Would the fact that Danica Patrick is racing make you buy aticket to see her race? A lot of people seemed to think that wasthe case in IndyCar, and now that she is leaving to race in NASCAR,a lot of those people are concerned. The folks in NASCAR are ecstatic that she is coming. They thinkthat Danica will sell a lot of tickets for NASCAR races. Recently, Danica announced that she had signed a deal with DaleEarnhardt Jr. and his JR Motorsports to race the entire NASCARNationwide Series schedule in 2012. In addition, she will drive aSprint Cup car in about a half-dozen events provided by TonyStewart.Not very surprising, the first Cup race on her schedule is theseason-opening Daytona 500.Hopefully, she will not show up for the Daytona 500 in the sameseven-inch spiked heels that she wore for the announcement of herplans for 2012. I found that so amazing that I just had to get thatin.In all the years I have been covering the sport, I cantruthfully say that I have never seen a woman racer show up at anews conference in high heels (no male racers, either), and I havebeen there for a few such announcements.Also, not surprising is the fact that GoDaddy, the company thathas pretty much financed her racing career and made her pretty mucha household word, will be the sponsor for all her NASCAR racing.And GoDaddy will continue to be an Andretti Motorsports sponsor forthe next two seasons.Apparently, that was part of the deal to get Danica out of hercontract with Andretti. And there is a chance that Indy 500 winnerDan Wheldon will get a full-time ride with the Andretti team for2012. Believe it or not, Wheldon has not had a full-time ride inquite a while.If it were not for the high-powered marketing program she has inplace, I have to seriously doubt that she would have gotten thisfar. She earned $12 million last year, according to Forbes.com.To me, that is proof that people with no exceptional talent canbe financially successful. Look at Snooki, who has no real talent;she is making millions.Patrick last won an event 64 races ago, when she won a fuelstrategy IndyCar race in Japan. Her efforts with the open-wheelcars have been disappointing this season.I am thinking that she has used up her marketing strategies inIndyCar; merchandise sales are not what they used to be. There aresome new ladies coming along to race in IndyCar, and the attentionthat Patrick thrived on, grew wealthy on, is waning. Time to moveon.Patrick has told everyone who will stand still long enough tolisten that she is not moving to a full-time effort in NASCAR tohelp her marketing efforts and help sell more merchandise.Quite frankly, I don’t think she is going to become a bigsuccess in NASCAR. She will not be winning races in Nationwide orSprint Cup.I doubt that she will be a factor in any NASCAR events in 2012,but the broadcasters’ love affair, probably nudged along by NASCARdecision makers, with her will probably give her more TV exposurethan the race leaders.Some very talented stars of IndyCar have struggled in theirefforts to switch to NASCAR. Sam Hornish Jr., an Indy 500 winner,has been trying to make it in NASCAR Cup and now Nationwide for acouple of years. I can’t remember when he has been a factor in anyrace, and he has been in some very good equipment provided by RogerPenske.IndyCar standout Dario Franchitti, even better known formarrying a movie star, tried to make it in NASCAR and lasted justone season before heading back to the comfort of open-wheelracing.Hey, I remember Michael Waltrip raced for 11 years in NASCARwithout a win. However, he was able to attract major sponsorshipand, in auto racing, it does not seem to matter if you have successon the track as long as sponsors are happy.Even now that Waltrip is a car owner who rarely drives, he stillseems to have the magic touch for attracting sponsors. It may be abig help that he gets to generate exposure for his sponsors withhis frequent commentator work for SPEED television.Perhaps Michael and Danica should get together and write a bookon how to be successful in marketing and sponsorship, with somelimited racing talent thrown in.It will be interesting to see how Danica does. Danica willprobably measure it by on-track achievement. NASCAR will measure itby ticket sales and TV rating numbers. Danica’s marketing peoplewill probably measure it by merchandise sales.Quite frankly, I think she has her work cut out for her in allthose areas. Just my opinion.On the local sceneDave Adams presents another of his very successful Hooters RaceNights at the Bensalem Hooters this Thursday. Street RoadAccessories and All-American Fuel sponsor the night that includescustom cars, race cars and more on display.It will be $1 hot dog night, and there will be a pig roast. Lotsof prizes will be given away by the Hooter girls, who will also bein the dunk tank. Call Adams at 215-357-2606 for moreinformation. © 2011 phillyBurbs.com . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.