What's the big deal about women in racing?

[FED 387]

if ya will notice there were several ladies that attempted to qualify for the 500----Now if Danica was just another pretty face in the crowd and had no attachments to Go Daddy.com but was either unsponsored or had say Wallys Fish Mkt as her primary sponsor do ya think she would be getting the coverage/exposure she is??? GoDaddy is spending a ton of money in racing and they are doing all the PR they can to not only promote Danica but if ya notice she has GoDaddy all over her uniform so even if ya do not like or care for Danica their logo is splattered all over the TV screen ---its called advertising folks---we will see how this all plays out over the course of the season but remember you're gonna see lotsa GoDaddy .com logos wether she wins or finishes last---sorta like John who???---they show him spending time withe grand kids,riding his bike ,whatever. It takes time away from the other advertisers/racers and focuses more on Castrol/Ford

[jwsamuel]

Originally Posted by FED 387

if ya will notice there were several ladies that attempted to qualify for the 500----

There were four women IN last year's 500. Danica Patrick, Ana Beatriz, Pippa Mann and Simona de Silvestro. There have only been women in drag racing for what, 50 years now?

But Patrick gets all the attention. It's not because of her sponsorship. It has more to do with her looks, her appearances in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue, etc. The GoDaddy sponsorship is because she gets so much attention.

Jim

[Dinsdale]

She's doing something right. Apparently the third highest income for a female sports person at 12 million bucks! (Forbes magazine 2011)

[Bret Kepner]

You're comparing apples to oranges, kids. Danica Patrick is an INDUSTRY. She has been groomed to be Danica Patrick since she started racing and has always had the marketing staff to make it happen. Her exposure is not an accident.

[Jim Kaekel]

It's all about the money, particularly with the pro racers. If truth be told, most of today's pro racers could care less about the actual racing. They are more concerned about being in the spotlight...and be sure and show their "good side". Look at Force's daughters...they would rather be at a shopping mall than racing. Would Danica Patrick or Courtney Force still be driving if it was mandatory that they had to do some actual WORK on the car?

[cicero819]

I think that the day of Hot Rod guys like Carrol Shelby, Don Garlits, Lee Petty to go from wrench to driver are long gone. Sponsorship is all about money not driving skills but you cannot take away the heart and drive it takes to make it to the top that Danica Patrick has shown. Like Bret said, she is becoming Nascar, I love it, now my better half will have someone else to cheer than Junior who by the way hasn't shown much to show for his popularity, except to have had a father born before him. Funny cars are just a Rockets with a clown driving it, remember the space race when Chimpanzee were strapped to a V2 rocket, well that's what racing in the pro camp have come to. CR

[chris3racing]

Okay, let me see if I can do this without upsetting someone. Bret you are correct, racing nowdays is about promoting and she came up through open wheel into the position of chief spokesperson for Go Daddy. Now she is the top of all media representing NASCAR.

Now Force. Within the last year I have seen write-ups about Force which have stated that Force is the "face of NHRA drag racing, including in National Dragster. His daughters are not new faces around dragstrips around the country. I personally think Ashley has correctly set her priorities. If you have every talked with Courtney you will realize this girl is a drag racer and will beat you if you slip up.

Bret there was no internet back then, but does this ring of comments around Englishtown and other tracks when a girl named Shirley got into a fuel dragster.