature.... :dozey:


but the IRL better find something real soon....

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Originally Posted by markabilly

Dream on, they got nothing to offer to the media wizards...no pop, and none of them appear to be ground breaking, ie, a woman winning the Indy 500---those few moments when she lead the 500, whenever that was, that did it for her.....and why sarah fisher, lyn and the rest are still in the dark.

and DP has plenty of pop, even if it means taking a shower or two with the camera on....Yeah, I could not imagine, though it might happen, Rahal doing the shower scene with Hunter Reay, vis-a-vis my signature.... :dozey:


but the IRL better find something real soon....

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NASCAR does it. IndyCar can do it. It's all about $$ and corporations spending it to promote these individuals. If Tony Stewart was in IndyCar now, he'd be just about as well known as Dario, Briscoe, or Hunter-Reay. But he's in NASCAR, and on the regular is seen on your TV selling Old Spice, previously Home Depot, etc. His "story" as a person does not matter one bit. NASCAR has at least 10-15 drivers right now that are as well promoted and in the public-consciousness as much as Danica. It's real easy to have that when large corporations put you in their ads on a regular basis.

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Originally Posted by markabilly

Dream on, they got nothing to offer to the media wizards...no pop, and none of them appear to be ground breaking, ie, a woman winning the Indy 500---those few moments when she lead the 500, whenever that was, that did it for her.....and why sarah fisher, lyn and the rest are still in the dark.

and DP has plenty of pop, even if it means taking a shower or two with the camera on....Yeah, I could not imagine, though it might happen, Rahal doing the shower scene with Hunter Reay, vis-a-vis my signature.... :dozey:


but the IRL better find something real soon....

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I get it! You are the guy in the pimpdaddy ad watching Danica take a shower!

Perhaps the problem is that other racing personalities have nothing to offer to you? You do seem easily impressed.

If you follow any of the press lately, Sarah Fisher for one has had a tremendous amount of positive press about her role as a driver /owner. Much of that has been in traditional media, not racing media. It has been widely reported that Simona had more media interest at Long Beach than the Danica! brand. But they may be marketing to a different demographic than yours so you didn't notice - no shower scenes and they had all of their clothes on.

The problem with "one hit wonders" is that they can create a lot of "pop" for a short time, but that bubble can burst very quickly if they can't follow that success up with similar repeat performances. Danica has always shown promise but that promise has never translated into the level of success on track suggested by her hype.

The only thing "groundbreaking" about Danica is that she never promoted herself as "just a driver". She played the sex card (often) to get ahead and still plays that card to maintain her celebrity. To some old time fans, she has made a mockery of the idea that drivers become heroes from racing success, not from activities unrelated to racing. She is a sideshow, not the main event.

Danica promotes the Danica brand, not the IRL. As soon as she ran one or two Nationwide races, some media was already calling her "NASCAR driver and former open wheel driver Danica Patrick". This whole stock car experiment may really backfire on any positive "pop" she has created for the IRL if she continues to be dismal in the cars. It would just be another affirmation for those NASCAR fans who think the IRL doesn't have quality drivers when the driver who was 5th place points can't take one of the best cars on the track and drive it fast enough to qualify on speed, or even keep it on the lead lap. They will remember that Kelly Bires did better on the same team and he got fired. The NASCAR forums are already buzzing with that topic. Her continued poor performance will be very negative press for the IRL. The only "pop" is the sound of the bubble bursting.

I am not surprised to see IZOD and the IRL working hard to promote drivers other that the "brand". They represent the true heart of open wheel, and promote the series, not themselves. I really don't think the image of the Danica! brand is either good for the IRL or effective for the IRL.. The brand is good for Danica, but she doesn't promote the IRL. When she is gone, she will be another interesting footnote about marketing novelty acts.

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Originally Posted by beachbum

I get it! You are the guy in the pimpdaddy ad watching Danica take a shower!

To some old time fans, she has made a mockery of the idea that drivers become heroes from racing success, not from activities unrelated to racing. She is a sideshow, not the main event.

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Yes, I love my orange pimpdaddy suit, :up:

and if Sarah and any of the rest want to jump in shower, I will get my camera rolling :s mokin:

and yes, that would be me, an old time fan.....years before you were born.....the Sixties if you had bothered to read all my posts...... when the Indy cars still sounded like real screaming race cars, with real superstars like Gurney, Clark, Andretti (no NOT that one, the original), Foyt, Ruby (bet u never heard of him), Jones, Donohue, Rutherford and many others drove Indy, even as late as when Mansell drove Indy

Danica did not make a "mockery"; Indy, champ car and the IRL did that to themselves

and if you could detect what I really think, you would know that I do not think she should even be part of the sideshow....but she has become the main event, and to repeat, indy and the irl did that to themselves


:vader:

Markabilly, I would only make Danica part of the main event if SHE was part of the main event by winning. Promoting a driver who isn't there purely based on their results is unhealthy for the series. Selling the sizzle as opposed to the steak. What meat there is on the Danica story is pretty tough. She isn't up front week after week on speed. She finished 5th in points last year but no one is fooled. She got there by avoiding everyone while people like Tony Kanaan crashed or blew up trying to WIN and mixing it up.

Good racing, drivers who show their charisma behind the wheel are the ones you promote. Not the side show.

Danica goes to NASCAR, I suspect within a year the IRL will be probably be better off. NASCAR fans already think the IRL is a waste of time, and Danica will add to that I agree, but in the end, intelligent fans of racing will figure out in time that the IRL is just a different world, and you don't jump from one to the other and expect success. Given enough time, the jump can be made, but people in NASCAR are just so hung up on what they think racing should be, nothing rational or logical will change it. The average NASCAR fan doesn't care about the IRL and never did. Those who USED to watch the IRL should know better, and if the IRL gets better, will get those fans back. It is possible to watch and be a fan of both series. I do it all the time...

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Originally Posted by Mark in Oshawa

Markabilly, I would only make Danica part of the main event if SHE was part of the main event by winning. Promoting a driver who isn't there purely based on their results is unhealthy for the series. ...

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She ain't winning and her talent does not even qualify as a side show....unfortunately, she is and has been the IRL main event for far too long and now it is worse than merely being unhealthy for the series, but nobody to blame except the IRL and Indy

(and thos sorry reporters but u know what i think about reporters :down: )

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Originally Posted by markabilly

She ain't winning and her talent does not even qualify as a side show....unfortunately, she is and has been the IRL main event for far too long and now it is worse than merely being unhealthy for the series, but nobody to blame except the IRL and Indy

(and thos sorry reporters but u know what i think about reporters :down: )

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I blame ABC/ESPN really...

Danica got near the lead through clever fuel strategy when she was racing for Rahal at the Indy 500 and people got this sudden brain wave she was good at this racing thing.

The IRL has done nothing to stop the silliness but really, it is ABC/ESPN feeding this to the public. The reality is, their ratings have sucked downward in this period. I think a case might be made she has actually HURT ratings and the attention span of the North American racing fan...

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Originally Posted by markabilly

...an old time fan.....years before you were born.....the Sixties if you had bothered to read all my posts......

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I saw my first Indy car race at Langhorne - when it was dirt. I listened on the radio to Jack Brabham at Indy. I remember my grandfather complaining he didn't think he would go to Daytona if they weren't going to race on the beach anymore. The new track was going to ruin racing when it was opened. I could have gone to one of the Stones first US concerts but since nobody knew who they were, the free tickets weren't enough to get me to go. (I heard from my buddies it was a great concert)

I am of a generation that can "proudly" state - if you remember the 60's, you weren't there. So keep your age insults to yourself.

Incidentally, I met Mark Donohue at an SAE meeting -when I was in college. A very nice down to earth guy who talked racing until they turned the lights out on us. And I do know who Lloyd Ruby is, and Eddie Sachs, Vuky, Sam Hanks, Roger Ward, Johnny Thomson, Don Branson, Hurtubise .......... remember them?

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Originally Posted by beachbum

I am of a generation that can "proudly" state - if you remember the 60's, you weren't there. So keep your age insults to yourself.
....................
remember them?

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well godurnit, you are an old fart. Must be older than drifter and that is ancient.

The ones who do remember the sixties, like me, is cause I weren't old enough to engage in stuff that erroded the memory...... but things do get sort of blurry about 69 when I owned the road...until i took a little trip in the very early 70's 'in country" .......

Vuky was a couple of years before I became aware.

But you got to admit, it is sad to see the heritage drug down like it has the last few years, ain't it?

esp when self-inflicted