It’s been a busy week for the young American MotoGP racer from Owensboro, Kentucky – and it’s not over yet. After finishing fifth in Sunday’s MotoGP in Catalunya, Nicky appeared on NBC’s “Today Show” this morning to promote the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix at Laguna Seca next month. While on the show it was revealed that Nicky will be featured in People Magazine’s “Hottest Bachelors of 2005” issue, coming to newstands this Friday. Nicky will also be appearing on the TV show “Inside Edition” tomorrow.
MotoGP couldn’t have asked for a better poster boy to advertise to the American public at large. A good looking, down-to-earth country boy who just happens to be one of the fastest motorcycle racers in the world? If you had told the MotoGP PR department about Nicky 5 years ago (when the most well known American in the series was the publicity-shy former champ, Kenny Roberts Jr.), they would have called it “too good to be true”.
Is it possible that Nicky’s rising profile in the mainstream media will lead to more public interest in MotoGP and/or motorcycle roadracing in general? We’ve all seen the explosion of media attention surrounding IRL racer Danica Patrick, and there are few who would dispute that media coverage of Danica helped bring more public attention the the IRL itself. Although the attention span of the American media is notoriously short, Nicky’s “15 seconds” could well bring MotoGP to the attention of a legion of potential fans.
