One of the recent fears among those invested in professional athletes is that that all of this new media stuff like blogs and twitter and facebook will inadvertently lead to some superstar saying or doing something that damages their career. Like "They pay my sorry ass too much" or "I hope the terrorists bomb Dallas next" or "Yo, just shot a hooker...LMAO!"
Often though the fears are that they'll say something bad relating to a sponsor. You can't be paid a ton of money from Pepsi and say "Enjoying a might fine Coke at the movies" and not expect to it to cost you dearly. Perhaps Danica Patrick might be learning this lesson soon.
It's probably disconcerting enough for potential sponsors that Mrs Hospenthal rarely mentions her sponsors in the ways other drivers do (yet another reason to think she wont be racing in N****R anytime soon) but she does come through for her sponsors in other ways. Witness the fact that her twitter account is backed by "Tissot", makers of finer watchery products.
And speaking of twitter, and of sponsors, here's what Danica said on her twitter page yesterday.
oh ya sorry for the lack of tweets.....i didnt know what the charges would be in canada?!
So I guess we just learned that Boost Mobile doesn't offer any Canadian plans.
I think her plans are clearly shown in the picture - she's going Top Fuel racing in the NHRA!
The only thing called boost in Canada was the turbo's from the CART/CCWS. God I miss that sound.
just saw her on "Jim Rome." she basically said while Indycar was familiar and what she knows, but the idea of Nascar was very exciting. And that her decision would be based on what teams make her an offer.
if I had to judge--and that's probably dumb just based on that interview--but I'd say gone.
redd: its called IMG prepping her to negotiate in a public forum!
As for Danica not tweeting in Canada... Motorola needs to give her upgraded free minutes or something :) :) Hey I admire her spending her 27 million wisely... why pay Border Charges to tweet...
that she just brushed her hair... stole Tony Kanaan's Sharpie during an autograph session..... that Canadian Crest toothpaste comes in larger sizes than US market... or other "Gotta Know" info
redd,
Seeing the same interview as you, I actually see her trying to put together a package where she runs a full Indycar season at Ganassi, but does some Nascar stuff on the side when she has time.
There's more viewership in Nascar and her just dipping her toe in the water would be news and get attention, but at the end of the day there's more value in her being a multiple race winner/potential Indy 500 winner during an Indycar season.
And pending on the future schedules (2011, most notably), just how big do you think it would be if she raced in the Daytona 500, Indy 500 and Brickyard 400 during the same year? I could easily see her management group pitching the idea to ESPN to follow her around as she tries to qualify for all 3 events and do a documentary or weekly series on it.
I hope you're right Damon, and also think some combination of Indycar and Nascar would be good.
@Damon:
What Would Danica Think? = What Would Danica's Sponsors Think?
It's a grand idea to believe that she can cherry pick races to run between taxis and open-wheel, but if Tony Stewart can't run The 500 (because of Chevrolet and Honda) then what makes anyone believe that Danica is somehow able to magically broker a deal that allows her to do so?
Jesse,
I toss that idea of her doing both because Sam Hornish Jr. ran some Nationwide races in 2007 while still in Indycar.
As for what would her sponsors think, they're partnered with her because of the attention she draws to their company and Danica racing in the Daytona 500 would be a major draw/attention getter, so why wouldn't they want her to do it?
As for Stewart, he raced at Indy in 1999 and 2001 despite being a full-time Nascar driver, Robby Gordon has done the same in the past as well, so while that's an issue, if she joins Ganassi, there's always that opportunity to run both series.