Danica Patrick takes historic pole position for Daytona 500

[ABQCOWBOY]

That's a 3 year old story.

Is it your opinion that the story has changed?

It hasn't, unless of course, you acknowledge change as ratings that have continued to drop.

A more recent link.

http://aol.sportingnews.com/nascar/...ngs-decline-fox-espn-tnt-daytona-500-olympics


Here is a link to the latest I could find. Interesting what it shows.

http://www.jayski.com/news/pages/story/_/page/NASCAR-Televison-Ratings-2013

 

[Jammer]

Is it your opinion that the story has changed?

It hasn't, unless of course, you acknowledge change as ratings that have continued to drop.

A more recent link.

http://aol.sportingnews.com/nascar/...ngs-decline-fox-espn-tnt-daytona-500-olympics


Here is a link to the latest I could find. Interesting what it shows.

http://www.jayski.com/news/pages/story/_/page/NASCAR-Televison-Ratings-2013

I don't have an opinion on the ratings of NASCAR. I don't watch it and I never have. I am enjoying this thread, for whatever reason. I clicked on the link (I was bored at work) and the article explained the Las Vegas race had its lowest ratings and one of the reasons was because it was going against the Olympic gold medal game in hockey. That's when I noticed the dateline on the article was Feb 2010.

Hardcore NASCAR fans are saying the racing is boring and I wanted to read up on it. It's like if a soccer fan told me their sport was starting to get boring I would want to know why they would think that way because I've always felt that way. If real fans of NASCAR are talking that way then imagine what the rest of us think.

EDIT: I just checked out the second link you posted. That article says the NASCAR ratings are up this year, and some races the increase is impressive.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

I don't have an opinion on the ratings of NASCAR. I don't watch it and I never have. I am enjoying this thread, for whatever reason. I clicked on the link (I was bored at work) and the article explained the Las Vegas race had its lowest ratings and one of the reasons was because it was going against the Olympic gold medal game in hockey. That's when I noticed the dateline on the article was Feb 2010.

Hardcore NASCAR fans are saying the racing is boring and I wanted to read up on it. It's like if a soccer fan told me their sport was starting to get boring I would want to know why they would think that way because I've always felt that way. If real fans of NASCAR are talking that way then imagine what the rest of us think.

EDIT: I just checked out the second link you posted. That article says the NASCAR ratings are up this year, and some races the increase is impressive.

It actually says that some races are down and some are up but the point I wanted to try and follow, with this last link, is to try and correlate those ratings to Patrick and her performances in the races that enjoyed better ratings. I do believe that Patrick is drawing ratings. How long, I don't know, but as of right now, I think people are interested in what she's doing on the track.

 

[Jammer]

It actually says that some races are down and some are up but the point I wanted to try and follow, with this last link, is to try and correlate those ratings to Patrick and her performances in the races that enjoyed better ratings. I do believe that Patrick is drawing ratings. How long, I don't know, but as of right now, I think people are interested in what she's doing on the track.

Fair enough, and to be honest, she is the main reason I watched the Daytona 500 and why I have watched the other races somewhat. The TV has been in the background, but before this year the races didn't even get that honored spot.

 

[jimmy40]

They need F1 to not be shown on US Television. I can't even watch 5 seconds of NASCAR anymore knowing that NBC is showing every F1 race.

Now they also have the F1 race in Austin. I can't wait to go to that someday.

what's so great about F1? Hasn't it been about 20 years since someone starting outside the top 3 has won a race?

 

[Keifer]

what's so great about F1? Hasn't it been about 20 years since someone starting outside the top 3 has won a race?

Nope, about three days. Raikkonen won from 7th position in Australia last weekend.

I think the main draw for F1 is the cutting edge technology thats put into the cars while Nascar has kinda relied on the beating and banging and the wrecks to draw fans. The problem is the cars have advanced so much and crews are so good at setting them up that there is not near as much wrecking as there used to be.

My opinion is Nascar needs go to a smaller tire and make the cars hard to drive again otherwise you are just going to have more and more single file parades and less and less people in the stands.

 

[Risen Star]

The ratings are up a little compared to last year so far. It'll be up to how good this Gen-6 car is in race trim. It was designed to provide better racing and it's still way too soon to know if it will or not. These teams are just starting to build a notebook on it.

 

[Risen Star]

what's so great about F1? Hasn't it been about 20 years since someone starting outside the top 3 has won a race?

Nascar ratings may be down but it will dwarf anything F1 ever puts up in this country. Nobody cares.

 

[jimmy40]

Nope, about three days. Raikkonen won from 7th position in Australia last weekend.

I think the main draw for F1 is the cutting edge technology thats put into the cars while Nascar has kinda relied on the beating and banging and the wrecks to draw fans. The problem is the cars have advanced so much and crews are so good at setting them up that there is not near as much wrecking as there used to be.

My opinion is Nascar needs go to a smaller tire and make the cars hard to drive again otherwise you are just going to have more and more single file parades and less and less people in the stands.

that's the strange thing F1is nothing but single file parades and their fans are OK with that.

 

[RastaRocket]

Nope, about three days. Raikkonen won from 7th position in Australia last weekend.

I think the main draw for F1 is the cutting edge technology thats put into the cars while Nascar has kinda relied on the beating and banging and the wrecks to draw fans. The problem is the cars have advanced so much and crews are so good at setting them up that there is not near as much wrecking as there used to be.

My opinion is Nascar needs go to a smaller tire and make the cars hard to drive again otherwise you are just going to have more and more single file parades and less and less people in the stands.

Ya F1 is great because of the cutting edge technology, amazing circuits, and cars that fly around corners.

 

[Keifer]

that's the strange thing F1is nothing but single file parades and their fans are OK with that.

Not really. A lot of races are won from pole position but there is usually a bunch of passing in the field. And the first turn of an F1 race is one of the most exiting things in motorsports.

If you ever have a chance I would highly recommend getting to Austin and watching a Formula One race in person. Actually seeing in person how fast these cars accelerate and brake into corners is amazing and cant be seen on tv.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

The audience that F1 draws is almost a polar opposite to what NASCAR does. The comments made earlier are right on IMO. NASCAR is becoming closer to F1 or Indy then it is to Winston Cup Grand National Racing. The draw was that those cars were more similar to what you might drive every day. Now, it's completely different and the comments about keeping your car clean and not bumping and grinding are also correct. The Aerodynamics packages of these cars are so sophisticated anymore that you really can't rub and race anymore. What does that mean? It means that saving the car becomes more important then racing the car.

You can even say that drivers like Patrick are the product of decisions NASCAR has made over the recent past. I think that would be a fair statement.

 

[Keifer]

The audience that F1 draws is almost a polar opposite to what NASCAR does. The comments made earlier are right on IMO. NASCAR is becoming closer to F1 or Indy then it is to Winston Cup Grand National Racing. The draw was that those cars were more similar to what you might drive every day. Now, it's completely different and the comments about keeping your car clean and not bumping and grinding are also correct. The Aerodynamics packages of these cars are so sophisticated anymore that you really can't rub and race anymore. What does that mean? It means that saving the car becomes more important then racing the car.

You can even say that drivers like Patrick are the product of decisions NASCAR has made over the recent past. I think that would be a fair statement.

Open wheel racers in general are not programed to abuse their cars (except for maybe JPM) and Danica was pretty timid even for an indy car driver. If she is going to have any success in Nascar she is going to have to get more aggressive and really try to find the limits she can push the car to.

I have followed her since she was in Toyota Atlantics and I would really like to see her succeed but I just don't see her having the talent to be a top driver. That being said with her marketability and the equipment shes in there's no reason she cant have a long career in Nascar.

 

[Risen Star]

Open wheel racers in general are not programed to abuse their cars (except for maybe JPM) and Danica was pretty timid even for an indy car driver. If she is going to have any success in Nascar she is going to have to get more aggressive and really try to find the limits she can push the car to.

I have followed her since she was in Toyota Atlantics and I would really like to see her succeed but I just don't see her having the talent to be a top driver. That being said with her marketability and the equipment shes in there's no reason she cant have a long career in Nascar.

I think she has the talent to possibly develop into a competitive Cup driver but not with the path they've chosen. She can't just arrive in Nascar, run one unimpressive Nationwide season and decide she's ready for the Cup series.

If you're a fan of Danica, watch the plate races. Skip the rest of the season.

 

[Keifer]

I think she has the talent to possibly develop into a competitive Cup driver but not with the path they've chosen. She can't just arrive in Nascar, run one unimpressive Nationwide season and decide she's ready for the Cup series.

If you're a fan of Danica, watch the plate races. Skip the rest of the season.

Yeah maybe, I guess time will tell. It certainly seems to be working that way for Sam Hornish. Penske sent him back down to the minors and it looks like he figured something out. Wouldn't be surprised to see him back in cup in a couple years.

 

[CowboyDan]

Yeah maybe, I guess time will tell. It certainly seems to be working that way for Sam Hornish. Penske sent him back down to the minors and it looks like he figured something out. Wouldn't be surprised to see him back in cup in a couple years.

How did he do in restrictor plate races?

 

[Risen Star]

Yeah maybe, I guess time will tell. It certainly seems to be working that way for Sam Hornish. Penske sent him back down to the minors and it looks like he figured something out. Wouldn't be surprised to see him back in cup in a couple years.

I think he will. I wouldn't be surprised if it's as early as next season.

People will be quick to dismiss Danica and think she was just some no talent bimbo but I think if she drops down a series or two she could have the same success Sam's having now. At least that would give her the best chance to develop into a legitimate stock car driver.

 

[WPBCowboysFan]

People will be quick to dismiss Danica and think she was just some no talent bimbo

Maybe, but it will be based on the results.

Most people dont care if she has run ARCA or Nationwide to get experience. All they know is she is in Cup and she will be struggling most of the time. They will equate that with lack of talent.

 

[Risen Star]

Maybe, but it will be based on the results.

Most people dont care if she has run ARCA or Nationwide to get experience. All they know is she is in Cup and she will be struggling most of the time. They will equate that with lack of talent.

Right. Exactly my point.

But I would ask those people to show me an example of another open wheel driver who came over and did have success in the cup series.

To me, if she fails....and I expect her to, it might not be because she lacks talent but simply because she wasn't ready for that level of competition.

 

[WPBCowboysFan]

Right. Exactly my point.

But I would ask those people to show me an example of another open wheel driver who came over and did have success in the cup series.

To me, if she fails....and I expect her to, it might not be because she lacks talent but simply because she wasn't ready for that level of competition.

Most will look at the fact that she never won anything in the open wheel cars, and if she struggles in NASCAR they will just make the connection and it will be that she isnt talented enough to get it done.

A very small percentage will dare to consider that she might have done better if she came up another way. And even if they do consider it, they will look at her track record/results and that will override everything.

A few will give her credit for her Daytona pole and some other big moments if she has them, but the slobbering love affair will fade.

She's made a lot of money and the novelty aspect has aroused some fan interest so its been good for the sport. But in reality, its like girls in the military - they just arent physically created to do man stuff on the same level as men. Sure there are those rare exceptions on some levels, but men are men and girls are girls. So far, there is no reason to believe this will be any different.