2015 NASCAR Thread - And then there was 1

  • Thread starter Jahgee
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Dotini
Is Danica a Hall of Fame driver? Not yet, but she's set the record for female drivers, and she's an important commercial asset to NASCAR.
http://www.nascar.com/en_us/news-me...cord-female-drivers-janet-guthrie-top-10.html

"Does she fill more seats than Casey Mears?" is the question you should be asking. Hint, hint.
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That's part of the problem though. Fans are becoming more interested in the personalities (because that's what the media pushes) instead of the actual driving (because the casual fan doesn't know what the hell they're actually looking at), and the racing will end up suffering because of it.

Maybe I'm just being nostalgic, but it seemed like back in the day, racecar drivers were drivers first, personalities/celebrities second. At some point, some marketing genius figured out the opposite was more profitable.

I'm not trying to dump all of the blame on Danica. She just happens to be a very visible face that represent a trend that has been happening across many forms of motorsport.

I will conceid that because she is who she is, many people are either more harsh or quicker to judge. She is on a clock as far as starting to produce results though.

Still, why people think anyone can come from a background other than grass roots stock car or dirt track racing and be successful in NASCAR is a little baffling to me.
 
RACECAR
While we're at it, Why the hell is Courtney Force, a winning Female racing driver, not talked about nearly as much? You seem to be under the idea that we don't like her because she's a Female driver when there's plenty examples of drivers, Male AND female, that deserve that ride more then her.
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None of the Force girls get talked about because drag racing isn't nearly as popular as NASCAR (at least TV ratings wise), and it's either you love or hate them. Then of course you got the fact that their dad (John) still drives and is far more popular than either of them today. IMO, if you want to talk about NHRA women, Erica Enders-Stevens should be the one since she won the NHRA Pro-Stock Championship last year. But you really can't even discuss them (or any woman in the modern era, for that matter) without mentioning Shirley Muldowney since she was the woman who proved that women can both drive and win by winning 3 NHRA Championships.
 
twitcher
That's part of the problem though. Fans are becoming more interested in the personalities (because that's what the media pushes) instead of the actual driving (because the casual fan doesn't know what the hell they're actually looking at), and the racing will end up suffering because of it.

Maybe I'm just being nostalgic, but it seemed like back in the day, racecar drivers were drivers first, personalities/celebrities second. At some point, some marketing genius figured out the opposite was more profitable.

I'm not trying to dump all of the blame on Danica. She just happens to be a very visible face that represent a trend that has been happening across many forms of motorsport.

I will conceid that because she is who she is, many people are either more harsh or quicker to judge. She is on a clock as far as starting to produce results though.

Still, why people think anyone can come from a background other than grass roots stock car or dirt track racing and be successful in NASCAR is a little baffling to me.
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I don't know, Jimmie Johnson is a good example that it is possible for someone not from the traditional Stock racing latter to succeed. This is a guy that started out in Motocross and then Off-Road Truck racing (which he can impressively still do).
 
Dotini
Is Danica a Hall of Fame driver? Not yet, but she's set the record for female drivers, and she's an important commercial asset to NASCAR.
http://www.nascar.com/en_us/news-me...cord-female-drivers-janet-guthrie-top-10.html

"Does she fill more seats than Casey Mears?" is the question you should be asking. Hint, hint.
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1. Is she filling seats? if last week was anything to go by, no. next question.

RACECAR
While we're at it, Why the hell is Courtney Force, a winning Female racing driver, not talked about nearly as much? You seem to be under the idea that we don't like her because she's a Female driver when there's plenty examples of drivers, Male AND female, that deserve that ride more then her.
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1. actually she is. She's basically a talented, better looking Danica over there. Her sponsors love her and she's been in a few magazines. (Half due to her sponsor but whatever.) And I'll even wager that if the Prelude to the Dream were still a thing, and given some oval acclimation, she would absolutely waste Danica as well. Heck the entire Force family gets about as much attention as she does. Also, whatever happens to the 10 car; I sincerely hope that Larson or Truex coming over is in the future.
 
GTPorsche
Was an irrelevant question in regards to HoF eligibility anyway.
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False.
Dotini
I respectfully disagree. She consistently finishes on the lead lap, somewhere around 20th, sometimes even in the top ten. Spectators and sponsors seem to appreciate her. She's not bad looking. What's not to like?

Will NASCAR rise or fall depending on getting out the only female driver?

I don't really think NASCAR is an organization designed to learn who is deserving or not, but to fill the stands. If she helps fill the stands, she should stay.
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What I find funny about this whole Danica thing, is that the anti-Danica side seemingly talks about her more than the pro-Danica side.

I'm also not so sure that she is taking up a seat that could be better used by a better driver as chances are there wouldn't be a 10 or 41 car without her sponsorship deals.
 
Northstar
What I find funny about this whole Danica thing, is that the anti-Danica side seemingly talks about her more than the pro-Danica side.

I'm also not so sure that she is taking up a seat that could be better used by a better driver as chances are there wouldn't be a 10 or 41 car without her sponsorship deals.
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That is a point...
 
Motorsports as a whole has been more about money and less about talent for years now. The top talents will still always be able to get rides, but a lot more of the drivers today are picked because of how much they can help the bottom lines of the teams they drive for.
 
AnthonyD1993
Motorsports as a whole has been more about money and less about talent for years now. The top talents will still always be able to get rides, but a lot more of the drivers today are picked because of how much they can help the bottom lines of the teams they drive for.
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And we can point the blame at series organizers for that. With the heads of NASCAR and just about everyone else not going anywhere for years, nostalgia will remain just that and a second wind of the glory days will continue to be out of reach.
 
RACECAR
I don't know, Jimmie Johnson is a good example that it is possible for someone not from the traditional Stock racing latter to succeed. This is a guy that started out in Motocross and then Off-Road Truck racing (which he can impressively still do).
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GTPorsche
He's only won 6 championships. I wouldn't call that successful.

/sarcasm
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🤬! I knew there was gonna be one that I didn't think of :P
 
Well excuse me for despising the idiotic mindset that the sanctioning bodies and PR morons are going for. I just hate seeing the drivers who actually have talent always get ignored because they aren't "Marketable" according to the sponsors.
 
RACECAR
Well excuse me for despising the idiotic mindset that the sanctioning bodies and PR morons are going for. I just hate seeing the drivers who actually have talent always get ignored because they aren't "Marketable" according to the sponsors.
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It's nothing new though, IIRC Ayrton Senna said that the best drivers he ever raced against were at the kart levels.
 
RVDNuT374
Those are similar ideas to what I posted in a thread last April about ways to improve the on-track action 👍 :

1. Give Goodyear an ultimatum: Make a race tire that doesn't suck or leave the sport forever and a tire company with a good reputation will take your place.
2. Loosen the restrictions on what the teams can and can't do to the cars. (no gear rule, any spoiler angle between 45-70 degrees except at restrictor plate tracks)
3. No more phantom debris cautions will be thrown just because the chosen driver is having problems or somebody has too big of a lead.
4. Eliminate all the kiddie rules (free pass, wave around, etc.)
5. Reduce the length of certain races by 15-25% while cutting ticket prices by the same amount.
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1. Goodyear has no competition so no reason to improve.
2. NASCAR hates innovation to the cars.
3. But then how will NASCAR guarantee *insert name here* will win?
4. The Free Pass was instituted due to the racing back to the line rule being axed following the 2003 crash at New Hampshire by Dale Jarrett on the front stretch and cars speeding towards his non-running car to get back on the lead lap.
5. NASCAR won't do that unless forced by another oil crisis.
 
Was there actually a serious discussion earlier about Crashica Patrick being inducted into the HOF due to being the "most successful" female driver in NASCAR history? :crazy::dunce: Being the "most successful" isn't saying much when you've also made significantly more starts than any other female driver while driving for a fully funded top-tier team. By the time she becomes "eligible", her career stats won't be a whole lot better than they are now unless a legitimately talented female racer disguises herself as Danica and starts winning races and championships in her car. :dopey:
 
Again, regardless of how the rest of her career turns out, if she wins a race, she'll make it to the HOF. She could regress even further below her rookie level after the win and it won't matter.
 
And considering the speed at which NASCAR is inducting people, it's not too far of a stretch.

Then again they could induct so many people that the Hall of Fame basically becomes worthless.
 
People in this thread saying Menard can win when he has exactly one Cup win in ten years of trying, thanks mainly to fuel millage.
My only real issue with Danica is FOX Sports and their obsession with her doing yoga or being in *gasp* a swim suit on Instagram. At the very least, ESPN has never done that with female athletes past maybe swimsuit editions of their magazine... Which is better than stalkinh a person's social media for stories.
 
Ganon83
People in this thread saying Menard can win when he has exactly one Cup win in ten years of trying, thanks mainly to fuel millage.
My only real issue with Danica is FOX Sports and their obsession with her doing yoga or being in *gasp* a swim suit on Instagram. At the very least, ESPN has never done that with female athletes past maybe swimsuit editions of their magazine... Which is better than stalkinh a person's social media for stories.
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Actually, they do
 
Jahgee1124
Now in a convenient NSFW Imgur Album, if anyone's interested :lol:
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wait-what-triggers.gif


The very knowledge of this is veeeeerrrrrry tempting.
 
AnthonyD1993
Motorsports as a whole has been more about money and less about talent for years now. The top talents will still always be able to get rides, but a lot more of the drivers today are picked because of how much they can help the bottom lines of the teams they drive for.
Click to expand...

Northstar
It's nothing new though, IIRC Ayrton Senna said that the best drivers he ever raced against were at the kart levels.
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I swear I recall a race car driver once saying something along the lines that the best racing driver in the world may be some guy driving a taxi cab and they'll never the chance to show their mettle.

Racing is one of the few sports where money/name recognition can compensate for a shortfall on talent. Danica's one example but that's not to say she can't drive at all. She held her own with Indy Cars and even had some strong runs at certain tracks along with a fortunate victory. However, she decided to jump into NASCAR when other more successful open wheel drivers had done so and struggled. I'm certain Casey Mears has had more opportunities than others because of his lineage. John Wes Townley gets his father's chicken restaurant featured on TV for mainly the wrong reasons but he still gets to drive. Maldonado's oil money will ensure many more races where we'll wonder if he'll have another incident. It just goes on and on.
 

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