Oh to be a track promoter right now. Yeah I know times are tough and people aren’t buying tickets like they used to, but a gift has landed on their doorsteps. That gift is of course Danica Patrick and you better believe every track operator on the Nationwide schedule is crossing their fingers she graces their facility.
With the very careful rollout of Patrick, JR Motorsports and her handlers are doing their best to make sure everything goes off without a hitch. How well Patrick does on track at the moment though is irrelevant.
In attendance at JR Motorsports Thursday was New Hampshire Motor Speedway GM Jerry Gappens. He was a man on a mission too. With a lobster in tow he was looking to attract Patrick to race at NHMS in June. Gappens certainly isn’t alone.
How excited do you think Gillian Zucker, president of Auto Club Speedway, is? She might have the sports’ newest and most exciting driver debut at her facility. That’s a boost California (the speedway) could certainly use. Where better to debut Patrick (if they choose to do so) than in the second largest media market with no other distractions?
Now I know many of you are already getting sick of Danicamania (get used to it), but aren’t you the least bit interested in how she runs? I know I am. I’ve heard the Disney World test was promising. Certainly the ARCA test will be at least a little bit of an indicator.
This interest in Patrick can only increase interest in the sport. As I see it, that’s not a bad thing. While I can’t say I agree with his analogy Jerry Gappens thinks so too.
“I think she can do for our sport what Hannah Montana did for Disney,” [Gappens] said. “I’ve got a 9-year-old daughter [Ella] who already was like, ‘Danica Patrick is going to race at your place?’ I told her I was going to try [to get her to], and she was very excited about that.
Hannah Montana? I don’t know about that, but more eyes can’t be bad. More ticket sales can’t be bad either.
I’ll be honest I’m a Danica skeptic, but I hope she does well. She has a lot of detractors, but she will definitely bring some fresh blood into the sport.
Can the reality meet the hype? We’ll have to see. But until then track promoters are certainly going to be taking this to the bank.
