Danica to Host Automotive News Program

[¡As-de-mim!]

Press Release Source: Spike TV
Spike TV Goes 'Zero To Sixty' With Top Female Race Car Driver Danica Patrick
Monday August 4, 12:03 pm ET

NEW YORK, Aug. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Spike TV speaks to guys' love of cars with a new interstitial series, "Zero To Sixty," starring top female race car driver Danica Patrick, debuting Monday, August 11. These 60-second updates cover all the news from the automobile world -- everything from the latest concept cars, showroom news, and the hottest looks from the top car maker's design studios. After its premiere on the network's official launch date of Monday, August 11, Zero To Sixty will settle into a weekend rotation with new reports airing periodically on Saturdays and Sundays.

"Spike TV is evolving into the place guys come to talk about and learn about cars. In 'Zero to Sixty,' we bring together the latest news from the auto world in a way that's never been done before," said Kevin Kay, Executive Vice President of Programming and Production, Spike TV. "It's fast-paced, it's informative, it's sexy -- and it's hosted by Danica Patrick -- one of the highest ranking and certainly best looking CART racers on the circuit."

"'Zero to Sixty' is the first mainstream automotive news program of its kind. Danica's upbeat and witty delivery of real industry news appeals to Spike TV's audience of young, car-savvy men," said Fred Seibert, Zero to Sixty's executive producer. "Zero to Sixty will quickly establish Spike TV as an automotive authority."

Patrick, a member of CART's Team Rahal, owned by former driving superstar Bobby Rahal and David Letterman, is considered one of the sport's top open wheel drivers. A native of Roscoe, Ill., Patrick has made a meteoric rise through the racing ranks -- starting with a second place finish as an unknown 18-year old at the world renowned Formula Ford Festival in 2000. She made her CART debut in 2002 and within a few months, won the pro/celebrity race in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

The creator/producers of Zero to Sixty are Emil Rensing and Fred Seibert.

Spike TV, the first network for men, is available in 86 million homes and is a division of MTV Networks. MTV Networks owns and operates the cable television programming services MTV: Music Television, MTV2, Nickelodeon/Nick at Nite, TV Land, VH1, CMT: Country Music Television, and Spike TV, as well as The Digital Suite from MTV Networks, a package of thirteen digital services, all of which are trademarks of MTV Networks. MTV Networks also operates and offers joint ventures, licensing agreements and syndication deals whereby its programming can be seen worldwide.
___________________________________________________________________

And I thought Sarah Fisher was the top female race car driver.

[ElScOrChO]

Maybe they wanted to say that she was the top female driver using a scale of beauty

[Jay]

She's improving, she didn't spin or crash in Trois Rivieres..and the locals loved her. Now if only she was a front runner...

[Liz]

Danica Patrick -- the Anna Kornikova of racing.

How long until we see her advertising underwear on a large billboard trackside?

[¡As-de-mim!]

Originally posted by Liz
How long until we see her advertising underwear on a large billboard trackside?

Not soon enough.

[Emfa]

My first thought when reading this was "Oh, she's developing a career in the media for when her racing career is over." Can't start too soon, I guess...

Of course, if she is able to raise the profile of CART in the target demographic, that can't be a bad thing. I suppose it kind of fits in with the "Motorock" idea.

[Jay]

I'm not a big fan of her attitude, and to be honest she's really not that good looking up close. She doesn't turn any heads in the paddock anyway...in fact, she's rarely recognized outside the car or PR sessions. I think she must have been wearing a lot of makeup in her PR shoots. I wouldn't say she's ugly by any means, but not the beauty queen she's been made out to be.

I think she could be quite good for Cart if she can make it here as a competent pilot. She needs another year in Atlantic, and even then I don't think she'd be a mid-fielder at best. Still...Cart needs all of the attention it can get, and Danica would certainly attract some.

[evo]

To be fair, I think Danica could be better than Rodolfo Lavin or any of the Coyne guys. Still needs to smile more though...

[Liz]

Being better than one of the Coyne guys is not exactly a ringing endorsement. Still, perhaps she ought to make the most of her other opportunities; racing is an uncertain career at best, and she's not the best. Which isn't to say she couldn't be better, but she needs to concentrate on race weekends, on her car and its preparation and her driving, not in vamping the media. After she has made some impression in the car, then she can concentrate on other stuff.

But as they say, any publicity is better than none.

[BizTeacher]

The potential is there. I seem to recall that she finished third in the season opener in Mexico. Maybe lack of experience at the Atlantics level is a factor in her mid-pack performance.

[gttouring]

she isn't the ringer they want
they want 0-sixty? why not just use a cutie, she doen't have to race, there is Ashley Force, John force's drag raceing Daughter...much cuter than John
and any other racer for that matter-or shock use a real journalist like Despain, of course we see his face alot now...

[Jay]

Originally posted by BizTeacher
The potential is there. I seem to recall that she finished third in the season opener in Mexico. Maybe lack of experience at the Atlantics level is a factor in her mid-pack performance.

Her third place finish was because of at least 3 front runners retiring. Atlantic isnt the type of series that takes time to get used to.. you're either on it from the start, or not on it at all.

To be fair, the cars are anything buy equal. Allmendinger is a good driver, but nowhere near as good as Karl Russo's car is making him look. Danica does not have the best engine make, and is the best in her class.. It's hard to say how much Rahal is putting into the program too...

[KC]

She is merely doing what most other American drivers fail to do. She is selling and marketting herself. If she uses her looks and notoriety as one of the few female drivers out there to get a sponsor big enough to cover her racing season then more power to her. Sarah Fisher is a great racer. She has not raced for a good team in the IRL and has competed with the best that series has to offer. She has failed, however, to keep herself in the media limelight and keep people interested in what she is doing outside racing. That is how you get people like Budweiser or Miller or Motorola or DuPont to notice you and consider giving away their precious money for you to represent them.

As far as Danica Patrick's racing goes, she has just gotten started in Atlantics and people are already slagging her off as a non-competitor? Very few drivers jump into a series and can immediately set the world on fire. Juan Pablo Montoya didn't even do that in the ladder formula in his first years and its easy to see how good he is now. There is promise there, but really no more than any of the other freshman racers in mid-pack teams.

[Jay]

Not in Atlantic KC, for the most part you're either on it there or your not... Valiante, Dalzeil, Allmendinger, Diaz etc were all fast out of the box...and Danica has not moved one way or the other since the season began. The only reason a driver makes a substantial improvement in that series is if he/she gets a better car. If Danica was driving in one of the blank yellow cars, she'd be winning races, but then so would Lavin.

[BizTeacher]

Originally posted by Jay
Her third place finish was because of at least 3 front runners retiring. Atlantic isnt the type of series that takes time to get used to.. you're either on it from the start, or not on it at all.

To be fair, the cars are anything buy equal. Allmendinger is a good driver, but nowhere near as good as Karl Russo's car is making him look. Danica does not have the best engine make, and is the best in her class.. It's hard to say how much Rahal is putting into the program too...

I'm looking at the results from Monterrey, Mexico and Danica finished in front of several other of the series competitive drivers. It doesn't look as thought three of the fromt runners retired to me, but I am only basing this on the standings of the race as I only remember watching the last handful of laps. First race, she was quick, but admittingly, she has gone off the boil since that race. Putting her in a CART seat would be good exposure for the series, but if (and presumably) when she gets there (most likely in a Rahal car), she will have to perform.

[Liz]

"Selling and marketing herself" as what, though? That's the question, and whether we like it or not, it is still a man's world in open wheel racing and as we old time feminists learned 40 years ago, to compete in a man's world you must compete like a man. When you and your sisters have proved to the world in this way that it's NOT a man's world anymore, then you can go back to competing like a woman. (I am speaking of course only regarding what you do during business hours in the public eye. What you do vis-a-vis vamping sponsors is up to you. Male or female.)

Sarah Fisher is not failing to progress in racing because she isn't vamping the media or removing enough clothing; she's failing because she's in an invisible series in an uncompetitive car. Were Fisher to turn up tomorrow in a corset, suspenders and fishnet tights, she would still be found at the same position on the grid when the chequered flag flew.

[Jay]

BizTeacher, they may not have retired, but AJ Allmendinger, Joey Hand an Luiz Diaz were involved in a first lap accident that caused them to pit or lose a lot of places.

If she drives a perfect race, she's looking at a 5th to 8th place finish...which isn't bad, but it's on the outside of the front runners. Does this mean she won't make it to Cart though? No way! I think another year in this series would do her some good, but she should be ready for the series in a year or two....they'll just have to give her a booster seat....lol.

[ElScOrChO]

Lets just give her another year and then well have a real good idea of her talent.

[KC]

No doubt that marketting herself won't improve her driving skills, but it does improve her chances of landing a better ride because she brings more to the table than someone without sponsorship. It all goes hand in hand. How did Jourdain maintain his seat in CART all these years with little or no success until lately? He brought big money to the team and now he has started to perform. Basically his sponsors bought and paid for his time learning the craft in CART. Honestly, if you have a better drive then you stand a better chance of finishing well. No guarantees of winning, no guarantees of being a second a lap faster, but it does give a driver a better chance.

Does anyone think it has hurt Helio Castroneves's career to be voted America's Most Eligible Bachelor and all the GQ spreads he has done? He has probably picked up millions in small sponsor and product endorsement deals for all this. Didn't do anything for his driving skill. I don't see a problem with Helio being seen as a sex symbol and Danica doing the same. Racing is entertainment, and the non-racing oriented, mainstream media eats this kind of stuff up. Its mroe coverage and any coverage besides the current money issues is better than nothing.

[Tim Northcutt]

A few Notes:

Danica may not be on a billboard yet, but she did "display" what looked like leather underwear in some cheesecake mag a few months back (sprawling on the hood of a '57 Chevy)...

Sorry, but she's all hype....I thought her post-race comments following the Road Atlanta ALMS race showed how clueless this little tart really is....


in equal cars, Sarah Fisher would blow the leather pants right off Danica's butt....no contest...end of story...Sarah can drive...danica hasn't proved that yet...

But that's just my opinion

[evo]

Equal cars like the ones at the Toyota celebrity race in 2002. Wait, didn't Danica beat a 4 time Trans Am champion with Sarah a very distant third? I missed her post race comments at Road Atlanta, and she's not my favourite driver either (in fact, I'm a bigger fan of Sarah Fisher who seems to enjoy herself a lot more) but Danica is definitley faster on a road course. Oval racing is more about set up than driver ability. Given the right car, anyone of these drivers can be fast. Look at Rodolfo Lavin in Milwaukee. So I guess what I'm saying is Danica is a more talented racing driver than Sarah.

And that's my opinion.

[Jay]

yeah, evo's right...in equal equipment Danica did 'blow the leather pants off' of Sarah's butt. Funny...I've never seen her wearing anything but jeans either.

[evo]

That's not to say I wouldn't want to see each of them blowing the leather pants off one another... oh no wait, I've gone too far...

[Omega99]

Unfortunately, since Spike Lee owns the rights to his first name... apparently... it's still "the new TNN" the last time I checked (which by the way makes it "the new The Nashville Network", which sounds retarded)

[#27]

Somebody please let me know what her comments were after RA. Or please direct me to a link with more info.

Thanks guys.

PS: Danica is a 8 on a scale of 10. But yes, she needs to smile more. Maybe shes trying to not appear like a little cutie during race weekends, maybe to help her concentrate. After all, Rahal waxes lyrical about Danica's focus and determination.