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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Patrick Not There Yet
Danica Patrick still has not finalized a NASCAR deal...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted November 30, 2009   Charlotte, NC
It was announced Monday that Danica Patrick has signed a three year deal with the newly renamed Andretti Autosport, her current IndyCar Series team. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
Danica Patrick apparently still does not have a signed deal to race in NASCAR, although she and her handlers are trying to put one together.

Patrick on Monday announced her new three-year deal to remain running full-time in the Izod IndyCar Series with Andretti Autosport and sponsor GoDaddy.com.

But a long-rumored deal with JR Motorsports to run at least some NASCAR Nationwide Series events in 2010 has not been finalized, despite being rumored for months — and despite Patrick’s own website briefly showing her in a NASCAR uniform with Chevrolet and NASCAR Nationwide Series logos. The photo was quickly replaced with one in her IRL uniform.

Asked about her NASCAR plans during an appearance on Fox News Monday, Patrick said, “I know everyone wants to know that. I love to drive. I love to race. If I got the chance to run both series, I'd love that. If we were announcing (NASCAR), we'd be here with two cars. We've been working on it.”

Still, Patrick has committed to running full-time with Andretti’s outfit through the end of 2012, which means she probably couldn’t run more than a dozen or so NASCAR races per year over the next three seasons.

Patrick is scheduled to appear on an Izod IndyCar Series teleconference Tuesday afternoon, when presumably she may shed more light on the subject of her NASCAR future.

And while everyone from NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France to her would-be car owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. has said it would good for the sport to have Patrick race in NASCAR, others have questioned the practicality of trying to do the two series at once.

“I wouldn’t be driving both cars to be honest,” said former open-wheel superstar Juan Pablo Montoya, who struggled in his first two seasons in NASCAR before a breakout 2009 campaign. “I just wouldn’t. I wouldn’t do it because they drive so different. You’re going to get comfortable in one thing and then you’re going to make it to the other thing and every times it’s going to be like night and day. When I drive the 24 hours (Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona) and I get to Daytona it feels really weird and I’ve been driving stock cars for three years now. I do two test days and the race and come back for the (Daytona) 500 and it feels really weird to drive again. So, I wouldn’t.”

Even more skeptical was team co-owner Jack Roush, who had brief discussions with Patrick then opted out of the conversation.

“She’d like to be able to drive her (Izod Indy Car Series) car and on off weekends come and drive a Nationwide or a Sprint Car, and that’s not going to work,” Roush recently told SceneDaily.com. “Those of us who understand how difficult this business is, and (Juan Pablo Montoya) made the comment lately that she’d be better off to continue doing what she’s doing until she’s ready to change gears. This is really, really, really, really hard to do. She may be able to do it or she may not. I hope that she can, but she certainly won’t be able to do it with distractions with a minimized effort.”

Team owner Rick Hendrick, one of several who has talked to Patrick, said money was not an obstacle in putting a deal together. But representatives from other organizations who spoke to SPEEDtv.com on condition of anonymity said Patrick’s per-race asking price was substantially more than the $150,000-$200,000 per race that top Nationwide teams take in from their sponsors.

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief for SPEEDtv.com, the former Executive Editor of NASCAR Scene and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. He is the author of Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of SPEED, and has appeared on television and radio shows to discuss NASCAR racing. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association. Jensen is the 1997 National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year and has won numerous national and state awards for news reporting, columns and feature writing. The Answer Man is back at SPEEDtv.com! Tom Jensen answers your questions during every race week and looks forward to hearing from you - please e-mail it to



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