As I listened to the radio on the way home from work Monday afternoon, SiriusXM host Dave Moody said something that was half-funny, half "what the heck is going on here?"
Moody declared, somewhat tongue-in-cheek as it turned out, that "The Morning Drive" would be the newest primary sponsor on the hood of Patrick's No. 10 car for 2016.
Once I got my reality check through a Facebook friend, the big reveal came Tuesday morning, and it didn't involve SiriusXM. Patrick's newest sponsor, replacing GoDaddy, is Nature's Bakery. They'll be on the car for 28 races starting in 2016.
How many of you have ever heard of the company? Bought a product from them? I know I haven't, so I had to look them up.
Nature's Bakery makes gluten-free and stone-ground whole wheat fig bars in flavors like raspberry, blueberry, lemon, peach apricot and apple cinnamon. Fox Sports NASCAR writer Tom Jensen wrote on his Facebook page that the company has only 420 employees, yet here they are as a primary sponsor on the biggest stage in all of motor sports.
The price tag for getting your brand on the hood of a Sprint Cup car can easily go into eight figures. Nature's Bakery is growing -- it's available at two of my town's larger grocers -- and founder Dave Marson knows the risk of putting its name behind a driver who's averaging finish of 22nd every race is a big one.
“You know what? You don’t get anywhere in life taking a little bit of risk,” Marson said.
Jensen summed up his reaction nicely, saying "It takes guts to make a move like that. But that's what life is all about: Go big or go home, and have the audacity to dream bigger dreams."
Danica made GoDaddy a bunch of money when that company sponsored the 10 for Stewart-Haas Racing. This time around, it will be a celebration of nature's goodness, and Patrick, who also announced she signed an extension with Stewart-Haas, embraces healthy in her yoga and other aspects of her lifestyle.
But as intriguing as this new partnership is, it makes me wonder two things. When will the TV ads start turning up, and how much will winning matter?
In 105 career Sprint Cup starts, Patrick is still looking for a top-5 finish. She has a pair of top-10 runs this season -- seventh at Martinsville and ninth at Bristol, where the Irwin Tools Night Race happens on Saturday -- and six for her career.
That's it. And a relatively unknown company is making a big-time commitment that being on the No. 10 for most of 2016 will be worth it.
Once the car fades to the middle of the pack, the answer to that question will come. It probably won't be pretty, either.
Follow Tom Zulewski and comment on Twitter @Tomzsports.
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