The rumours have been rumbling and swirling for months now, perhaps ever since the topic of Silly Season in the IRL IndyCar Series began. It's no secret that Danica's IRL team, Andretti Green Racing (AGR) have had a poor season. Neither Danica nor Tony Kaanan, Hideki Mutoh or Marco Andretti have scored a win this year, with two rounds to go. Danica is the best performed of the AGR drivers, standing 5th in the points.
Cue the rumours. First Danica was definitely gone to NASCAR - to the Sprint Cup Series and the mythical third car to be sponsored by GoDaddy.com and run out of the Stewart-Haas Racing stables. Then she was signing to Chip Ganassi, whose Target-sponsored team would run a third car in the IRL for her, as well as putting her in a position to run selected Camping World Truck Series, Nationwide Series and Sprint Cup Series events for Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing.
Then, hot on the heels of Michael Andretti announcing that partners Kim Green and Kevin Savoree (his two partners in AGR) would be moving exclusively to the promotional arm of the operation - the wildly imaginative Andretti Green Promotions - leaving Andretti to carry on the day-to-day operations of the race team alone, Michael announced that he was very hopeful of re-signing Danica and her sponsors, Boost Mobile, Motorola and GoDaddy.com. A one year deal, if the reports were to be believed.
Now Ed Hinton of ESPN.com has broken a story saying that Danica's mentor and big brother, two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion (and former IRL driver) Tony Stewart is putting together a special schedule of Camping World Truck Series and Nationwide Series races to go around her full IndyCar Series schedule. It is looking more and more likely that Kevin Harvick Incorporated, through owner (and Kevin's wife) DeLana Harvick will be providing the equipment. It is a good fit, given that KHI have front-running Truck and Nationwide programs currently. It's good stuff to learn in!
If this is true - and it's a BIG if at this point - it is definitely a watershed moment for both Danica Patrick and the NASCAR community. Gone are the days when this sport was run only on southern tracks and populated by drivers from the south. NASCAR's so-called 'Drive for Diversity' is about to hit big. There is already a Colombian, Juan Pablo Montoya; an Australia, Marcos Ambrose and a handful of Canadians who come and go, particularly for the road race events at Watkins Glen, Montreal and Sonoma. Now, in the best show of diversity yet, there will be a female with real talent. This isn't a publicity stunt and it's clear that Danica is heading there to win. She's proven as much by aligning herself with Tony Stewart. If anyone knows about the transition from the Indy Racing League to NASCAR, it's Smoke.
The big question remains: can Danica win? Can she be successful? It will take a lot of time and concentration, but I believe it's possible. She's obviously taken note of guys like Dario Franchitti who returned to the IndyCar circuit this year after an ill-fated foray into stock car racing. You can't jump straight into the Sprint Cup Series and hope to have success. The series is too strong for that. There needs to be gradual progression. This is what Danica has chosen to do. Whoever is advising her has done a good job and definitely earned their money.
Furthermore, Danica will need to learn to deal with the NASCAR media. Danica is sometimes churlish and uncooperative with the IndyCar Series media, and she will not be well-received if she continues this sort of thing in NASCAR. She needs to make an immediate impression, and also needs to get used to the publicity and the hype that surrounds NASCAR. If she thinks the Indy 500 is big in terms of press exposure and sponsor committment, she'll need to get used to that sort of attention for 37 race weekends every year. Each NASCAR race, no matter whether at Dover, Delaware or Homestead, Miami, attracts that sort of rabid fascination, press coverage and sponsor interest. It will be very interesting to see how she handles this.
If/when this move is officially announced, we'll hear plenty more, but I think it's a good step in the right direction for putting NASCAR out there even more. It will do the opposite for the IRL, who face losing their most recognisable and marketable face somewhere in the near future. The IndyCar-to-NASCAR transition be better if Danica is successful. It's one thing to be a media darling and bring exposure to the series, but it's something completely different to be successful.
It's a tough road to stock car success, but Danica Patrick seems willing to at least start with baby steps. And that can only be a good thing!
Showing posts with label IRL. Show all posts
Showing posts with label IRL. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Trouble in NASCAR land?
I was watching Around the Horn on ESPN last night, where they debated this very topic.
Trouble in NASCAR land? Perhaps, at least it seems like there might be problems. Car counts are about the same this year – there’s always 43 cars – but it seems like the competitive cars are getting less and less. In previous years, you had your token backmarkers who would be two laps down by halfway, if they weren’t in the garage already, but this year there seems to be a consistent set of Start & Park cars who're often qualifying knowing they'll only race a handful of laps...and, in the process, keeping out fully-funded teams who suffer misfortune during practice and/or qualifying.
FOX’s portion of the Sprint Cup Series (the Daytona 500 through the the Autism Speaks 400 at Dover) were down a whopping 13%. That would surely be making alarm bells ring in Daytona Beach. There’s no doubt about that. TNT’s ratings held steady, maybe because of the pleasant absence of Bill Weber. ESPN’s numbers are going to tank this season, so long as the boring Jerry Punch remains in the play-by-play slot. Of course, the racing product – which hadn’t been very good this season – doesn't help matters one little bit.
As sure as Dale Jr. can get to the front at Daytona, Mike Helton and the France Family are worrying. And with good reason. This sport is less healthy now than it’s been since the boom of the late 1990’s. They can pass off poor track attendance to the Global Financial Crisis. It’s a fair enough excuse, because a weekend at the track isn't just the tickets for the race themselves, it’s accommodation, food, other entertainment and transport to and from the track.
So, naturally, with attendance down, you’d expect more people to be watching on TV. Right? WRONG! Ratings are down – and you can't blame that on the GFC. You can, however, blame it on the poor racing that we’ve seen this year. The May race at Dover is a perfect example. Jimmie Johnson led more than 250 laps – that’s almost half of the 400 lap distance – and it was, for the most part, a snoozer I could’ve done without watching. It’s happened too often this season. Kurt Busch led something like 70% of all laps at Atlanta back in March. Jimmie Johnson led 250 of 400 at Dover. It’s boring, mind-numbing stuff.
Let’s face it, the sport is in a rut. The COT, while lowering costs, has not produced the most inspired racing. The cars aren't conducive to passing, so we’ve seen a lot of follow-the-leader racing. I can get that in a Formula One race. The best race of the year, in my opinion, was the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega. The problem is that no one seems to like restrictor plate races – except for yours truly.
On top of the poor racing, you factor in that the sport’s most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt Junior – love or hate the guy, he’s the most recognisable and popular face in NASCAR, roughly by the length of the back stretch at ‘Dega – hasn’t had a righteous win in the Sprint Cup in a long while. I don’t count the lucky fuel mileage win at Michigan last season. If that’s not bad enough, he’s driving for Hendrick Motorsports, the team that fields Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon – AKA the two biggest whiners and whingers in NASCAR – and the team that everyone loves to hate. How does that work? The sport’s most popular driver with the sport’s least popular team.
On the flip side, you have the IndyCar Series. With the reunification of the Indy Racing League and Champ Car World Series, the stars are all in the one series and, despite ugly cars, the racing is pretty good. There’s been some entertaining stuff going on, especially on the ovals, but the street course races have been exciting, too. They have Danica Patrick making headlines for consistently running up at the pointy end – she’s only one of a number of drivers who’ve taken a big step forward during the 2009 season – and Helio Castroneves put the IRL on the map this past May with his fairytale win at the Indianapolis 500.
There was another exciting race this Sunday just gone, at Kentucky Speedway where Australia’s Ryan Briscoe beat American Ed Carpenter by some less than a nose cone. They were side-by-side at 200mph for ten laps. It was breathtaking stuff. Attendance was good at Kentucky. It’s been good all season, and TV ratings have been rising steadily.
Don’t forget, there was a time, in the mid-to-late 1990’s where the IndyCars, known then as the CART FedEx Championship Series, was the most popular form of auto racing in America, where massive crowds packed out places as diverse as Michigan International Speedway and Road America to watch the races. Then the split happened, and OW was fractured. Now it’s back together in one piece and with NASCAR’s obvious troubles, maybe the tables are turning.
Only time will tell.
One thing’s for sure, though – Sprint Cup has mostly been boring this year. Something needs to be done. Double file restarts helped make yawner races like Loudon and Michigan a little more exciting, but still there’s plenty of room for improvement. The IRL recognised they had a problem with passing during their oval races and mandated some new aero parts to promote overtaking. If the people in Indianapolis can do it, why can't NASCAR take similar steps?
Trouble in NASCAR land? Perhaps, at least it seems like there might be problems. Car counts are about the same this year – there’s always 43 cars – but it seems like the competitive cars are getting less and less. In previous years, you had your token backmarkers who would be two laps down by halfway, if they weren’t in the garage already, but this year there seems to be a consistent set of Start & Park cars who're often qualifying knowing they'll only race a handful of laps...and, in the process, keeping out fully-funded teams who suffer misfortune during practice and/or qualifying.
FOX’s portion of the Sprint Cup Series (the Daytona 500 through the the Autism Speaks 400 at Dover) were down a whopping 13%. That would surely be making alarm bells ring in Daytona Beach. There’s no doubt about that. TNT’s ratings held steady, maybe because of the pleasant absence of Bill Weber. ESPN’s numbers are going to tank this season, so long as the boring Jerry Punch remains in the play-by-play slot. Of course, the racing product – which hadn’t been very good this season – doesn't help matters one little bit.
As sure as Dale Jr. can get to the front at Daytona, Mike Helton and the France Family are worrying. And with good reason. This sport is less healthy now than it’s been since the boom of the late 1990’s. They can pass off poor track attendance to the Global Financial Crisis. It’s a fair enough excuse, because a weekend at the track isn't just the tickets for the race themselves, it’s accommodation, food, other entertainment and transport to and from the track.
So, naturally, with attendance down, you’d expect more people to be watching on TV. Right? WRONG! Ratings are down – and you can't blame that on the GFC. You can, however, blame it on the poor racing that we’ve seen this year. The May race at Dover is a perfect example. Jimmie Johnson led more than 250 laps – that’s almost half of the 400 lap distance – and it was, for the most part, a snoozer I could’ve done without watching. It’s happened too often this season. Kurt Busch led something like 70% of all laps at Atlanta back in March. Jimmie Johnson led 250 of 400 at Dover. It’s boring, mind-numbing stuff.
Let’s face it, the sport is in a rut. The COT, while lowering costs, has not produced the most inspired racing. The cars aren't conducive to passing, so we’ve seen a lot of follow-the-leader racing. I can get that in a Formula One race. The best race of the year, in my opinion, was the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega. The problem is that no one seems to like restrictor plate races – except for yours truly.
On top of the poor racing, you factor in that the sport’s most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt Junior – love or hate the guy, he’s the most recognisable and popular face in NASCAR, roughly by the length of the back stretch at ‘Dega – hasn’t had a righteous win in the Sprint Cup in a long while. I don’t count the lucky fuel mileage win at Michigan last season. If that’s not bad enough, he’s driving for Hendrick Motorsports, the team that fields Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon – AKA the two biggest whiners and whingers in NASCAR – and the team that everyone loves to hate. How does that work? The sport’s most popular driver with the sport’s least popular team.
On the flip side, you have the IndyCar Series. With the reunification of the Indy Racing League and Champ Car World Series, the stars are all in the one series and, despite ugly cars, the racing is pretty good. There’s been some entertaining stuff going on, especially on the ovals, but the street course races have been exciting, too. They have Danica Patrick making headlines for consistently running up at the pointy end – she’s only one of a number of drivers who’ve taken a big step forward during the 2009 season – and Helio Castroneves put the IRL on the map this past May with his fairytale win at the Indianapolis 500.
There was another exciting race this Sunday just gone, at Kentucky Speedway where Australia’s Ryan Briscoe beat American Ed Carpenter by some less than a nose cone. They were side-by-side at 200mph for ten laps. It was breathtaking stuff. Attendance was good at Kentucky. It’s been good all season, and TV ratings have been rising steadily.
Don’t forget, there was a time, in the mid-to-late 1990’s where the IndyCars, known then as the CART FedEx Championship Series, was the most popular form of auto racing in America, where massive crowds packed out places as diverse as Michigan International Speedway and Road America to watch the races. Then the split happened, and OW was fractured. Now it’s back together in one piece and with NASCAR’s obvious troubles, maybe the tables are turning.
Only time will tell.
One thing’s for sure, though – Sprint Cup has mostly been boring this year. Something needs to be done. Double file restarts helped make yawner races like Loudon and Michigan a little more exciting, but still there’s plenty of room for improvement. The IRL recognised they had a problem with passing during their oval races and mandated some new aero parts to promote overtaking. If the people in Indianapolis can do it, why can't NASCAR take similar steps?
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