Expect him to be all over terrestrial and satellite radio as well.
Why, you ask? Because he finished 7th. You know, 7th, one place in front of 8th. You didn't know that? Don't worry, no one else did either. Ok, so maybe he won't make the media rounds this week after all. I mean, who really cares about 7th place? It isn't nearly as coveted a position as 8th (or as I now call it, the new first). Have a good week, seat sniffers....
Yea, EAU, It's too bad Michael McDowell who finished 9th or JJ Yeley who finished 10th didn't hit that coveted 8th slot. I'm sure those underfunded teams could have used the exposure and money that 8th palce person is going to get this week.
I get the whole point of this thread but can we all start to admit that there more to it. Exposure is what all sports need and NASACAR is no different. Regan Smith and guys like him will never sell tickets, it just wont happen. Regan smith can win 10 races this year and Danica Patrick will still bring more fans to the races. You don't have to like it but without the Danica Patricks of the world sports would not have fans.
Take UFC for instance. Cheal Sonen is a coach for this season's The Ultimate Fighter and will fight for the Light Heavywieght Title in April. He didn't earn the title fight he talked his way into it, he hypes up himself and the sport and brings in fans. That part of the game and he knows it.
I get the whole point of this thread but can we all start to admit that there more to it. Exposure is what all sports need and NASACAR is no different. Regan Smith and guys like him will never sell tickets, it just wont happen. Regan smith can win 10 races this year and Danica Patrick will still bring more fans to the races. You don't have to like it but without the Danica Patricks of the world sports would not have fans.
Take UFC for instance. Cheal Sonen is a coach for this season's The Ultimate Fighter and will fight for the Light Heavywieght Title in April. He didn't earn the title fight he talked his way into it, he hypes up himself and the sport and brings in fans. That part of the game and he knows it.
So Frady, the NFL, The NHL and NBA all hype people who aren't the top of their sport so they can sell tickets. NOT!!!
If your champions can't bring in the audience then the sport is in trouble.
Sorry, but that's a fact. NASCAR is the only sport that has used also rans the last 8 years to hype a sport. Why not concentrate on Brad Keslowski and his championship defense. insead of pushing a Hendrick driver down everyones throat for the past 6 years and the ratings keep tanking.
Frady, I also understand the point of your post and it is a valid one. 8th is a good finish for any driver no matter what (well, unless there were 8 starters, or 9, or 10....). However, you stumbled across the problem whether inadvertent or not: what does she bring to the series to improve the quality of racing? Sliced Bread was supposed to fix this problem in 2009. Atwood was going to tear the series a new one too, as was the only driver in NASCAR history to use a VW Bug hood for a helmet - Bobby Allison Jr.
Her career in it's entirety has been, in the kindest of words, average. In a strictly statistical sense it has been below average. I may not be the most informed NASCAR fan on the board but I know how to work a calculator.
I think what makes NASCAR drastically different from the NFL, NBA, NHL, etc. is that regardless of how bad someone is, they're going to get a chance to "play" for the full event every week. Bad players in those other sports just won't play, but regardless of how Danica does from week to week, she will race the next week.
Earth to EauRouge. It's 8th place. That is, 8th freakin place. How could you not celebrate this?
But on a serious note, I find it funny that if you don't praise her royal highness, you are often labled a sexist, ignorant, hater/pig by some people. Yet I contend, it is those very people...the rabid, obsessed supporters of hers who are the real sexist ones. Among these are good ol DW, along with Mike Joy, Ray Evernham, Dale Jarrett, and just about anyone who has spoken during a NASCAR telecast concerning her over the past 2 years.
Most (if not all) of the people who have posted on this thread, are not overly impressed with 8th place at a plate race. Nor for getting multiple lucky dogs to end up on the lead lap at Bristol, before crashing out. Nor by being the fastest qualifier at a track where during qualifying, you never lift, it is routinely called boring, and is also joked that even a monkey could do it. That's because we have expectations for her as a driver, and she doesn't usually meet them. And when you mention such, you are sexist.
But how about these who gush praises over her every time she sits in a car? Why else would they praise her so much, unless they had such low expecations of her to begin with? Those who label us sexist when we aren't impressed by finishing 10th in a Nationwide Series where the only full time drivers she finished ahead of were unsponsored....They are the sexist ones. They must expect her to finish behind all the unsponsored Nationwide teams, so that she is 14th out of 14 full time Nationwide drivers, since they are so impressed when she's 10th. They must expect her to crash out on lap 1 when they are so impressed by her finishing 6 laps down and beating 8 cars at Darlington. They must not think she can get the car in gear and leave the pits when they show her pit exits, heaping praise after praise on them. And all these low expectations just because she is a woman. Those people ought to be ashamed of themselves...
