Danica's exit could help IndyCar

[dpkimmel2001]

As Michael Andretti takes over as the promoter of the struggling Milwaukee Mile IndyCar race, he knows he won't have the mainstream appeal of Danica Patrick to help bring fans back to the track.
He insists that isn't necessarily a bad thing.
Andretti, Patrick's former car owner in IndyCar, says the series is better off in some respects without her.
"I think we're strong in our own way," said Andretti, who still is a team owner in the series. "Yeah, we lost Danica, but I'm not sure that's going to be negative. I think she brought a lot of good stuff, but she brought a lot of other things that really took away from the rest of our series. And I don't think that's healthy. And I think NASCAR's going to find that."

Full story here.

 

[blue92]

Full story here.

Just goes to what I've been thinking about Andretti that he didn't know how to turn Danica's media attention to his befit, and because she got more media coverage than he did it urked him. I'm sure he's part of the reason Danica left IndyCar in the 1st place and is also the reason she's not running in the Indy 500 this year.

 

[Clutch]

I reckon Nascar is gonna find out he's right in some ways at least

 

[VaDirt]

Can't say I like Michael (i've lost so much respect for over the last few years), but he's got it right. I mean look at this past weekend. Sure, got a lot of media coverage, but it was all Danica, all the time. So many more people and stories to give some attention to, but none of that happened.

 

[wilson89]

Can't say I like Michael (i've lost so much respect for over the last few years), but he's got it right. I mean look at this past weekend. Sure, got a lot of media coverage, but it was all Danica, all the time. So many more people and stories to give some attention to, but none of that happened.

Yeah, I felt kind of burnt out with all the constant talk about Danica this and Danica that but I knew it was gonna happen and it will continue to happen. I think I can see where Michael is coming from here, Danica was good for getting people interestead in the series but the Indycar drivers have such an indetity crisis I kind of wonder if many of the people attending the Indycar events the last few years could even name 5 drivers in the series that weren't Danica. It felt almost like the driver was bigger than the event for the most part and thats not good.

 

[Matthew2470]

Micheal just lost his top draw and has been getting dominated by Ganassi and Penske over the past few years so he's probably just bitter. And Danicamania had died down considerably over the past few years. He should just focus on giving his drivers competitive equipment.

 

[Clutch]

Micheal just lost his top draw and has been getting dominated by Ganassi and Penske over the past few years so he's probably just bitter. And Danicamania had died down considerably over the past few years. He should just focus on giving his drivers competitive equipment.

Maybe now he can.

 

[Matthew2470]

Maybe now he can.

Are you actually suggesting that Michael Andretti is so weak-minded that he couldn't focus in making his cars fast because Danica was distracting him? To blame her for his entire organization sucking the past few years is just ridiculous.

 

[AndyMarquisLive]

Can't say I like Michael (i've lost so much respect for over the last few years), but he's got it right. I mean look at this past weekend. Sure, got a lot of media coverage, but it was all Danica, all the time. So many more people and stories to give some attention to, but none of that happened.

NASCAR is worse off with Danica. For the next, at least two years, she'll be the only driver we'll hear about. Sure, there was huge ratings for ESPN's Nationwide telecast, but how many drivers who finished in the top ten actually got coverage? Hell, Danica got more coverage from the garage area than the actual winner got all race.

 

[Matthew2470]

NASCAR is worse off with Danica. For the next, at least two years, she'll be the only driver we'll hear about. Sure, there was huge ratings for ESPN's Nationwide telecast, but how many drivers who finished in the top ten actually got coverage? Hell, Danica got more coverage from the garage area than the actual winner got all race.

LOL.

 

[blue92]

NASCAR is worse off with Danica. For the next, at least two years, she'll be the only driver we'll hear about. Sure, there was huge ratings for ESPN's Nationwide telecast, but how many drivers who finished in the top ten actually got coverage? Hell, Danica got more coverage from the garage area than the actual winner got all race.

So it's Danica's fault? It's not her fault it's NA$CAR'S and ESPN's fault their the ones that are making Danica a big deal.
Andretti is full of it. He was more interested in giving his son the best equipment not spread the money around for all his drivers. Also the engineer he gave Danica was a dumb ass leaves her out on the track in 2 races with old tires and one of those races she had a chance to win the race.

 

[Dionysius]

Are you actually suggesting that Michael Andretti is so weak-minded that he couldn't focus in making his cars fast because Danica was distracting him? To blame her for his entire organization sucking the past few years is just ridiculous.

I don't think that was it. I will bet that Andretti was under pressure from Patrick's sponsors to give her the best equipment and crew 100% of the time and was scorned by said sponsors when she didn't win. Now, Andretti is going to be able to act more like a normal racing team distributing resources and talent as he sees fit among his drivers.

Of course, there will be less $$$ flowing in now that she is gone.

 

[blue92]

I don't think that was it. I will bet that Andretti was under pressure from Patrick's sponsors to give her the best equipment and crew 100% of the time and was scorned by said sponsors when she didn't win. Now, Andretti is going to be able to act more like a normal racing team distributing resources and talent as he sees fit among his drivers.

Of course, there will be less $$$ flowing in now that she is gone.

Just as suspected Andretti wasn't giving Danica the best equipment. Tonight on Windtunnel they interviewed the newest employee for Andretti racing Dave asked Jay Gurst (sp?) what did Andretti mean with what he said about IndyCar being better without Danica. He said what Andretti meant was now he could focus on his drivers that want to win championships. So I gather from that statement he wasn't committed to give Danica the best equipment or engineers to even be in contention for a championship. Now I see why Danica left IndyCar because Andretti isn't the only team owner that felt that way about Danica. How could she stay in a racing league that was never going to give her the equipment to win championships?

 

[Dionysius]

Just as suspected Andretti wasn't giving Danica the best equipment. Tonight on Windtunnel they interviewed the newest employee for Andretti racing Dave asked Jay Gurst (sp?) what did Andretti mean with what he said about IndyCar being better without Danica. He said what Andretti meant was now he could focus on his drivers that want to win championships. So I gather from that statement he wasn't committed to give Danica the best equipment or engineers to even be in contention for a championship. Now I see why Danica left IndyCar because Andretti isn't the only team owner that felt that way about Danica. How could she stay in a racing league that was never going to give her the equipment to win championships?

I doubt it. I think she left because the money is better in NA$CAR.

I didn't see that interview. Is there someplace that might have a transcript or something like it that I could read?