This is the Statt Mann Baby!!  Time to Scatt a little bit.

I spent some time this week looking for a Danica Patrick soundbite on Google and You Tube.  But the overwhelming return on the video search showed Danica mad, Danica posing, Danica pissed and Danica stomping away.  And, yeah, there was that win a year ago in Japan.

The soundbite I wanted was Danica on the Espy Red Carpet this week talking about going to NASCAR.  I remembered her saying the conversation was a good one at contract time.  But she went on to say she wanted a good car because she was a brand and had to protect that brand whatever she did.

And I see her point when I look across the webosphere and see everything about Danica as a product and not much about her as a race car driver.

Now, I can say I’ve supported her as a driver.  I’d like to see her more as a racer than a driver but that’s just me.

What disappoints me is Danica settling on herself as a brand.  Certainly NASCAR is the best place for that kind of thinking.  Most of the drivers there are brands and not racers but, again, that’s just me.

My point here is this: If I was Rick Hendrick or Jack Roush, the best teams and cars in NASCAR, why do I need another brand?  I’ve got brands. 

For that matter, if I was an IRL team owner, why do I want a pissed and posing brand begging for resources instead of fighting for and getting the win at winnin’ time?

But that’s just me.

Peace.