Danica Patrick on NASCAR schedule: 'We don't have any lives'

Between that and her stating how she wants to move toward doing more fitness and TV hosting things in the future, I'd say she's done after her current contract. She was never in it to be a real competitive driver. She's in it for the marketing and the cash flow. Which is fine, but she made her money and soon she'll move on.
 
cheesepuffs said:
Between that and her stating how she wants to move toward doing more fitness and TV hosting things in the future, I'd say she's done after her current contract. She was never in it to be a real competitive driver. She's in it for the marketing and the cash flow. Which is fine, but she made her money and soon she'll move on.
Click to expand...

Let's make his thread about Danica and how awful she is . Wasn't she done when GoDaddy left ?
 
cheesepuffs said:
Between that and her stating how she wants to move toward doing more fitness and TV hosting things in the future, I'd say she's done after her current contract. She was never in it to be a real competitive driver. She's in it for the marketing and the cash flow. Which is fine, but she made her money and soon she'll move on.
Click to expand...
I am constantly amazed by your continuous stream of declarative statements about who's going to do what, where they're going to go and in particular, the state of mind of individuals that none of us know personally.
 
I wouldn't say she's wrong, I can't find a link at the moment but I remember Jimmie saying a year or two ago if they could work on condensing the race weekends into mainly two-day shows or something he would be in favor of it. I think a few other drivers have said they'd like a slightly shorter season. I can't fault them, basically forty straight weeks is a hell of a grind and the offseason isn't that long relative to the sporting world.

That said, there are some reasons why I don't think it'll happen including NBC and FOX not wanting to give up inventory and the multi-year sanctioning agreements with the tracks.
 
I've said it before: We can easily cut 4 weeks from the season by running consecutively and moving the allstar race to the week of the 600. This has the added advantage of less time competing with the NFL and keeping fans interested rather than having no race to watch on a random weekend.
 
29-4 said:
I've said it before: We can easily cut 4 weeks from the season by running consecutively and moving the allstar race to the week of the 600. This has the added advantage of less time competing with the NFL and keeping fans interested rather than having no race to watch on a random weekend.
Click to expand...
I love NASCAR and all, but the season is way too long. To be honest I don't really miss it all that much in the offseason, because after 9 months I need the break and just over two months later there are cars back on the track. I'd be all for shaving a few weeks off of it.
 
ToyYoda said:
I love NASCAR and all, but the season is way too long. To be honest I don't really miss it all that much in the offseason, because after 9 months I need the break and just over two months later there are cars back on the track. I'd be all for shaving a few weeks off of it.
Click to expand...

The only concern I see is with preserving traditional dates. The Southern 500, for example, would become a Chase race at the expense of some other track. Other than that, I don't see any concerns. It probably used to be that finances and the need to rebuild cars was a roadblock to this idea. Now, that is no longer an impediment.
 
I'll leave the Danica speculation alone, but about the schedule she is correct. She's right that most of the drivers would be better off, and the sport itself would benefit from a compacted schedule. For a casual audience you have to create some sense of scarcity and anticipation. The NFL has it right in terms of the length of the season and such, though they may eventually overexpose themselves by expanding the schedule and having too many nights of football per week. You don't want casual fans to feel like it's always on.

I'm a race fan and so I'll always watch NASCAR when they are at a venue I like. But from an objective business standpoint, the schedule is waaaaaaaay too long. They should start the week after the Super Bowl, dispensing with the silly exhibition event that hasn't been relevant since it was called the Busch Clash. End in mid- to late-September when the NFL and college football seasons are still young. About 30 races and maybe one exhibition event across 32-33 weeks, something like that.
 
cheesepuffs said:
Between that and her stating how she wants to move toward doing more fitness and TV hosting things in the future, I'd say she's done after her current contract. She was never in it to be a real competitive driver. She's in it for the marketing and the cash flow. Which is fine, but she made her money and soon she'll move on.
Click to expand...

One thing for sure is she in not hurting for a buck and is in a position to do whatever pleases her. You may be right about her finishing up after this contract.
 
There was 36 races when she decided to go cup racing... As there was when pretty much every current driver decided to make the big bucks. Don't shorten the season, don't shorten the races, and GTFOI. The issue is all the sponsor and media obligations during the week that have become the norm.


I do like condensing race weekends to 2 days.
 
FLRacingFan said:
I wouldn't say she's wrong, I can't find a link at the moment but I remember Jimmie saying a year or two ago if they could work on condensing the race weekends into mainly two-day shows or something he would be in favor of it. I think a few other drivers have said they'd like a slightly shorter season. I can't fault them, basically forty straight weeks is a hell of a grind and the offseason isn't that long relative to the sporting world.

That said, there are some reasons why I don't think it'll happen including NBC and FOX not wanting to give up inventory and the multi-year sanctioning agreements with the tracks.
Click to expand...

I don't think it can change either unless the networks ask for changes to be made. I have said before that I think if they could do the double in the same weekend it would be beneficial for the drivers and fans attending races.
 
gnomesayin said:
I'll leave the Danica speculation alone, but about the schedule she is correct. She's right that most of the drivers would be better off, and the sport itself would benefit from a compacted schedule. For a casual audience you have to create some sense of scarcity and anticipation. The NFL has it right in terms of the length of the season and such, though they may eventually overexpose themselves by expanding the schedule and having too many nights of football per week. You don't want casual fans to feel like it's always on.

I'm a race fan and so I'll always watch NASCAR when they are at a venue I like. But from an objective business standpoint, the schedule is waaaaaaaay too long. They should start the week after the Super Bowl, dispensing with the silly exhibition event that hasn't been relevant since it was called the Busch Clash. End in mid- to late-September when the NFL and college football seasons are still young. About 30 races and maybe one exhibition event across 32-33 weeks, something like that.
Click to expand...
Yeah, when you can conceive a child during the Daytona 500 and deliver it during Homestead, the season is too long.
 
ToyYoda said:
I love NASCAR and all, but the season is way too long. To be honest I don't really miss it all that much in the offseason, because after 9 months I need the break and just over two months later there are cars back on the track. I'd be all for shaving a few weeks off of it.
Click to expand...

One thing that lets the air out of my tires is the June-July-August slate of races as with MIS and Pocono twice plus some other less than stellar tracks it can burn you out. By the time you get time you get to September football has started and for me the season doesn't culminate in a real championship so it is easy to wander away.
 
gnomesayin said:
I'll leave the Danica speculation alone, but about the schedule she is correct. She's right that most of the drivers would be better off, and the sport itself would benefit from a compacted schedule. For a casual audience you have to create some sense of scarcity and anticipation. The NFL has it right in terms of the length of the season and such, though they may eventually overexpose themselves by expanding the schedule and having too many nights of football per week. You don't want casual fans to feel like it's always on.

I'm a race fan and so I'll always watch NASCAR when they are at a venue I like. But from an objective business standpoint, the schedule is waaaaaaaay too long. They should start the week after the Super Bowl, dispensing with the silly exhibition event that hasn't been relevant since it was called the Busch Clash. End in mid- to late-September when the NFL and college football seasons are still young. About 30 races and maybe one exhibition event across 32-33 weeks, something like that.
Click to expand...

I agree as between the 3 series Nascar has a glut of product, IMO, and having too much if a good thing is not a good thing. In the case of the NFL it leaves you wanting a little bit more which I think is perfect.
 
DUN24 said:
Press 3 for Ted freaking out about a statement regarding Danica
Click to expand...

IDK what it is about these 4 words, Danica, Patrick, Bogus, Caution that make Ted's head explode but they do.
 
hm. This sort of thing scares me as she gets up there in age. I dont want her retiring. I think the sked could use some work......
 
No problem to shorten the season. First, cut off useless races such as the "All Star Race. Then offer some tracks that have 2 races to have a "Chase Race" only event. Next delete one race or track each year that has the least attendance and the worse TV rating. That should get you back to 36 races in a hurry. As far as the drivers go subtract 1/40 then 1/39 of their salary until you get down to 36 races. Same for CC etc. I'll bet the complaining soon stops.
 
If you want a dumb short season go back to Indy cars. The season is fine at its current length and I'd say it should be longer
 
DUN24 said:
There was 36 races when she decided to go cup racing... As there was when pretty much every current driver decided to make the big bucks. Don't shorten the season, don't shorten the races, and GTFOI. The issue is all the sponsor and media obligations during the week that have become the norm.


I do like condensing race weekends to 2 days.
Click to expand...
I agree, The schedule has been like this for a long time, people know what the obligations are before getting into cup. Maybe some drivers need to stay in Nationwide or trucks if they can't handle it.
 
I don't think the number of races is the problem as much as the length of the season in months. Baseball players play 162 games. NBA and NHL players play 82. Each of those sports puts more physical stress on the athlete than a NASCAR race does. 38 races isn't so many relative to other sports.
 
One of the reasons, as cited by Patrick in an article published during the time she was doing open wheel stuff, for not wanting to try NASCAR was the length of the season.

NASCAR has scheduled 36 races per season for fifteen years. It’s not as if she didn’t know it when she and Kelley Miller held the presser announcing her plans to enter NASCAR to “grow my brand.”

Enjoy your motor home, darlin'.
 
DanicaFreak said:
hm. This sort of thing scares me as she gets up there in age. I dont want her retiring. I think the sked could use some work......
Click to expand...

If she finishes up in 3 years she will be getting close to 38 which doesn't necessarily mean anything but if she is running similarly as she is today she may decide to hang it up and start the next chapter of her life while she is still young or at least young to me. At the end of 3 years she will have competed in over 250 cup races across 7 years which is a good career for someone who didn't join the series until later. Who knows if or when we will see the next woman do that?
 
Team Penske said:
No problem to shorten the season. First, cut off useless races such as the "All Star Race. Then offer some tracks that have 2 races to have a "Chase Race" only event. Next delete one race or track each year that has the least attendance and the worse TV rating. That should get you back to 36 races in a hurry. As far as the drivers go subtract 1/40 then 1/39 of their salary until you get down to 36 races. Same for CC etc. I'll bet the complaining soon stops.
Click to expand...

I think the season should begin the week after the NFL starts and stop the weekend before the NFL starts. Personally a 24 race season would be perfect but for those wanting more races then it is time to buddy up the 2 NH, MIS, Pocono, Texas, Kansas and Chicago and Dover races and maybe do a midweek or 2 as well. None of those races are ratings bonanzas and most of them have a ton of empty seats so making a weekend out of it may increase both.
 
kkfan91 said:
If you want a dumb short season go back to Indy cars. The season is fine at its current length and I'd say it should be longer
Click to expand...

There are some ways to creatively shorten the season and only lose a couple of races.
 
Skoalbandit33 said:
I think the season should begin the week after the NFL starts and stop the weekend before the NFL starts. Personally a 24 race season would be perfect but for those wanting more races then it is time to buddy up the 2 NH, MIS, Pocono, Texas, Kansas and Chicago and Dover races and maybe do a midweek or 2 as well. None of those races are ratings bonanzas and most of them have a ton of empty seats so making a weekend out of it may increase both.
Click to expand...

When you say "buddy up" do you mean run both races at the track the same weekend? That is an interesting idea, something IndyCar has done. I don't know if fans would want two 500 mile races at Texas on consecutive days however.
 
be9ak7ts16 said:
Anybody else remeber all the fuss when the schedule was upped to 29 races?
Click to expand...
I think it's gotten logistically tougher too though. In the last 29 race season, which was 1992, only 7 of those races were either west of the Mississippi or north of the Mason-Dixon: the two Pocono races, the two Michigan races, the two road courses, and the one Phoenix race. Everything else was in the southeast quadrant of the country. So now not only are they running 7 more weekends, but they're logging a lot more miles doing it.
 
29-4 said:
The only concern I see is with preserving traditional dates. The Southern 500, for example, would become a Chase race at the expense of some other track. Other than that, I don't see any concerns. It probably used to be that finances and the need to rebuild cars was a roadblock to this idea. Now, that is no longer an impediment.
Click to expand...
I've said it before; screw traditional dates. I'm not much on doing things a particular way when tradition is the only or primary factor, and it should never stand in the way of productive change. Tradition is how Grandma runs the Thanksgiving dinner, not how a multi-billion dollar business should be run.
 
29-4 said:
I don't think the number of races is the problem as much as the length of the season in months. Baseball players play 162 games. NBA and NHL players play 82. Each of those sports puts more physical stress on the athlete than a NASCAR race does. 38 races isn't so many relative to other sports.
Click to expand...
BASEBALL???

This has been a test of the Emergency Exaggeration Alert. We now return to our regularly scheduled discussion.
 
29-4 said:
When you say "buddy up" do you mean run both races at the track the same weekend? That is an interesting idea, something IndyCar has done. I don't know if fans would want two 500 mile races at Texas on consecutive days however.
Click to expand...
I think the only times IndyCar does that is for street courses, which too much trouble to do more than once a year.
 
kkfan91 said:
If you want a dumb short season go back to Indy cars. The season is fine at its current length and I'd say it should be longer
Click to expand...

36 races is more than enough.

We have to realize the men and women behind the scenes are human, have lives, families, and probably endure more fatigue than most.

Over 40 weeks on the road constantly, I love this sport, but I would not mind it getting trimmed down some. If its necessary and gives the driver, crews, engineers, and everyone else some more time to rest and be with family.

I'm all for it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom