Danica Patrick made her name as one of the best female drivers in the business. Since her retirement, Patrick has worn several hats, including that of a broadcast, breaking down and analyzing those in the role she used to occupy.
Of course, as a broadcaster, Patrick isn’t free from criticism. However, she has figured out a great way to handle criticism of her as a broadcaster from fans.
“Great… it’s part of the drama of television,” Danica Patrick said. “It’s also me triggering people, which has nothing to do with me. And I think that when I work as hard as possible, and do the best job I possibly can and take the job seriously, whatever job that is, I know I’ve done everything I can.”
Patrick explained that she’s self-critical. So, she already knows about most criticism that fans could have of her. She also, through a long career, has found ways to deal with that criticism.
“And so criticism is, I probably already know it, if it’s true, right? I probably already know it. So, I’m pretty aware. Even while I was driving, I always tried to make sure that I didn’t leave room for the criticism to be able to get to me… I always tried as hard as I could and did everything I could,” Patrick said.
“And if something wasn’t working, I tried new approaches. There’s lots of layers to criticism and where it comes from. But I feel like I’ve done pretty well with it, because it was kind of the name of the game for me.”
Danica Patrick says NASCAR races are ‘way too long’
NASCAR is facing an issue as ratings are dipping amid the rise of Formula One and Danica Patrick thinks one of the biggest issues is that NASCAR races take too long and people don’t want to watch something that long.
“I sat down actually with one really important person within NASCAR… one of the things I said was, ‘the races are way, way too long.’ People’s consuming habits change… because people can’t keep their attention span long enough. So, when you’re asking them to sit in front of a television for five or six hours, with pre-race and the race and everything, that’s a lot of time to expect someone to be attentive. Sports all have their ebbs and flows. Formula One is on the rise, but NASCAR is struggling a little bit more. And there was a time when Formula One wasn’t really a blip on the radar here in the States and NASCAR drivers were everything,” Patrick said.
“A lot of that correlates with, yes, the product, but also the marketability of the drivers within it and the personalities. NASCAR has suffered a lot of losses when it comes to their personalities with a lot of the big famous names being gone. There was Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt jr. and Tony Stewart and myself and Carl Edwards… I’m sure that Formula One will have its dip in popularity somewhere down the line and other motorsports will be on the rise.”
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