NASCAR is back, and I couldn't be happier. I've been looking forward to this year's season after the exciting finish to last year's. I watched the beginning of Speed Weeks by watching the Coors Shootout two weeks ago. The race itself was fantastic, perhaps the best Shootout I've ever watched. However, there was one thing that almost ruined it for me. Danica Mania. I knew that Danica Mania was going to hit NASCAR this season with her jumping to the Sprint Cup Series, but I wasn't expecting it to be this bad. Danica Patrick was not even competing in the Shootout, but she was still the hot topic for the night. FOX even brought her into the broadcast booth to commentate half the race!
I was beginning to get annoyed that she was the constant talk of the night. Then Darrell Waltrip brought up an interesting point about how Danica would be the first women since Shawna Robinson in 2002 to compete in the Daytona 500. That made me think...why wasn't Shawn Robinson a big deal when she was competing in the Winston Cup Series? I remember watching that 2002 Daytona 500, and Shawna Robinson's name was rarely brought up during the race, if ever. Then I recalled other female drivers that have competed in NASCAR. Shawna Robinson, Patty Moise, Erin Crocker, Tammy Jo Kirk, and Jennifer Jo Cobb, just to name a few, all competed in either the Grand National or the Cup Series, but none of them get nearly as much attention as Danica Patrick. Danica first started racing in the IRL, and she completely overshadowed fellow female driver Sarah Fisher. Danica has never won a points race in any level of professional racing. One could argue that her performance in the IRL was on par with Sarah Fisher, who is unknown to the general public. Her performance in the NASCAR Nationwide series has been below average with a career average finish of 28th. It is obvious it is not her on-track results that are making her so popular. So what is it?
In my opinion, the whole Danica Mania is all about how she is this attractive female figure who is seen on television by millions with her provogative GoDaddy.com commercials and other endorsements. Is it right for her to have received more attention being a female driver than the other female drivers mentioned above? No, but Danica is proving to be more of an endorser than a racer. Nascar might feel like this is giving them great exposer for the sport and if Danica begins to consistently place high and even win races the Danica Mania will be even hyped. She seems respected by her opposing drivers and she never does anything that will cause a controversy, besides the "honey badger" comment she made during an interview a month ago.
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ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to see how much Danica is talked about in NASCAR. I do not follow NASCAR but in the sports news they always talk about how she is a women because any type of car racing is usually dominated by males. She also does numerous endorsements to get her name out there. As you stated her performance is below average. So much attention is not given to below average males. I think in any sport the focus should be on skill and results. Yes there will always be side stories to keep it interesting but what someone does off the playing surface is not as important as what they do on. Trevor talks about how it is annoying she is the constant talk of the night. Why not talk about those in the lead more?
ReplyDeleteCourtney Cox
Trevor brings up some really good points in this post and I was actually surprised by a few. I can honestly say I have never watched any NASCAR race, yet I have heard of Danica Patrick, but not any other female. If Danica's performance is below average, how is she getting all of this news media coverage and endorsement deals? I think this shows that NASCAR is more concerned about showing Danica's image, rather than her career. While I think it is wrong that they are not showing more of the drivers with better scores and times, if NASCAR is making more money by the way they are showing Danica Patrick off, then they might as well stick with it. NASCAR already doesn't get as much coverage as sports such as the NBA, NFL, or MLB, so they have to do what's in their power to get more fans.
ReplyDeleteHeather Cox
I agree with Dane, like most other big name athletes such as Michael Jordan they not only are associated with their particular sports but in commercials, advertisements, and endorsements. Of course it isn’t fair to the other female drivers before her or even those better than her. But Danica has really played a big role in promoting the NASCAR name and deserves recognition for that. Like Courtney I also do not follow NASCAR or am a fan for that matter, but I do recognize Danica because she is often a person if interest in the sport. I would’ve never even known that her performance was below average if Trevor wouldn’t have stated it. The fact that she gets recognized for being a popular below average driver is simply because she is female. No below average male would be getting all the attention she has gotten.
ReplyDelete-Alyssa Robinson
There is one other female athlete to whom Danica has been compared, partly because their below-average performances are similar - i.e., Anna Kournikova. Unfortunately, Kournikova's image and name have come to represent the notion that "image is everything, and performance doesn't really matter (as long as you're hot)!"
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