Danica Patrick to Sportscar Team Ownership ?

[Bob Baldwin]

I have a relative that works at Bristol Motor Speedway during major events

I have NO reason to doubt him But as far as I know NOTHING is confirmed

He was able to get 2 minutes of her time and asked what her plans were after her Cup driving days were over ?

Somewhat Para=Phrasing here as I was not there " In all her racing history from Karts to Present in Various series she always enjoyed Road Racing . She mentioned her and her Advisors are Discussing IMSA GT 3 team ownership . She did not mention who her advisers were

Asked if she would be competing her answer was " At this time we are only discussing Potential Ownership of a team . But if it all worked out she might consider a part time drive in the big 4 endurance races .

I know nothing about her financial position by that I assume some how that she has ruled out DPI , P-2 , and GTLM Just a guess on my part .

I am guessing here that YES she has name recognition ! Driver results not so much . But I would further assume her or her advisors must feel that getting sponsorship to go first class in GT3 would not be a problem

Should this all come to Fruition I am guessing the Powers that be in Daytona Beach would allow her to bow over and kiss their ring

Somewhat surprised at her choice of class but I am guessing she may be looking at the Cheapest class with maximum return on investment if even such a thing exists . I highly doubt that is even possible

Lastly comparing Percieved budgets to perform I would think that GTLM would be almost double the seasonal costs of GTD / GT 3 Am I close on that ?

[MoMedic9019]

Hopefully she'd be a better owner than driver. She was pretty bad in the handful of stints she had back in the day.

I'm guessing that if she's already considering this, her NASCAR career is likely on its end.

[canamman]

That would make sense for her. Sportscar would
definitely benefit in an uptick in attendance.
Hope it happens sooner than later. The Nascar
career has pretty much peaked and unfortunately
has gotten as good as its going to get short of
a Buescher type fluke win.

[Bob Baldwin]

Originally Posted by canamman

That would make sense for her. Sportscar would
definitely benefit in an uptick in attendance.
Hope it happens sooner than later. The Nascar
career has pretty much peaked and unfortunately
has gotten as good as its going to get short of
a Buescher type fluke win.

You may be right on the Slight uptick in attendence just not sure of the draw she has .
I don't know anything about her lifestyle or her financial status , None of my business any way . From what I have read Her family were middle class workers that were Not heavy on Cash yet she somehow found a way to get to Europe and run some lower formula class races .
She may have very well peaked on the performance side of things . All I am saying was if she were a guy strictly based on results most any team would have dropped the driver a while ago .
Only a guess on my part but I am thinking she must be a pretty good business person . It has been said she Markets herself quite well which I guess WHEN the NASCAR deal ends will be helpfull in launching a sportscar team and securing sponsorship for such
Would not surprise me if 10 years from now on this forum people will be asking on the What ever happened to topic Danica Patrick .?
Would you think she might put a younger woman in her ride ?

[broadrun96]

Originally Posted by Bob Baldwin

Would you think she might put a younger woman in her ride ?

That would not at all surprise me as she is astute enough to know the selling power of a good female driver to some companies with slightly tighter purse strings. And I think she would return the favor of helping another move up through the ranks and get her chance to drive. But then she can have her petulant moments on the radio so who knows, a personality clash with the box can make those exchanges seem worse than they are from the outside though.

[Bob Baldwin]

Not sure if I agree with you on this . I say that from a few years back PRE " Danica " there was a gal in NASCAR I am thinking Shawna Robinson ? that had worked her way up to the cup level and even with help from NASCAR Marketing just could not get the sponsorship to carry her through the full season .

[10TENTHS]

Hmm, interesting possibility considering where she started out (that one ALMS race in 2003).

[canamman]

Originally Posted by Bob Baldwin

You may be right on the Slight uptick in attendence just not sure of the draw she has .

I don't know anything about her lifestyle or her financial status , None of my business any way .

Would not surprise me if 10 years from now on this forum people will be asking on the What ever happened to topic Danica Patrick .?
Would you think she might put a younger woman in her ride ?

She is #2 in popularity behind Jr. in NASCAR. Whether she is on pit road
or walking through the paddock, she always has a crowd around her.

She has been in $millions long enough by now to know how to handle it.

I don't think she would go out of her way to put a female
in the seat for diversification only.

I always wished Lynn St James was in the sport longer as far as
team mgt goes. I guess she had enough of the grind.

[Number4]

Originally Posted by Bob Baldwin

You may be right on the Slight uptick in attendence just not sure of the draw she has .
I don't know anything about her lifestyle or her financial status.

Danica is the fourth highest paid female sports person in the world, after Serena, Maria and Caroline the tennis players . Probably soon to be third this year considering Maria's naughty drug habit. She has been earning over $14 million a year since coming to NASCAR Cup four years ago. She is so popular she was in the half time Super Bowl adverts.
She could easily afford her own race team, but there would be a queue around the block of companies wanting to sponsor her before it came to that.

[Bob Baldwin]

Number 4 : I kind of assumed she was doing OK when you look at the percieved racing salary , Product endorsements and her Non Racing sources of income .

Certainly at this stage of her life I would be guessing she could just walk away from it all enjoy life and be happy

To do a full season GT 3 first class are you not looking at about a 4-5 million dollar budget ?

Where as others on this forum have mentioned that Guys like Roger Penske are NOT interested in Class wins Only overall Victories I wonder how that would all play out in her decision moving forward .?

Does she have any inclination to participate on an International Basis such as WEC ?
or at LM ?

Would there be any pressure from Daytona for her to consider the DPI or P-2 Class ?

We are slowly getting close to the time that the pieces of this puzzel must start lining up if there is to be any activity for the start of the 2017 season . For IMSA , the Track owners , Promoters , the Fans I see only Positives out of this .

[Rcz]

I think she's a good driver, just not a good stock car one. I think she would do pretty good at either Protoypes or GT cars.

[jjvincent]

As for Coach, I found one of those really in depth articles that seem to be all the rage today, "the 10 questions":

Here's what Coach had to say:

Q: You have a lot invested in your Screaming Eagles racing team, both monetarily and personally. What are your goals in motorsports?

A: We’ve got to have a podium [first, second, or third place] finish this year, and we’ve got to have a reliable car. But also to make it profitable if I can, or even a break-even situation. To be able to get that podium and the five-dollar trophy, that’s real important to us.

http://www.motortrend.com/news/craig...son-interview/

[owrforever]

Danica has achieved her "Peter Principle," she's missing the "chops," now nothing more than a NASCAR water carrier. Hope she leaves while retaining some dignity, hate to see her relegated to being a field filler. The novelty of being a woman in a man's sport has worn off. Biological clock is also ticking, racing while being pregnant is probably not a good thing! Having a family changes life's perspective.
Paul Newman and David Letterman seemed successful as entertainment industry celebs that participated in Indycar. What's the old cliche', the way to make a small fortune in auto racing is to start out with a large one! Old Shelby was the master of using "other people's money" (OPM) to leverage success, Penske didn't do too bad, either!

[Bob Baldwin]

owrforever :Y ou raise some interesting points . Ultimately it is her call. .

The biggest question would be : Who wins : Danica the Person or Danica the BRAND ?

She is the one to make that call . OR find a balance between the 2 choices .Can't think of any PRO driver actively driving who owns or has a stake in another race series .

Within the world of NASCAR you do have a few JR Motorsports , Kyle Busch Motorsports , Kevin Harvick Motorsports that occasionally race in the lesser series or through their main team affiliation put a development driver in for 1 off races .

I am trying to guess if she chooses the Danica Brand option moving forward IF the better option for her might just be the P-2 class such as what Ben Keating just did in the class that carries an Automatic LM Invite through the Jim Trueman Program ?

Certainly a lot of Optiond are open to her

[jjvincent]

I don't think the French are prepared for Danicamania. Might be better to ease them into it.

It was funny when we were at Sears Point the day after the Rolex Race, preparing the carfor Miller and listening to the announcers while the Indycar race was going on. When they said, "Scott Dixon, Danica Patrick" it came out as "Scott Dix (slight pause) in, Danica Patrick" the track announcer then went silent and when they came back on, you could hear laughing in the background.