Danicamania's effect on Richmond [Archive]

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extramundane

06-23-05, 11:25 AM

Circuit City Corporate HQ is giving away roughly 2000 tickets to its employees today. Nobody's taking them. Also, now that Philip Morris has moved its entire corp HQ to town, expect the Red Hat Freebie Brigade to be out in full force.

Meanwhile, I hear they might have sold a couple thousand tickets. :gomer:

Sean O'Gorman

06-23-05, 02:26 PM

http://www.rir.com/uploads/assets/tickets/rir_farright_danicatop.jpg

Hey, look, its her shopping buddies!

06-23-05, 02:53 PM

sog, that pic is TFF!

The chick in front of proven winners. :rofl:

lone_groover

06-23-05, 03:05 PM

http://www.rir.com/uploads/assets/tickets/rir_farright_danicatop.jpg

Hey, look, its her shopping buddies!

They come from New Zealand, the U.K., Brazil and the U.S.of A. Quite a heterogeneous bunch of homos!

:gomer:

trauma1

06-23-05, 03:27 PM

here's earls other marketing genuis fo richmond

http://www.indycarseries.com./lead_image.php

pchall

06-23-05, 03:28 PM

http://www.rir.com/uploads/assets/tickets/rir_farright_danicatop.jpg

Hey, look, its her shopping buddies!

Danica... putting the "M" in "YMCA" since May 2005... :rolleyes:

lone_groover

06-23-05, 03:38 PM

ONE MISSED STEP...........

Genius marketing for this week's performance of the Gomer Grand Guignol!

Maybe Paul and Paulie will make a "BIG ONE" theme bike to ride on the parade lap, complete with flames and trompe l'oeil exploded carbon fibre.

That will bring in the hicks.

:thumdown:

RacinM3

06-23-05, 04:16 PM

http://www.rir.com/uploads/assets/tickets/rir_farright_danicatop.jpg

Looks like an ad for a new show - "Queer eye for the fast girl".

RacinM3

06-23-05, 04:18 PM

http://www.indycarseries.com./lead_image.php

Ok, I'm a semi-smart guy, but what the hell IS that anyway?

Someone please explain :confused:

trauma1

06-23-05, 04:21 PM

either carbon fiber, but i believe its foam from the safer barriers. iether one its sad to promote a race on broken pieces of a car or barrier

Methanolandbrats

06-23-05, 04:23 PM

http://www.indycarseries.com./lead_image.php

Ok, I'm a semi-smart guy, but what the hell IS that anyway?

Someone please explain :confused: I agree, is that for real and what the hell is it and what the hell is it trying to say? :saywhat:

FCYTravis

06-23-05, 04:25 PM

Too irregular to be carbon fiber. Looks like some generic stream pebbles wallpaper or something?? :confused:

Marketing gizzenius. :shakehead

coolhand

06-23-05, 04:26 PM

looks like cloth floating on a shallow stream with a pebble bead to me :confused:

Racing Truth

06-23-05, 04:29 PM

Too irregular to be carbon fiber. Looks like some generic stream pebbles wallpaper or something?? :confused:

Marketing gizzenius. :shakehead

:TFmode:But, but, it's all ABC/ESPN's fault! :cry: :TFmode:

:gomer:

Marketing and OW racing generally mix about as well as oil and water.

eiregosod

06-23-05, 04:33 PM

whats this about her being some sort of PR prop?????????

JoeBob

06-23-05, 04:45 PM

Sean O'Gorman

06-23-05, 04:50 PM

Someone at IMS got a brand new copy of Photoshop and just had to play with all the filters. I haven't consumed any peyote today, but I'll do my best shot at interpreting that thing anyway.

It is supposed to be a path of rocks through a stream. "one misstep" and you're all wet, or something. Each of those "rocks" is kind of, shaped like the state where the track is located.

Also, I think it signifies that if you miss your step on one of the "rocks", you'll come crashing to the ground and probably snap your neck

Methanolandbrats

06-23-05, 05:04 PM

Are those enormous teeth behind Danicle and those freaks?

Gnam

06-23-05, 05:13 PM

It is supposed to be a path of rocks through a stream. "one misstep" and you're all wet, or something. Each of those "rocks" is kind of, shaped like the state where the track is located.
I would have never got that. 'Dem dar Big Suits up at INDY done out foxed me.

FailureByDesign

06-23-05, 05:33 PM

:rofl: Infront of 2 indy 500 champions,and 2 Series champions Plus two who are former Richmond winners.Can't breathe...laughing...too...much :laugh: :cry: :saywhat:

indyfan31

06-23-05, 05:34 PM

I would have never got that. 'Dem dar Big Suits up at INDY done out foxed me.

I don't think anyone at TF has figured it out either, but it's still wonderful. ;)

cameraman

06-23-05, 05:36 PM

OMG these are actually real.

I thought somebody with too much time on their hands was screwing around with Photoshop...

racer2c

06-23-05, 05:39 PM

Someone at IMS got a brand new copy of Photoshop and just had to play with all the filters. I haven't consumed any peyote today, but I'll do my best shot at interpreting that thing anyway.

It is supposed to be a path of rocks through a stream. "one misstep" and you're all wet, or something. Each of those "rocks" is kind of, shaped like the state where the track is located.

Damn, how in the world did you get that? But now that you point it out, I see it. That is the worst VA I've ever seen. And what's with the vertical layout?

cart7

06-23-05, 05:40 PM

http://www.rir.com/uploads/assets/tickets/rir_farright_danicatop.jpg

Wow! That's Danica Patrick!!

Who are those guys behind her? Are they any big deal? I mean, have they won anything?

extramundane

06-23-05, 06:36 PM

It gets even better: to celebrate AirTran's first flight into the Richmond airport today, they had Wheldon on hand to wave the checkered flag as the plane landed.

http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?blobcol=urlmainpicture&blobheader=image/jpeg&blobkey=id&blobtable=MGImage&blobwhere=1031783459866&ssbinary=true :gomer:

Mr. Vengeance

06-23-05, 06:52 PM

http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?blobcol=urlmainpicture&blobheader=image/jpeg&blobkey=id&blobtable=MGImage&blobwhere=1031783459866&ssbinary=true

So Danny, do you like movies about gladiators?
Ever seen a grown man naked?

coolhand

06-23-05, 07:14 PM

Someone at IMS got a brand new copy of Photoshop and just had to play with all the filters. I haven't consumed any peyote today, but I'll do my best shot at interpreting that thing anyway.

It is supposed to be a path of rocks through a stream. "one misstep" and you're all wet, or something. Each of those "rocks" is kind of, shaped like the state where the track is located.

I guess like the MXC game

Skipping Stones: A deceptively simple challenge involving stepping stones, some of which are deliberately not secured and give way under foot. Again, contestants must make their way to the other side without falling off. On MXC, this game is called Sinkers and Floaters.

Lizzerd

06-23-05, 10:10 PM

:rofl: Infront of 2 indy 500 champions,and 2 Series champions Plus two who are former Richmond winners.Can't breathe...laughing...too...much

Said too well... :rofl: :thumbup:

JohnnyQ

06-23-05, 10:12 PM

http://www.rir.com/uploads/assets/tickets/rir_farright_danicatop.jpg

Hey, look, its her shopping buddies!

Which she? The jerk o's behind her are the marketing machine that killed OW.

Sean O'Gorman

06-23-05, 11:58 PM

Jervis Tetch 1

06-24-05, 12:02 AM

The effect will be nil.

extramundane

06-24-05, 12:23 AM

Wow, nothing like doing a flight promotion with a guy decked out in Jim Beam gear. Are you sure this wasn't for America West?

Actually, the IRL is the perfect partner for the Richmond Airport: they both go places nobody wants to go, ticket sales for both are in the crapper, and both get airborne on a regular basis.

06-24-05, 11:30 AM

extra wins!

Joe in LA

06-24-05, 11:54 AM

Are those enormous teeth behind Danicle and those freaks?

It does look like a dental x-ray was used for the background.

JoeBob

06-24-05, 12:20 PM

I have to say, nothing cracks me up more than commercials and promotions where drivers wear their firesuits for average every day activities.

Opposite Lock

06-24-05, 12:34 PM

I have to say, nothing cracks me up more than commercials and promotions where drivers wear their firesuits for average every day activities.

Agreed, although the four NAPCAB guys sitting around in their suits talking about Ditech.com took it to a new level of hilarity for me.

Steve99

06-24-05, 08:00 PM

The hurl must have changed the website. The pictures of the stones is gone.

L1P1

06-24-05, 09:08 PM

I agree, is that for real and what the hell is it and what the hell is it trying to say? :saywhat:

Remove the superfluous hyphen and change the misused colon to a period. Then it starts to begin to make sense.

rabbit

06-24-05, 09:13 PM

I'm in Washington D.C. right now. Tomorrow I will be making the 6+ hour drive to Cleveland, not Richmond.

Ankf00

06-24-05, 09:35 PM

I'm in Washington D.C. right now. Tomorrow I will be making the 6+ hour drive to Cleveland, not Richmond.

Hank Hill: "HEY! We DON'T have to drive through West Virginia!" :D

food for thought :)

Napoleon

06-25-05, 06:00 AM

Here is todays Washington Post take:

Patrick's Popularity Jump-Starts IndyCar
'Danica Factor' Drives Marketing

By Tarik El-Bashir
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, June 25, 2005; E01

RICHMOND, June 24 -- Indy Racing League driver Dan Wheldon showed up at Texas Motor Speedway two weeks ago wearing a T-shirt with the words "I actually won the Indy 500" across the chest.

Wheldon's face will indeed be engraved on the Borg-Warner Trophy, alongside the other Indianapolis 500 champions. But the face of IndyCar racing this season is that of Danica Patrick, the 23-year-old rookie who drove open-wheel racing back into the conscience of American sports fans with her historic performance at Indianapolis last month.

"I don't think [other drivers] want to admit that her draw is helping them, but it's the truth," said Bobby Rahal, the 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner and co-owner of Patrick's Honda-powered Panoz. "Everyone from sponsors to teams to the IRL is benefiting from her. She's having the 'Tiger' effect on TV ratings."

Rahal and other racing executives say Patrick's talent on the track and marketability off it is helping the IRL attract a broader audience, much the way Tiger Woods did for golf in the late 1990s, and could help open-wheel racing compete with NASCAR's enormous popularity. They call it the Danica factor.

"There's no question Danica has captured the imagination of fans in the U.S. and beyond," said Ken Ungar, the IRL's senior vice president of business affairs. "Young women are looking at her as a role model. There's certainly a buzz."

The 89th running of the Indianapolis 500 on May 29, which was televised on ABC, earned the race's highest rating since 1996, posting a national household rating of 6.5 -- up 59 percent from the previous year, according to Neilsen's Media Research. The rating peaked at 8.6 when Patrick dueled with Wheldon for the lead in the closing laps, outdrawing the NASCAR Nextel race held the same day for the first time in four years.

At Texas Motor Speedway on June 11, ESPN saw its ratings jump 150 percent (the 1.0 cable rating was the largest for an IndyCar race on the network), despite Patrick's struggles. She finished 13th, the last car on the lead lap, in front of an estimated crowd of about 102,000, which was nearly 8,000 more than the previous year.

While the IRL's numbers at Texas improved, they also underscored just how far the open-wheel circuit must go to gain ground on NASCAR, whose popularity has soared over the past decade while open-wheel racing's fortunes have sped in the opposite direction. The IRL's rating at Texas was a fraction of what the NASCAR event draws on network television at the same track, and the number of spectators was roughly half what the stock cars draw there.

"I don't think any one driver, whether they are red, green or brown, is going to be the cure-all for an entire sport," said Paul Swangard of Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at the University of Oregon.

What's more, the breakneck speed of Patrick's ascent has some drivers, racing officials and marketing experts worried. What if she doesn't live up to the hype? What if she becomes the auto racing equivalent of Anna Kournikova, the Russian tennis player who attracts far more headlines for her looks and private life than for her accomplishments on the court. In six races, Patrick has had mixed results, posting two fourth-place finishes and four finishes of 12th or worse.

"Danica has wonderful short-term upside from a marketing standpoint," Swangard said. "But for Danica's sake, for the IRL's sake, it's prudent to be conservative, particularly if she becomes the Anna Kournikova of racing. That's the type of label that she would find hard to shake."

Patrick can put those concerns to rest by taking the checkered flag in Richmond, where she'll start the SunTrust Indy Challenge from the last row.

Heading into Saturday night's race, expectations surrounding Patrick are growing. Fans have lined up several rows deep outside her team's garage area, hoping to snap a picture or get an autograph. Patrick's Rahal Letterman Racing team merchandise, consisting primarily of T-shirts and hats, sold out at the past two races.

"It hasn't been like NASCAR, but Danica's merchandise is outselling the rest of the field combined," Rahal said. "And by a large margin."

Patrick's popularity has prompted her sponsors to extend their contracts with her, Rahal said, and it also has attracted more sponsorship opportunities, particularly from companies that manufacture products geared toward women. "I guess the sponsors figure they need to get in while they still can," Rahal said.

The media haven't been able to get enough of her, either. Since her fourth place at Indianapolis -- the best finish for a woman -- she has been on nearly every network morning show and featured in national newspapers and magazines. During the week of the Indianapolis 500, she was in the top five keywords searched on search engines MSN, Yahoo and Google.

Richmond race officials are hoping to cash in on Patrick's popularity. One of the race's promotional slogans is "Get Ready DC, Danica is coming to Richmond." Posters in Richmond read, "Be there for Danica's First Race at Richmond International Raceway. . . . You saw her lead the Indy 500, now see her race in Richmond."

"We've tweaked our advertising to let people know, yes, Danica will be racing here," said Keith Green, Richmond International Raceway's director of public relations.

"We are several thousand tickets ahead and expect a much bigger walk-up -- possibly double -- what we normally have," Green said in an e-mail. The race has also attracted more requests for media credentials.

"I don't let it get to me," said Patrick, who is 5 feet 2 and weighs 100 pounds. "It doesn't make me feel like I have to do something. The only thing I hope in the process of all this . . . is that I want-- I hope -- that IndyCar Racing stays in the headlines. I hope it isn't only dependent on me. I hope people won't stray away because I have some okay race.

"I'm not going to win every single race, so I just wish that everyone else gets the same recognition or at least some of the recognition for doing great things."

Try telling that to Wheldon. Patrick appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated after the biggest win of his career. In the post-race news conference following Wheldon's Indianapolis win, he was asked by a reporter about "spoiling Danica's party."

Wheldon was annoyed. And he was still stinging weeks later. Patrick's teammates couldn't resist, either. Buddy Rice's T-shirt read, "Danica's teammate" and Vitor Meira's said, "Danica's other teammate."

Patrick's rise hasn't been without her detractors or controversy.

Patrick hasn't been able to get through an interview session without being asked about the racy photos that appeared in FHM Magazine two years ago. She posed in a leather bikini, leaning on a 1957 Chevy.

Bernie Ecclestone, the 74-year-old Formula One boss, told reporters in Indianapolis last week that women "should be all dressed in white like all the other domestic appliances."

To Patrick's surprise, she said, he called her last Saturday and repeated his comments.

"I can't believe that he would say it to me over the phone, not directly to my face, but directly to me. I was a bit confused," Patrick said on the IRL's weekly teleconference Tuesday. "But some of the conversation was positive and complimentary, so I really don't know what to think about it."

"I think it's been a bit much for some people," Penske driver Sam Hornish Jr. said of Patrick's popularity. "But she brings attention to the sport, so overall it's a positive."

Ziggy

06-25-05, 10:29 AM

This thread is too funny!

Best thread ever on OffCamber

:thumbup:

Keep up the meaness!

(where did it come from SeanO)?

Insomniac

06-25-05, 11:04 AM

Hank Hill: "HEY! We DON'T have to drive through West Virginia!" :D

food for thought :)

There's nothing wrong with WV!

...at least the northern part. ;)

Insomniac

06-25-05, 11:11 AM

Here is todays Washington Post take:
During the week of the Indianapolis 500, she was in the top five keywords searched on search engines MSN, Yahoo and Google.

How come I think those queries also included the word "nude"?

"I'm not going to win every single race, so I just wish that everyone else gets the same recognition or at least some of the recognition for doing great things."

How about one race?

FailureByDesign

06-25-05, 11:23 AM

"I'm not going to win every single race, so I just wish that everyone else gets the same recognition or at least some of the recognition for doing great things."

Did she really say that? :saywhat: :rofl: I wonder how that 100lbs frame carries that huge ego.

extramundane

06-25-05, 04:31 PM

Front page headline in today's Richmond Times-Disgrace:

Danica Patrick shines in the spotlight at RIR

If Danica's shining, then Special Ed & Eye-Vee are the next Prost & Senna.

Insomniac

06-25-05, 05:02 PM

Front page headline in today's Richmond Times-Disgrace:

Danica Patrick shines in the spotlight at RIR

If Danica's shining, then Special Ed & Eye-Vee are the next Prost & Senna.

Or shining doesn't mean driving well or qualifying well. :)

oddlycalm

06-25-05, 07:10 PM

Danicle was able to find time to show up on the red carpet at a Hollywood film premiere with the A list celebrities, yet she qualified 21st for the EARL Whirl in Richmond. That's five spots back from Special Ed and four back from quattro. It's also 6-7 spots back and 6mph off the pace of her team mates.

oc

Paintergeek

06-25-05, 07:29 PM

Or shining doesn't mean driving well or qualifying well. :)

That is brilliant. :laugh:

SurfaceUnits

06-26-05, 09:42 AM

Hey, she made it to lap 30 before being lapped. That takes alot of shining. :rolleyes:

fourrunner

06-26-05, 10:56 AM

http://www.rir.com/uploads/assets/tickets/rir_farright_danicatop.jpg

Wow! That's Danica Patrick!!

Who are those guys behind her? Are they any big deal? I mean, have they won anything?

You have to remember that the IRL is the "Bizzaro World" of Racing

When you have the Winner of the Indy 500 saying he's OK being eclipsed by Danica because it's good for the IRL ! then you know that these guys are Eunuch's and deserve to be put in the back of the Photo where they belong!

Sean O'Gorman

06-26-05, 09:19 PM

Keep up the meaness!

(where did it come from SeanO)?

Someone posted it on another forum (Honda-Tech), it was from Richmond's website. They seem to like Danica over there, and didn't care for my "shopping buddies" comment. :D

Or are you talking about where did the meanness come from?

Methanolandbrats

06-26-05, 09:37 PM

Someone posted it on another forum (Honda-Tech), it was from Richmond's website. They seem to like Danica over there, and didn't care for my "shopping buddies" comment. :D

Or are you talking about where did the meanness come from? Most Honda "racers" are stupid punks. It figures they like Danica since they don't know **** about motorsports. Why do you hang out with those a-holes?

Ziggy

06-26-05, 09:39 PM

No quizzling, Im talking about you getting a sense of humor

somebody on the Internet will explain it to you someday

Sean O'Gorman

06-26-05, 10:26 PM

No quizzling, Im talking about you getting a sense of humor

somebody on the Internet will explain it to you someday

Sweet, I can't wait

SurfaceUnits

06-28-05, 09:51 PM

Insomniac

06-28-05, 11:40 PM

Finish outside Indy
15 Danica Patrick
15 Danica Patrick
12 Danica Patrick
4 Danica Patrick
13 Danica Patrick

Average finish 12th. Proves that it no longer takes special talent to run indy. Being a mid-packer in a wanker leeg will suffice. :shakehead

Well, driving a few hundred laps with a setup that won the previous year and a 50lb weight advantage will do wonders. Plus, she stalled the car and took out a couple other cars. Aside from finishing 4th and blocking Bourdais, she didn't do that well at Indy either.

oddlycalm

06-29-05, 01:34 AM

Insomniac

06-29-05, 09:45 AM

This is exactly why all the mainstream notoriety is a career killler. Before that nobody would have blinked an eye if she had posted these results. Now the average person has an expectation that she's going to win races, which she won't for some time, if ever. Without the notoriety none of us would give a rip if she ran mid pack forever and there probably wouldn't have been as many threads about her here as for Fisher, because she's not butt ugly and chronically off the pace.

oc

Didn't you see, she thinks she will win plenty?

"I'm not going to win every single race, so I just wish that everyone else gets the same recognition or at least some of the recognition for doing great things."

FRANKY

06-29-05, 11:29 AM

Finish outside Indy
15 Danica Patrick
15 Danica Patrick
12 Danica Patrick
4 Danica Patrick
13 Danica Patrick

Average finish 12th. Proves that it no longer takes special talent to run indy. Being a mid-packer in a wanker leeg will suffice. :shakehead

Comparing her "rookie" season with AJ IV this is what he did:

Best Finish 11th
Worst 22nd (twice)
21st (twice)
18th (three times)
17th (six times)
15the (once)

Scheckter in 2002 did:
6
24
24
21
26
17
16
4
15
13
1
22

So with more talent in the field, I would say her performance is above par.

Wheldon is probably the last "rookie" that had a stellar season.

7th
19th
20th
19th
8th
21st
4th
20th
5th
8th
7th
4th
4th
3rd

What? Want to compare her to a girl?

Sarah's first year:
13th
17th
31st
12th
25th
14th
3rd
11th

Will she get better and prove that's she's got more talent, or be like Sarah and slide into oblivion? I don't know, but I won't "Ha ha" about her in her rookie season.

SurfaceUnits

07-01-05, 12:01 AM

AI'nt nobody hahaha DAnicle fRAnky, wear hahaha them :gomer:s who claim she's all that an a box of atenuators too.

Rocketdoc

07-01-05, 08:40 PM

At the risk of swimming upstream (with many on the banks shooting poison tipped arrows at me) on the subject of Danica Patrick, and my professional perspective is relatively ancient, I do think the girl is head and shoulders above any other female that has entered into aero critical, setup critical, open wheel racing.

She's far more accomplished than Sarah Fisher and semi-pioneer Lynne St. James. The first female qualifier for the Indy 500, Janet Guthrie, had a few lucky runs, but was nowhere near up to the level of competition at the time, or as capable as Danica Patrick.
I think that she (Danica Patrick) has a reasonable understanding of how her car works, how to suggest changes from her own on-track input, with her only temporary deficiency, her lack of higher level competition seat time.

My son, who does similar endeavors for food agrees with me.

Yup, she may be contracted to the devil’s playground; regardless, she is a budding race car driver that has at least as much capability of two-thirds of a typical IRL field.

Ankf00

07-02-05, 01:40 AM

She's far more accomplished than Sarah Fisher and semi-pioneer Lynne St. James.

that means nothing to me, yeehaw, she's the best girl yet, i dont watch sports or racing or music or any of my other hobbies because of gender, I do because I enjoy witnessing greatness, her record to date demonstrates she is anything but greatness, which is not to say she's worthless, she's just not worth any of the hype, which was my opinion a year and a half or 2 years ago or whevner she was this board's favorite flavor, and my opinion remains the same...

sharapova == wins
patrick == also ran
ditty bops == ****ing hot and at ACLfest :D

seriously though, even after she wins a couple of races I still won't care, I didn't care for Max, Ralf, Franchitti, etc, all 3 of which are far more capable drivers, I'm not going to care just b/c she's a girl, if she can compete with the champs, that's one thing, otherwise, it'd be nice to have her around in the same sense that it's nice to have all the other drivers around, I don't hate on wierdheim and glock and everyone else... they can be friendly, they're very capable, etc etc, but i'm not going to bend over in praise for an also-ran from atlantics just b/c she's female... empringham and bentham would wipe the floor with her, and look where they are

Andrew Longman

07-02-05, 04:37 AM

More than three years ago some of you will remember that I posted at 7G my opinion that if she could prove competitive and capable of winning races that she would have huge marketing value to champ car simply based on her gender, good looks and poise in front of a camera. She is a sponsor's dream. She could be to the IRL what Jeff Gordon was to NASCAR in the early 90s... that is IF she comes to win some races and stay with the front runners and IF the IRL didn't have so many other challenges.

Many of you said then and now you don't care about her gender and are waiting for her to show you greatness. Nothing wrong with that. And the amount of hype heaped on her is out of control, but also only supports the point I made three years ago.