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Aspen Dental expands Danica Patrick partnership to soften NASCAR sponsorship dilemma
Patrick had 20 races open on her No. 10 Ford for the 2017 season
February 14, 2017
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A portion of Danica Patrick’s sponsorship woes were alleviated on Tuesday morning when Aspen Dental expanded its partnership with Stewart-Haas Racing and the No. 10 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series team for double-digit events, including the Daytona 500.
Aspen Dental had only been scheduled to serve as the primary sponsor for Patrick in four events but opted to fill part of the void left when Nature’s Bakery defaulted on a series of scheduled payments. SHR since sued the baked goods provider for the over $30 million owed for the next two years, but that case has yet to resolve itself.
Ford Performance has resolved to keep Patrick in the Cup Series through the end of the season, and now Aspen Dental is going above and beyond its original agreement.
Aspen Dental has been a partner of SHR since 2012 and has been aligned with Patrick since 2014. As the brand enters its sixth year with SHR and fourth with Patrick, it will serve as the primary sponsor of Patrick’s No. 10 Ford Fusion for a still unknown number of events.
“Our commitment to Danica Patrick goes back almost four years and our relationship with SHR even further,” said Bob Fontana, chairman and CEO of Aspen Dental Management Inc. “She is a strong advocate for the Aspen Dental brand and a wonderful ambassador for programs like the Healthy Mouth Movement. Danica and Stewart-Haas Racing have encouraged fans to get started on the road to better oral health care while showcasing how Aspen Dental practices make it easy for them. We look forward to our enhanced partnership.”
The Blue Oval is headed to the Winners Circle!!! They where there 8 times last year!!! Will it be the girl this year???[/SIZE][/I][/B]
“She is the poster child for what is wrong with racing”
“Gee whiz, you guys are right. Hey, why don’t we go out in the garage and build a Cup car! We will be merit and talent based, so the best one of us can drive it. It will be swell!”
The fact is, the old model (described above) does not exist above the level of weekend warrior, part-time racer. It has been gone for a generation or two, so we might as well quit looking back.
Maybe there are still teams like that in trucks or ARCA…
The new model requires money, talent and marketability. At least talent is still in the picture! Say hello to Daniel Suarez, coming to the top level of NASCAR via Mexico. Yeah, he is a good driver, but he has the whole combination together.
I respect the drivers who can race at that level, and I am not going to turn my back on the sport just because it has gone big time.
Kyle Larson & Bad Brad are exceptions, and there are probably others.
Annnnnnnnnd the brought-their-own-money-and-perfect-teeth guys have got to also be good, or another one of their genre will come along–soon–and replace them.
Am happy for those that have God given talent, also happy for those that show up with money, Daddy’s or not, and happy for those that have both.
But never mind all that, Danica is now “driving” for a Dental Company.
Think of the obvious slogans/jokes that are now an option.
Of course to win on fuel mileage, she would have to have been running near the front. But her career stats are actually pretty good. And she beats half of the field every week, often beating Hendrick cars.
I would suggest your numbers disprove your premise, given the level of equipment she has competed in.
Post Cup, though, she would make a great Renegade Spokesperson.
She has already got the smoke signal thing down. It comes out of her ears most every week when she gets parked by someone trying to get out of her way.
[QUOTE=Renegade Racing Fuels;173586]Of course to win on fuel mileage, she would have to have been running near the front. But her career stats are actually pretty good. And she beats half of the field every week, often beating Hendrick cars.
Indy Car
1 win
7 top 3
3 poles
K&N East
1 top 10
X- Finity
1 top 5
7 top 10
1 pole
Cup
6 top 10
1 pole[/QUOTE]
This is gonna get fun. Using David Ragan as a comparison, in his first 4 full time years in Cup, he had 8 top 5’s and 22 top 10’s. If we go to his 5th season, he added a win, 4 more top 5’s, 8 more top 10’s, and 2 poles.
[QUOTE=Renegade Racing Fuels;173586]Of course to win on fuel mileage, she would have to have been running near the front.
[/QUOTE]
Well, sort of. Lets not forget that she won a race during the IndyCar/ChampCar split and it was held on the same day as the Grand Prix of Long Beach, so not every top level driver was even in Japan. She won a race on luck against a weak field. There were only 7 cars on the lead lap and 13 cars running at the end. I mean, she still won an IndyCar race which is more than any of us will ever do…but a lot of circumstances that have nothing to do with her fell into place to put her in a position to win that race.
Then there’s also the conspiracy theory that because at the time the cars were weighted without the driver she had that extra lap of fuel over Castroneves because of her weight savings…but I’d just call that using the rules to your best advantage.
I thought this already was fun. I wasn’t aware this was a comparison, it didn’t start out as one. But sure, why not.
Any comparison we make would i think have to be based on several factors. One, David Ragan didn’t come from the Indy car ranks, so his first year or any other year wouldn’t really compare to someone who jumped from Indy cars to Cup. You’d need Tony Stewart or Juan Pablo Montoya or Scott Speed for that comparison.
I looked in all the usual places and couldn’t find any evidence that David Ragan even ran the Indy car series much less had a win or top 3 finishes. So the comparison doesn’t really work.
The Michael Waltrip Toyota team was very strong, so i guess that part compares favorably to the SHR team. Though the SHR team has been hit or miss over the years. Tony and Kevin great, Kurt Busch not so much.
But if we’re only comparing Danica’s Cup finishes to other Cup drivers, we’d need to decide on which Cup drivers and why.
I like her non Janet Guthrie (the sport owes me) attitude, and the fact that she is both attractive and proud of it.
The only question was whether she could drive. I was really hoping she would be a front of the pack talent, and stated that here I believe back in the day.
But now… 'Gade, are you really arguing the girl can drive…?
[QUOTE=Renegade Racing Fuels;173599]I thought this already was fun. I wasn’t aware this was a comparison, it didn’t start out as one. But sure, why not.
Any comparison we make would i think have to be based on several factors. One, David Ragan didn’t come from the Indy car ranks, so his first year or any other year wouldn’t really compare to someone who jumped from Indy cars to Cup. You’d need Tony Stewart or Juan Pablo Montoya or Scott Speed for that comparison.
I looked in all the usual places and couldn’t find any evidence that David Ragan even ran the Indy car series much less had a win or top 3 finishes. So the comparison doesn’t really work.
The Michael Waltrip Toyota team was very strong, so i guess that part compares favorably to the SHR team. Though the SHR team has been hit or miss over the years. Tony and Kevin great, Kurt Busch not so much.
But if we’re only comparing Danica’s Cup finishes to other Cup drivers, we’d need to decide on which Cup drivers and why.[/QUOTE]
LOL, you are kidding, right? In Kurt Busch’s 3 years with SHR, he has 4 wins, 25 top 5’s, 53 top 10’s and 5 poles. That is a good career for lots of people. Neither Scott Speed or Montoya were in equipment comparable to SHR, which was better than Hendrick’s lots of times.
I never kid about Danica.
Again, we’re comparing a former Cup champion ( Kurt Busch ) to a driver who’s only training prior to NASCAR was open wheel.
Montoya was certainly in top flight equipment, his team mate showed that. Scott Speed not so much, but he still had the same career path as Danica, so it’s a fair comparison.
Since the SHR team got their engines and chassis from Hendrick, i’m not so sure they were ever better than Hendrick’s. SHR just had better drivers.
[QUOTE=OldSchool+;173603]Perhaps we should bring up Michael Waltrip for comparison.
It only took him 462 starts to get his first win.[/QUOTE]
Funny enough, OS, a lot of the talking heads have been comparing her to MW lately. I think the powers that be are trying all kinds of things to justify her presence in Cup. I listen to the NASCAR CHANNEL ON Sirius radio, and the announcers have always been protective of NASCAR, and hence, their jobs, but lately it has been ridiculous. If someone calls in and questions a change or decision by NASCAR, they are attacked like a lamb in a pack of rabid wolves.
As you most certainly know, money levels all playing fields eventually.
Unless her game steps up significantly–resulting in a significant increase of camera time, we will see how long she can continue to sell herself (as opposed to her skill and results) as a marketing tool.
Actually, now that you mention it, perhaps there are some similarities…