(By Reid Spencer Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service)
Posted: Sunday,February 7th, 2010
The combination of car owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. and driver Danica Patrick formed the critical mass necessary to bring Mattel brand Hot Wheels back to NASCAR sponsorship.
Hot Wheels will appear as primary sponsor on Patrick’s No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet for the Aug. 14 Nationwide Series race at Michigan and as an associate sponsor for the rest of Patrick’s 2010 races in the series.
As a child, Earnhardt was thoroughly familiar with the Hot Wheels brand.
MOORESVILLE, NC - DECEMBER 17: Danica Patrick (L), driver of the #7 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet poses with team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. (R), at JR Motorsports on December 17, 2009 in Mooresville, North Carolina. (Photo by Jason Smith/Getty Images)
“The one car that was most sought-after when I was that age was the ‘55 or ‘57 Chevrolet Bel Air with the flip-nose front end,” Earnhardt said at Saturday’s sponsorship announcement. “That was the coolest one without question.”
Patrick, on the other hand, was far more familiar with another Mattel product.
“I think there were some Hot Wheels, but I do remember Barbie dolls — I’m a girl, you know,” said Patrick, who designed a six-wheeled hot rod called the “Danicar” as part of the sponsorship deal. “I got into racing when I was 10, but I do remember quite a few Barbies.”
Might be a good idea for JRM to frame another sponsor pitch to Mattel.
THE NAME’S THE SAME
Country music star Jack Ingram shares his name with the third most prolific winner in Nationwide Series history.
“He has my website,” the singer/songwriter joked Friday night before a Budweiser One-Night Stand appearance with driver Kasey Kahne at the Coliseum in Daytona Beach.
Asked whether he had ever contacted the former Nationwide champion about purchasing the jackingram.com domain name, Ingram said, “He’s bigger than I am. I just tell people to go to jackingram.net.”
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