One Menz Opinion: Danica Patrick's Drawing Power More Important Than Ever

In yet another first for NASCAR, Stewart-Haas Racing had fig bars on hand for everyone to sample when Tuesday's news conference announcing Danica Patrick's contract extension and new sponsorship broke up.

Fig bars...and NASCAR.

Think about it, and then you can begin to understand the drawing power of Danica Patrick and why it's more important than ever in a NASCAR environment where teams and owners are scrapping perhaps more than ever for every sponsorship dollar.

Patrick, who turned 33 in March, remains a marketing machine—and what she markets best is herself. You can't fault her for that, as it's the American way and something that each and every one of us is forced to do to some extent to reach our full earning potential.

Her boss, Tony Stewart, probably had never had a fig bar or even knew what one was prior to entering sponsorship negotiations with Nature's Bakery, which has agreed to spend millions in a multiyear agreement to serve as primary sponsor on Patrick's No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet for 28 races per season beginning in 2016.

Chuck Burton/Associated Press

But he—or really, more specifically Patrick—was able to bring a new sponsor into NASCAR. Dave Marson, who founded Nature's Bakery only in 2010, said he was only too happy to spend the money to buy in on Danica.

"It's pretty amazing," he said. "We are a normal American company that is living the American dream. We are extremely excited for this and looking forward to the adventure."

Usually these days teams are left to fight over the same sponsor's old money, like when Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s car took on Nationwide Insurance when Nationwide decided to put its NASCAR-designated money there instead of re-upping as primary sponsor of NASCAR's second-tier series (now the XFINITY Series). Or like when Stewart once lured Office Depot to SHR from Roush Fenway Racing.

But the power of Patrick is that she transcends what is normal in NASCAR. There really has never been another driver like her, male or female.

Her numbers on the track certainly don't support a multiyear contract extension and a multimillion dollar buy-in by a company that heretofore has never spent a dime in the sport.

She has only two top-10 finishes in 23 starts this season, and only six top 10s in 105 career Sprint Cup starts. She's never had a top-five finish, which puts her one behind Landon Cassill, who drives the No. 40 Chevrolet for Hillman Smith Motorsports—a Sprint Cup organization you've likely never heard of.

Patrick's best finish this season was seventh at Martinsville, and her last top 10 was a ninth at Bristol way back in mid-April. Since then she's registered 11 finishes of 21st or worse in her last 15 starts.

She has led a total of seven laps this season and only 27 in her entire career. That's six fewer laps than Cassill has led in his nondescript career.

Patrick is a career-best 21st in points, so it can be argued—and Stewart and others have argued it—that she's showing improvement.

But seriously, is there another NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver out there with those season and career statistics who could have pulled off this major marketing coup that will fill the coffers of Stewart-Haas Racing for years to come?

Stewart is no dummy. What's good for Danica is good for his company too. More money flowing in not only is likely to benefit her team, but the SHR teams of Stewart, Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch as well.

Plus he seems to genuinely like Patrick and believes she will continue to get better.

"It's great working with her," Stewart said. "Like I've said numerous times, she's probably the most detailed-oriented driver I've ever worked with. Very excited to have her onboard for down the road ... To bring a new partner onboard makes all of us here really proud."

Marson said he hopes NASCAR and Patrick can help his fledgling operation grow into a Fortune 500 company. Patrick, who has for months been posting pictures of herself working out and doing yoga on social media, says she wanted to stay at SHR because "I really, really do feel like family here" and that she can't believe she found a sponsor that is such a good fit for her after her old primary sponsor, GoDaddy.com, decided not to renew.

After all, who can't use a good fig bar to get pumped for a workout?

"I think all you have to do is look at that and that is what lines up perfectly with Nature's Bakery," Patrick said. "It's going out and it's energy for your journey. It's going out on a hike with (her dog) Dallas, doing yoga at home, doing CrossFit and needing energy for that."

Patrick was asked how much of the products of her new sponsor she has personally sampled.

"I had the gluten-free fig bar, fig flavor, before I came down here," she said during Tuesday's news conference at the SHR shop. "That's my pre-press conference energy. It's delicious."

Behold, the power of Patrick. Who else could have gotten the skeptical media to scramble for a table full of post-press conference, pre-writing fig bars?

Thumbs up

To NASCAR, for announcing the plan to stick with the original plan and not change any aerodynamic rules for the upcoming Chase for the Sprint Cup. You don't see any other major sports changing rules for the playoffs right before they commence.

Thumbs down

To NASCAR, for the latest attempt to improve racing with a high-drag aerodynamic package that produced boring races at both Indianapolis Motor Speedway earlier and again at Michigan International Speedway last weekend. It is a package that likely will be shelved forever and rightly so.

It's Bristol, baby

Next up on the Sprint Cup schedule is the Bristol night race this Saturday night. Although it has lost some of its luster in recent years, it could be argued that it remains one of the top five races in all of NASCAR.

Although folks most frequently list Indy as No. 2 behind only the Daytona 500 because of its obvious historical implications, the fact is that the racing at Indy really has never been very good for stock cars. 

Here is One Menz opinion on the top five races currently offered on the circuit as far as potential for best on-track action and drama at the finish: 1. Daytona 500; 2. Talladega Chase elimination race; 3. Homestead championship race under new Chase format introduced last year; 4. Richmond final regular-season race; 5. Bristol night race. 

In the fast lane

NASCAR's announcement to stick with the original 2015 rules package for the Chase could end up benefiting Hendrick Motorsports, which seemed to have the best handle on it earlier this season but has been lost since NASCAR started tinkering with the rules. ... Since the new rules packages (different ones for different tracks) were introduced at Kentucky Speedway on July 11, Joe Gibbs Racing drivers have claimed five of the last six race victories. Kyle Busch has three, and Matt Kenseth won last Sunday at Michigan for his second trip to Victory Lane in the last three races. ... Kenseth won from the pole at MIS and now has three poles this season and a total of 12 over the last five seasons. Prior to that, Kenseth was never considered a very good qualifier and earned only four poles in his first 11 seasons of full-time Cup driving.

Unless otherwise noted, all information was obtained firsthand.

Joe Menzer has written six books, including two about NASCAR, and now writes about it and other sports for Bleacher Report while also covering NASCAR as a Digital Content Producer for FoxSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @OneMenz.