Ross D. Franklin / AP

Danica Patrick and GoDaddy.com have played fans and media like a pair of kettle drums.

OPINION

By Jim Pedley

updated 2:12 p.m. ET Dec. 9, 2009

It is possible that we got a glimpse at NASCAR’s on-track future Tuesday when Danica Patrick announced she is putting on the fenders. Let’s hope we did not see the future of auto-racing’s relationship with its fan base, as well.

I think the news that Patrick is headed to stock cars is all good for NASCAR. I think she will provide a lift to a sport which needs a lift. I think she will bring in new fans and create fresh excitement.

But there is something a bit unsavory about the way her entry into NASCAR all went down.

Yes, racing has long been a slave to business concerns. Dating back to the STP/Petty days and even before, drivers, teams and the sport itself had to bend the knees a bit when it was so commanded by the money people.

Nobody seemed particularly thrilled by it, and that included/includes fans, who regularly complained/complain about getting commercials rather than racing thoughts and insight before, during and after races.

The media has not been excused when it came to the assisting of pushing product. Sponsors are regularly allowed into media centers to hold press conferences about their products. The press conferences often feature drivers who will talk about merchandise and, perhaps, racing.

But it became integrated into the sport and at least some measure of acceptance has followed.

Then came Danica and GoDaddy.com. Together, they played fans and media like a pair of kettle drums.

Leaks and hints and suggestions about Patrick’s move to NASCAR went on for months. She showed up at tracks for no apparent reason, other than to produce buzz. The GoDaddy Web site was the main info engine on Patrick and her plans.

Then there was the national television morning show appearance where she announced, well, nothing.

Tuesday’s announcement was carried on the GoDaddy Web site and left enough details unexplained so that they can be disseminated at later dates. Undoubtedly, the details will first become available on the Web site.

Again, linking a product to a driver is nothing new. What is disturbing about this one is, I guess, that the driver is linking herself to a product.

We don’t know what kind of driver Patrick will be in NASCAR, but we sure know what kind of business person she is.

I have heard from fans who say their passion for racing has been dampened by the sport’s ceaseless advance toward becoming one, long commercial. They turn off the postrace interviews because they are not interested in hearing drivers thank sponsors rather than dope out on-track events.

They think the horse is being dragged down a very bumpy road by the cart.

I think that is something that NASCAR, its teams, its drivers and even the sponsors themselves need to keep in mind as everybody looks for reasons for the plateauing of the world’s greatest sport.