|
Danica
Mar 19, 2016 9:50:04 GMT -5
Post by 221dayton on Mar 19, 2016 9:50:04 GMT -5
Travis Durkee Sporting News 3/18/16
The dinner table at the home of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Danica Patrick may have been a bit awkward Thursday night after Patrick went on the “Steve Gorman SPORTS!” radio show and claimed she was a better driver than her boyfriend.
"Do you mean better driver as in following the rules, or do you mean better driver as in, you know, getting from Point A to Point B quicker?" Patrick asked Gorman after he asked point-blank who was a better driver.
Gorman said he meant the “Point A to Point B” scenario, to which Patrick responded: “Me. That would be me."
Though the confidence is admirable, Patrick might not have much of a leg to stand on with this argument. Stenhouse currently is 18th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Standings, while Patrick is 24th after four races this season.
Even when their entire careers are taken into consideration, Stenhouse’s trophy cabinet is more filled out than Patrick’s despite being five years younger.
Stenhouse won the Nationwide Series (now Xfinity Series) championship in 2011 and 2012 before winning the Sprint Cup Series’ Rookie of the Year award in 2013. In the Nationwide Series, he had eight wins and 62 top-10 finishes in 107 races. He has 12 top-10 finishes and no wins in 107 Sprint Cup races as a part-time and full-time competitor in the series.
As for Patrick, she has seven top-10 finishes in the Nationwide Series and six more in Sprint Cup. However, she did have a respectable career in the IndyCar Series with one win and seven podium finishes. She was named the series’ top rookie in 2005 and most popular driver every season from 2005-2010.
|
|
|
Danica
Mar 19, 2016 13:13:01 GMT -5
Post by Gant fan on Mar 19, 2016 13:13:01 GMT -5
She had to be kidding around.
|
|
14fan
Full Member
Posts: 192
|
Post by 14fan on Mar 20, 2016 13:28:16 GMT -5
She may have been kidding but I bet her boyfriend never contradicts her in public.
|
|
|
Danica
Mar 24, 2016 9:37:12 GMT -5
Post by 221dayton on Mar 24, 2016 9:37:12 GMT -5
Danica Patrick’s appearance on Last Call with Carson DalyDustin Long NBC Sports 3/24/2016 Danica Patrick appeared in a video segment on NBC’s “Last Call with Carson Daly” on Wednesday. She talked about a variety of topics from getting out of tickets (and not), to boyfriend Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and the challenge of racing on the edge. Video of her appearance here: www.nbc.com/last-call-with-carson-daly/video/danica-patrick/3007847
|
|
|
Danica
Mar 29, 2016 8:48:34 GMT -5
Post by 221dayton on Mar 29, 2016 8:48:34 GMT -5
Comparing Danica and Stenhouse's Stats
Ray Slover Sporting News 3/28/2016
Danica Patrick and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. remain an item in NASCAR, the couple that races against each other week after week.
Things don't always go smoothly between them, which is normal in any relationship. It's especially difficult to throw feelings aside in the pressure of auto racing competition.
Patrick jokingly claimed she is a better driver than Stenhouse. Well ... Stenhouse appears to be pulling ahead of Patrick in on-track performance, so this might be a good time to consider their records. Numbers are through races of March 20.
Stenhouse
Drives for Roush Fenway Racing; seventh season in Sprint Cup. Age: 28.
Sprint Cup: 117 races, 0 wins, 13 top-10s, 1 pole; best season finish, 19th (2013)
2016: Daytona, 22nd; Atlanta, 10th; Las Vegas, 12th; Phoenix, 37th; Fontana, 5th.
Xfinity: 107 races, 8 wins, 62 top-10s, 8 poles (five seasons); best season finish, first, 2011, 2012.
Patrick
Drives for Stewart-Haas Racing; fourth season in Sprint Cup. Age: 33.
Sprint Cup: 123 races, 0 wins, 6 top-10s, 1 pole; best season finish, 24th (2015)
2016: Daytona, 16th; Atlanta, 25th; Las Vegas, 21st; Phoenix, 36th; Fontana, 31st.
Xfinity: 61 races, 0 wins, 7 top-10s, 1 pole (five seasons); best season finish, 10th (2012)
IndyCar: 115 races, 1 win, 7 top-three finishes, 3 poles (seven seasons); best season finish, fifth (2009).
|
|
|
Danica
Mar 29, 2016 18:58:20 GMT -5
Post by Yogisd1 on Mar 29, 2016 18:58:20 GMT -5
A couple of puzzling stats.
Stenhouse: seven seasons in cup, 117 races. Patrick: four seasons in cup, 123 races.
Stenhouse: five seasons in Xfinity, 107 races Patrick: five seasons in Xfinity, 61 races
Patrick has had better equipment, but Stenhouse has more experience. It would be interesting to see what they could do if they swapped cars.
|
|
|
Danica
Mar 29, 2016 22:31:35 GMT -5
Post by pegbundy on Mar 29, 2016 22:31:35 GMT -5
That would be an interesting experiment.
|
|
|
Danica
Mar 30, 2016 8:56:30 GMT -5
Post by 221dayton on Mar 30, 2016 8:56:30 GMT -5
How Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is outrunning girlfriend Danica Patrick
Jeff Owens Sporting News 3/28/2016
Danica Patrick admits to being frustrated with her progress in NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series.
After three full seasons, she has just six top-10 finishes and was no better than 24th in the standings. And she's off to another poor start this season, standing 29th after five races.
But through all that, one minor consolation has been the fact that other young, inexperienced Cup drivers struggled, too. That includes one in her "family."
Patrick's boyfriend, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., also has had a rough start to his Sprint Cup career, finishing 19th, 27th and 25th in points in his first three seasons. He even finished one spot behind Patrick last season.
But not anymore. While Patrick is struggling, Stenhouse appears to be figuring it out.
Stenhouse has two top-10 finishes in the first five races this season and scored his fourth career top-five last week at Auto Club Speedway in California. After five races, the two-time Xfinity Series champion is 14th in points and in position to make the Chase if he can keep it up.
"I feel really strong about the direction we're headed," Stenhouse said. "Everybody is like, 'You're back.' We still have a long ways to go, but I'm definitely happy about the effort and the direction that we're going."
Patrick, meanwhile, continues to struggle to find any success or consistency. In five races this season, she has finished 35th, 20th, 21st, 19th and 38th. And just when she seems to get going, something bad happens.
She was making progress last week when Kasey Kahne slid into her and knocked her car into the wall. Patrick was so angry she walked onto the track apron to gesture at Kahne, drawing a $20,000 fine from NASCAR.
"I was having a pretty good recovery day, kind of like last weekend," Patrick said. "I was just running good race laps and on the lead lap at the end of the race back up into the top 20 from a bad starting position. And I was looking forward to a good finish and a good off week. Unfortunately now there is more work to be done at the shop, which is not I'm sure what they want."
Stenhouse, meanwhile, seems to have adapted to NASCAR's new low-downforce package, which makes the cars looser on the track and harder to drive. With better cars from Roush Fenway Racing, Stenhouse and crew chief Nick Sandler are starting to click.
"Ricky is doing a great job this year with being consistent on the racetrack and taking care of his equipment and managing the tires," Sandler, a former engineer with a degree from Duke University, told NBCSports.com. "Goodyear has brought a different package this year and that has changed the playing field a little bit. Ricky has grabbed ahold of it."
Stenhouse, who comes from a sprint-car background, seems to like the looser cars slipping and sliding around the track.
"The package is tough to drive, but it's a lot of fun," he said. "I think the drivers are having some of the most fun out there that we've had in a long time. I think the direction that NASCAR was able to go with the package and the low downforce made it fun for us.
"I think it's making it interesting, especially late in these races when you can hustle the car a little bit more than you could last year. I think that's making it very interesting and hopefully there will be another winner and a new first-time winner on Sunday."
The way he's running, it soon could be Stenhouse.
|
|
|
Danica
May 25, 2016 8:39:21 GMT -5
Post by 221dayton on May 25, 2016 8:39:21 GMT -5
Danica Patrick shines at polls, still big winner in popularity contests
Jeff Owens Sporting News 5/21/16
Danica Patrick may be struggling on the track, but she’s still strong at the polls, and that still counts for something.
Patrick was voted into the Sprint All-Star Race for the third time in four years Saturday, joining young star Chase Elliott, who also was voted in through the Sprint Fan Vote.
While Elliott and Kyle Larson engaged in a spectacular battle to win the final segment of the Sprint Showdown, Patrick finished ninth in the Showdown. But she proved once again that she has a big fan following and power at the polls.
“I have incredible fans,” she said. “They always come through.”
Patrick has lived almost exclusively off her popularity since making the leap to NASCAR. While showing very little progress on the track, she continues to capture the attention of fans and use her popularity and appeal to garner media exposure for her sponsors and team.
She won the Xfinity Series Most Popular Driver award in 2012 and has been among the top 10 vote getters for the Cup award the past three years. She was voted into the all-star race in three of the past four seasons, losing only to little-known driver Josh Wise, who used a sponsor-driven social media campaign to produce a surprise win in 2014.
Patrick has been a popular star since her IndyCar days, but that was fueled, in part, by sponsor GoDaddy, which aggressively marketed her as more of a model/celebrity than a racecar driver. GoDaddy ended its sponsorship last year, creating a bit of uncertainty surrounding Patrick’s future and changing image.
She is now backed by sponsor Nature’s Bakery and has become more of a health and fitness advocate, attracting fans on social media through her healthy eating tips and yoga poses.
On the track, she continues to struggle and made little progress in her fourth full Cup season. She has just six career top-10 finishes — none in 12 races this season. Her best finish was 13th last week at Dover, but that was aided by an 18-car crash late in the race.
But as she showed again Saturday, Patrick is still a powerful force when it comes to attracting fans and marketing her image and celebrity.
She was no shoo-in to win the Fan Vote this year. With young drivers Elliott, Ryan Blaney, Larson and Austin Dillon also building big fan bases, Patrick faced a challenge. And she got no help when Trevor Bayne and Greg Biffle won the first two segments of the Showdown, leaving Elliott, Blaney, Larson and Dillon also possibly needing the fan vote.
When Larson won the final segment, Elliott had to rely on the fan vote to reach the all-star race. He wound up winning the overall fan vote, with Patrick finishing second. Fortunately for Patrick, Sprint added two fan vote winners to this year’s all-star race, allowing both Elliott and Patrick to get in.
That, of course, led to criticism after the race, with Danica detractors arguing that she does not deserve to be in the all-star race and the fan vote was expanded just to get her in. Many argued that Blaney, who finished third, deserved it more.
Patrick has her share of critics, many who resent her popularity given her performance. Most believe she gets too much attention and media exposure for a driver who has been subpar on the track so far.
|
|
|
Danica
May 28, 2016 14:58:37 GMT -5
Post by Tom Pearce on May 28, 2016 14:58:37 GMT -5
A couple of puzzling stats. Stenhouse: seven seasons in cup, 117 races. Patrick: four seasons in cup, 123 races. Stenhouse: five seasons in Xfinity, 107 races Patrick: five seasons in Xfinity, 61 races Patrick has had better equipment, but Stenhouse has more experience. It would be interesting to see what they could do if they swapped cars. Stenhouse has improved a lot or maybe it is that Roush Racing has got their act together as of late.
|
|
|
Danica
Jun 14, 2016 12:18:50 GMT -5
Post by searchers on Jun 14, 2016 12:18:50 GMT -5
She was on American Ninja Warrior TV show last night because Ricky Stenhouse was competing.
The host pushed Danica hard to be a contestant next year. Danica did not commit.
I doubt she will do it. But would be fun to watch since she claims to be in such great shape. The feats they do on that show are difficult and sometimes dangerous.
|
|
|
Danica
Jun 14, 2016 14:02:12 GMT -5
Post by Gant fan on Jun 14, 2016 14:02:12 GMT -5
Nah she won't do it. Might get her hair wet.
|
|
tac10
Full Member
Posts: 225
|
Danica
Jun 16, 2016 21:58:07 GMT -5
Post by tac10 on Jun 16, 2016 21:58:07 GMT -5
Or break a nail
|
|
|
Danica
Jan 27, 2017 11:13:10 GMT -5
Post by 221dayton on Jan 27, 2017 11:13:10 GMT -5
Is Danica Patrick short of sponsors on eve of 2017 Cup season?
Bob Hille Sporting News 1/25/2017
Danica Patrick's NASCAR Cup Series race team is in discussions with primary sponsor Nature's Bakery “about how the sponsorship might look in 2017” — and it might look like she's shy a sponsor in a handful of races on the eve of the season, USA Today reported, citing a statement issued Tuesday by Stewart-Haas Racing.
SHR's statement issued to USA Today:
“Nature’s Bakery and Stewart-Haas Racing are in discussions about how the sponsorship might look in 2017. Both sides have options, and it’s a matter of determining what is best for both parties. Stewart-Haas Racing remains focused on its preparation for the 2017 NASCAR season where it will again field four entries in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series while also introducing a full-time NASCAR XFNITY Series team.”
The math: Nevada-based Nature's Bakery is scheduled to sponsor 25 of 36 points races this season, but has the option to sell five; Aspen Dental will sponsor four races, TaxAct three and Code 3 three. So if Nature's Bakery holds on to all its races, then Patrick is sponsored in 35 of 36 races.
However, if Nature's Bakery — much smaller than most Cup sponsors — opts out of the five races, then Patrick could be left looking for sponsors in six races.
Patrick finished 24th in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2016, for the second consecutive season she finished in that spot.
|
|
tac10
Full Member
Posts: 225
|
Danica
Jan 30, 2017 13:58:12 GMT -5
Post by tac10 on Jan 30, 2017 13:58:12 GMT -5
Turn 1: Should Danica Patrick be worried about her career if the Nature's Bakery sponsorship falls through?
K. Lee Davis, ESPN.com motorsports editor: Absolutely. Patrick isn't a bad racer, she just hasn't shown the kind of improvement she needs to on a power team such as Stewart-Haas Racing. As long as she brings in money -- and she always has -- she has a ride. The day she no longer can, that seat will go to a driver who can bring in money, or one with a bigger upside who could eventually bring in money. That's how racing has always worked.
Ryan McGee, ESPN.com writer: Yes. Her on-track performance probably isn't enough to keep running without backing. And I worry that said lack of performance has eroded the crossover appeal that has made her so attractive to sponsors. It really is an interesting time right now with drivers and sponsors and discussion/negotiation when it comes to expectations within those contracts such as appearances, social-media usage, etc. You add the glut of young talent coming up the ladder and it puts all of the above on a very accelerated pace. I think Danica's case will be interesting to watch because of all of the above.
John Oreovicz, ESPN.com writer: In the short term, no, because she has a contract. But she has good reason to worry beyond that. Her star value as a marketer has faded, and the only way she will remain relevant as a racing driver is by dramatically improving her performance on the track. This is the closest thing to a make-or-break year in Danica's career.
Bob Pockrass, ESPN.com writer: She should be worried about her career because of her results on the track. She has finished 24th in the standings the last two years and didn't finish in the top 10 in any race in 2016. She needs to be top-20 in the standings and earn top-10s at least occasionally. That would at least give a sponsor hope of a win and making the playoffs, which means sponsorship is more likely.
|
|