How Danica Patrick Became A Successful Brand Name

Danica Patrick has become a household name in the last several years. The interesting thing about her story, however, is that the reason she’s known will vary wildly depending on exactly which household you’re talking about. If you live in a home that is a fan of NASCAR, you will no doubt recognize her immediately as one of the most successful female drivers in the history of the sport. Even if you’re not a fan of auto racing of any type, you still likely know her name thanks to either her modeling career, her charitable enterprises or as the face of the wildly successful Go Daddy Internet hosting campaign. Danica Patrick’s is a story that is certainly as interesting as it is varied.

The Early Years

Auto racing has always run in the Patrick family and indeed has been a large part of Danica’s life for the last several decade. She legendarily began go-kart racing in 1992 at the tender young age of 10. After moving to England in her mid teens, she began racing in a variety of different national series events in Britain. She raced in famous competitions like the Formula Vauxhall, the Formula Ford Festival and more.

At the same time she also continued her education while studying broad. After being introduced to former Indy 500 team owner John Mecom, Jr., he began to follow her career with great intensity moving forward.

IndyCar

Danica Patrick officially made her entry into the world of IndyCar in the IRL IndyCar Series in 2005. She became only the fourth woman ever to compete in the Indianapolis 500 the same year and iscurrently still only one of two women in history to have competed in both the Indianapolis 500 and the Daytona 500.

She won her first pole position in the same year at the Kansas Speedway, becoming only the second woman to do this in the history of the IndyCar series. She also competed in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, as well as a wide variety of other competitions throughout the next several years.

Sponsorship

In 2006, Danica Patrick signed a deal with Andretti Green Racing. She replaced famous racer Bryan herta beginning the following year in 2007. She received sponsorship from a wide variety of notable corporations including XM Satellite Radio, Motorola and Go Daddy.

NASCAR

Danica Patrick entered the world of NASCAR officially in 2010 at the ARCA race at the Daytona International Speedway. Her primary sponsor continued to be Go Daddy.com, the Internet hosting service. She finished sixth place in the race and entered into a number of competitions throughout the following years, including the NASCAR Nationwide Series and more.

She finished in fourth place in the Sam’s Town 300 Nationwide Series Race in 2011, becoming the only female in the history of the sport to accomplish that feat. She continued to participate in the NASCAR Nationwide Series throughout the next several years, with her primary sponsor always being Go Daddy.

Danica Patrick: The Media Personality

All throughout the time that Danica Patrick was building a career as the most successful female driver in the history of auto racing, she was also building a highly lucrative second career: that of the media personality. Represented by the famous IMG talent agency, Danica Patrick is a regular staple on television sets around the world. She hosted a wide variety of different television shows for the male oriented network Spike TV, for example, and was featured in the Girl Racers documentary in 2005. She has also regularly appeared in a wide variety of late night talk shows including the Late Show with David Letterman and Late Night with Conan O’Brien on CBS and NBC, respectively.

Perhaps the most famous media enterprise that is associated with Danica Patrick are her Go Daddy.com commercials. 30 second television spots featuring Danica Patrick are regularly seen during the Super Bowl each and every year. As the Super Bowl is the single most widely viewed event all over the world each year, it makes perfect sense that this type of exposure combined with her skyrocketing career both equally contributed to her national recognition.

Danica Patrick has also been featured in a large number of different commercials that didn’t necessarily have anything to do with auto racing, however. She was also featured in a famous commercial for the ESPN program SportsCenter, as well as in a spot for the Honda Civic.

She has also had success in the world of video games, having provided both her voice and her likeness to the game Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed. In 2010 she also achieved true “legend” status in the world of entertainment, having provided the voice for her own character on the hit television program “The Simpsons.”

It’s easy to see why Danica Patrick is so successful: she puts the same amount of love and care into every decision she has made for her entire career. That drive started at the early age of ten and continues to this day. Whether she’s starring in a commercial, lending her voice to a hit animated sitcom or is behind the wheel of a car on one of the biggest racing days of the year, Danica Patrick is always completely dedicated towards every last one of her goals.