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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Danica Mania Heats Up/Texas Notebook
Teammates Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards are looking forward to Danica Patrick’s arrival in NASCAR...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted November 06, 2009   Fort Worth, TX
Danica Patrick is said to be joining Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s JR Motorsports to drive in the NASCAR Nationwide Series in 2010. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

PATRICK’S ARRIVAL ANTICIPATED — Roush Fenway Racing teammates Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle both said Friday that they’d like to see Danica Patrick race in NASCAR. Patrick is close to signing a two-year deal with Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s JR Motorsports to drive a part-time NASCAR Nationwide Series schedule starting next season, while continuing to drive full-time in the IndyCar Series for Andretti-Green Racing through the end of the 2012 season. And that has created quite a buzz.

“Here’s the deal. It’s simple. If Danica Patrick could come over here to NASCAR and run well, it would be great for the sport and it would be great for the sponsors that she brings over here,” said Edwards. “The fans would love it, so I think the better she does over here – barring running in front of me – the better it is for the sport and I think that’s good.”

Asked what would happen if she can’t run up front, Edwards added, “Then she doesn’t do well. … There are a lot of people who have come over here and not been able to do well. … If she doesn’t do it, I don’t think it would be a huge surprise, but, like I said, for all those reasons I hope she does well.”

Biffle agreed. “I think it’s great for our sport to offer drivers from all walks of life, whether it’s Formula 1, any kind of open-wheel racing, I think it’s great,” he said. “This is a tough business and a tough sport and people come over here and learn. Tony Stewart was successful at it and other drivers have had moderate success, so there’s no reason why a driver can’t come in and be competitive in one series and work their way to another.”

FIGHTIN’ AND FLIPPIN’ — Mark Martin chances of winning the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup championship more than likely ended last Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway, when his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet flipped over in a 13-car, last-lap crash, dropping him to 28th in the final results. Asked about how he felt about it, Martin came up with one of the year’s most memorable quotes: “I would rather go down fighting than flipping,” said the 50-year-old Batesville, Ark., native. Still, Martin insisted it didn’t ruin his season, and given that he’s still second in points and has five victories and seven poles, it’s hard to argue with his logic.

“Definitely no heartbreak whatsoever,” said Martin. “But Talladega did rub because I would rather get beat then turn over, you know what I mean? I want to go down racing and not like that. But you know what? We raced. We raced all day. We raced like we just couldn’t be in a wreck. I was in one I didn’t even see. I never even knew I was going to be in that wreck until I was turning over. So, what the hay.”

Martin acknowledged his teammate Jimmie Johnson would be hard to catch and defeat down the stretch. “Obviously, the performance of the No. 48 (Johnson) has been phenomenal and we have given it a good fight, but we haven’t quite matched their performance, although we gave him a pretty good run until Martinsville and Charlotte. That is all we can do. Certainly, I wasn’t BS’ing you guys; I didn’t take this job to go try and get a championship trophy. I took this job — you know why — and doggone, it has worked out pretty good.”


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