NASCAR: Petty’s Comments On Patrick Are Off The Mark
By Mike Hutton
NASCAR’s all-time wins leader Richard Petty made more disparaging comments about Danica Patrick following the Daytona 500. Maybe it’s time for Petty to move on?
Richard Petty’s chauvinistic attitude towards women in NASCAR is nothing new. He has a history of belittling those women who compete even if his criticisms are not direct or pointed. Sometimes, his silence is deafening. Even at 78-years-old, he hasn’t backed down from sharing these opinions, regardless of how misplaced they might be. His comments following the Daytona 500 regarding driver Danica Patrick illustrate his belief that NASCAR should confine itself to that portion of the country east of the Mississippi and south of the Mason-Dixon line.
"“She just settled in where she at,” Petty told Yahoo Sports. “She ain’t gotten no better or no worse.” When asked what she needed to do to win a race, Petty said: “No comment.”"
As an original member of NASCAR’s Hall of Fame, the all-time leader in race wins, winner of seven Daytona 500’s, winner of seven championships and now a charter-holding team owner, Richard has more than earned the right to express his opinions, and he is certainly qualified to evaluate talent. It is also true that many fans, including Danica’s ardent supporters, were expecting better on-track results by this point in her career. And, it’s not inaccurate to hold the belief that she needs to get better sooner rather than later.
But here’s the thing, and this goes hand-in-hand with his comments in Daytona that NASCAR has become too much of a show and less about racing:
NASCAR is in the entertainment business.
More so than any major sport, concern for the fans’ perception of the product is paramount. Fans today are demanding the amenities, bands, celebrities, pomp & circumstance, military fly-overs, comedic renditions of pre-race ceremonies, etc. for the dollars they choose to spend to attend a race. If that’s what they want, NASCAR is behooved to give it to them. It is what is putting people in the seats, money in the bank and – as he is now an equity stakeholder in the sport – money in King Richard’s pocket.
Danica is also good for the sport, regardless of her record. She was able to attract a new sponsor, Nature’s Bakery, to the Sprint Cup series this year, she ranks 7th in merchandise sales (higher, I might add, than either of Petty’s drivers) and is a role model for young women. Her devotion to healthy living and fitness are examples 70% (give or take) of those sitting in the NASCAR stands should take note of, myself included.
The last time one of Petty’s drivers won a race (Aric Almirola, Daytona – July 2014) it was due to not making a pit stop when others did and then rain moving in to shorten the event. In fact, Richard Petty Motorsports (RPM) drivers have won only five races in the company’s existence – the aforementioned rain-shortened Daytona race, two road-course races by Marcos Ambrose and two wins by Kasey Kahne very early (2009) in his career. Meaningful, sustained success hasn’t exactly befallen his organization. In fact, he is only a minority holder in the management structure of RPM. Medallion Financial (NYSE: TAXI) and it’s President, Andrew Murstein, are the majority owners. MF is a company focused on lending to taxi companies, and it’s stock price has fallen by 50% in the last two years. Maybe that’s where Richard gets his cars? Richard himself rode around in the back half of the field for the last eight years of his career without a win.
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As stated earlier, Petty is entitled to his opinions, as are any of us. However, as a charter-holding car owner, the glass house in which he operates demands that he be held to a higher standard. For whatever unknown reasons, the owners’ love of the socialistic nature of the charter system gives him a vested interest in not only his teams’ performances, but the performances of 35 others as well, the No. 10 among them. He needs to recognize that while she hasn’t progressed as quickly as many would have hoped, Danica is still needed in this sport and adds value to it. Considering the role that NASCAR has played within multiple generations of the Petty family, perhaps he should just say “thank you” and be on his way.