February 27, 2010
By Brenda Benedict
Danica Patrick has taken NASCAR by storm in ways that even the most seasoned NASCAR watchers were not expecting. Patrick is impacting a sport that has traditionally been a male's world. She appears to breaking the glass grandstand that has been present in auto racing.
"Breaking the glass grandstand" is what Sports Illustrated writer Frank Deford termed the lack of support given to women sports. Deford was speaking about women's team sports and the apparent hesitancy of the public to get enthused about following them.
I believe there also has been a glass grandstand in motorsports as well. And Patrick seems to be breaking it in a very quick manner.
It isn't necessarily her performance on the track. She is definitely in a learning mode while racing in the Nationwide Series. After finishing 35th at Daytona, she returned to the track last Saturday where she finished three laps down in 31st place after being penalized twice for pit road speeding.
This Saturday Patrick will appear in the Nationwide Race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. She will then return to IndyCar Series for the next four months before she re-enters the Nationwide Series on June 26 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Patrick's performance has been remarkable in that she seems to be attempting to learn. In comparison to other IRL drivers who made the crossover to NASCAR, Patrick is looking good. Juan Pablo Montoya and Sam Hornish Jr. both enjoyed more success in the IRL than Danica did, yet she finished better in her first race at California than either of them. Montoya and Hornish both finished 34th or worse in their first attempts at California.
The impact is coming in television ratings, merchandise and ticket sales. Listen to the latest statistics.
Television ratings: The ratings for the Nationwide race at Daytona and California both showed double-digit increases over the same races for last year. Daytona's race set a record for a Nationwide Series race on cable.
Merchandise sales: Despite the fact that Danica is a part-time Nationwide driver, she is in the top-five for merchandise trailer sales. That puts her right up there with Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart.
Ticket Sales: Daytona president Robin Braig estimated Patrick accounted for at least a 10 percent increase in ticket sales for the earlier race there. The same trend held true for the race at California Speedway. The 36,000 who attended this year's race more than doubled last year's crowd of 15,000.
Marketing experts are saying that Patrick's popularity is not limited to support by females. The statistics are showing that support is fairly equal between males and females and young and old NASCAR fans.
Patrick's popularity can only be good for our sport. Patrick is standing on the shoulders on those women who have gone before her in auto motorsports. Drivers such as Janet Guthrie, Shirley Muldowney and many more. But Patrick has jumped from those shoulders and crashed through this glass grandstand.
I am very glad to hear the grandstand shattering for NASCAR. Thanks Danica Patrick.
You can follow me at Twitter @nascarfaithful
The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.
