Danica Patrick says NASCAR races are 'way too long'

Danica Patrick made a name for herself as one of the best women drivers that racing has seen. Today, she works as a commentator for Sky Sports, and in that role, she sees issues that NASCAR needs to deal with moving forward.

The reality for NASCAR is that ratings are down in recent years. There’s a lot of reasons for that, but Patrick firmly believes that a major factor that NASCAR is dealing with is that the races themselves are too 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,’” Danica Patrick said. “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.”

Danica Patrick pointed out that there are a lot of factors beyond just the races not holding people’s attention that go into poor ratings. It’s not just people not having the attention to the sport anymore. There are issues like marketing and the rise of Formula One that NASCAR is currently dealing with.

“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.”

Danica Patrick slams Martin Truex Jr. after death of former partner Sherry Pollex

Martin Truex Jr. released a statement after the death of his longtime partner Sherry Pollex, who had ovarian cancer. However, at the time the two were no longer together and Danica Patrick made it clear how much she disliked his statement.

“I avoid negativity on social at almost all costs,” Patrick wrote. “Almost…. But this is the most insensitive disconnected statement from a guy that I have never liked. And obviously for good reason. I don’t care what happened between them but this is as cold as it gets. A PR rep wrote this guaranteed. You’re free from this now Sherry.”