Patrick tops non-mascot endorsers

BROOKLYN, MI - JUNE 15: Danica Patrick, driver of the #10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, prepares to drive during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan International Speedway on June 15, 2013 in Brooklyn, Michigan. (Photo by Todd Warshaw/Getty Images)
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BROOKLYN, MI - JUNE 15:  Danica Patrick, driver of the #10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, prepares to drive during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan International Speedway on June 15, 2013 in Brooklyn, Michigan.  (Photo by Todd Warshaw/Getty Images)
BROOKLYN, MI – JUNE 15: Danica Patrick, driver of the #10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, prepares to drive during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan International Speedway on June 15, 2013 in Brooklyn, Michigan. (Photo by Todd Warshaw/Getty Images)

BROOKLYN, Mich. — Danica Patrick will start her No. 10 Chevy 37th in Sunday’s Quicken Loans 400 but she’s No. 1 when it comes to drawing social-media followers to her primary sponsor.

In a poll by Synthesio, a social-media monitoring specialist, Patrick was the highest-rated celebrity endorser when it came to generating buzz for sponsor GoDaddy.

Synthesio CEO Loic Moisand told USA Today it’s because she frequently mentions her sponsor on her Twitter account (@DanicaPatrick) and “she appears reachable.”

“I’ve always tried to be very authentic with my answers or what I talk about on social media,” Patrick said after practice at Michigan International Speedway. “My sponsor, Tissot’s the one that said it would help sponsor my Twitter page and launch it, so I was kind of one of the first ones who was getting the sponsors involved in the social-media aspect.”

As well as she performs among celebs, Patrick still was no match for the Pillsbury Doughboy, the Aflac duck or the Geico gecko. Imaginary characters, the study found, drew a much greater number of followers to sponsors than humans.

“They’re not real people,” she said. “I win in the people category.”

Greg Engle
About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.