NASCAR Cup Series

Danica Patrick mixes marketing and racing

Published Aug. 12, 2010 1:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

She's baaack.

It seems like it was just yesterday when Danica Patrick was racing into the hearts, homes and pocketbooks of young NASCAR fans in Chicagoland Speedway.

While Patrick has focused on her full-time job in the IndyCar Series since July, the 28-year-old Andretti Autosport racer left fond memories among the NASCAR fan base despite the challenges she's had while acclimating to stock cars.

That's certainly the case for Charlie Leffler, who will be 3 on Monday. His father, Nationwide Series regular Jason Leffler's No. 38 Great Clips Toyota hauler is parked alongside Patrick's No. 7 JR Motorsports transporter at Michigan International Speedway this weekend. Jason Leffler says it's "no big deal" having Patrick as a garage neighbor.

"She's a racer, like everybody else," Leffler says. "It's not the madhouse it was when she first got here. My son, that's a different story. Ask him who his girlfriend is and he'll say, 'Danica'."

That's precisely what Mattel's Hot Wheels is banking on by debuting its' "Designed by Hot Wheels" paint scheme on the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet. It's the perfect "vehicle" for marketing the 40-year-old iconic die-cast brand. In 1997, Hot Wheels made its initial foray into NASCAR with another legendary name — Petty, when Kyle started his own program PE2. So who better now to revive the sponsorship a decade later than NASCAR's newest sweetheart and her owner Dale Earnhardt Jr.?

"For a brand like Hot Wheels, it's obviously important to be with the right people in the right places," said Simon Waldron, vice president of wheels marketing at Mattel. "Racing is part of the heritage of this brand. NASCAR is the biggest racing in America, so it totally makes sense for us to be involved. But it's also how you activate as well. What I'm most proud of, it's easy to write a check, it's then what you do on the backside of that to make it really work for your brand. The combination of both things is very strong for us.

"I couldn't tell you exactly how many new fans we have because of Danica, but it certainly helps for a brand like Hot Wheels to be relevant. And obviously Danica is very, very relevant for our brand."

In these economic times, sponsorship is the lifeblood of a team, particularly in NASCAR's Nationwide Series where it's difficult to find partners that will invest in drivers that are on their way up. For a lot of teams, it's a tough sell taking an unknown name with little to a boardroom and convincing the directors and managers that it's worth taking a chance on a driver without a track record.

Patrick has witnessed how the symbiotic relationship between drivers and sponsors can benefit both brands.

"It's very important to have sponsors that support you like this," Patrick said. "This started out as more of a personal relationship that grew ... than sponsoring and having a paint-out on the car. I'm really lucky that I have a sponsor that can do that and want to do that. As we all know so well, if there's not a sponsor on the car, you can't go around. No matter how good you are. This kind of support is important. Hopefully, we can have a good weekend and lure them into doing more."

Since Patrick is already a known quantity in open wheel circles, it's been easier for JRM to open doors. But now it's up to Miss Patrick to deliver. This weekend she'll be making her sixth Nationwide Series start. Her best career finish of 24th came on July 9, at her hometown track, Chicagoland Speedway. But Michigan's two-mile configuration is a sister track to Auto Club Speedway, where Patrick labored throughout the weekend after starting 36th and finishing 31st — three laps off the pace. This week she faces the additional challenge of racing in NASCAR's new Nationwide car for the first time. In Thursday's opening day of practice, Patrick was 26th of 43 in the final session with a speed of 171.641 mph. Session leader Kevin Harvick topped the field with a lap of 177.205 mph.

"I think the same rules apply as any other weekend, we need to try to get into that top 10-20 and have a real solid day," Patrick said. "Anything can happen. You can have a real great day and finish in the top 10 or you can have a real bad day and crash on the first lap. All those things can happen, but I think the top 15-20 is a good realistic goal for me."