CUP: Stewart Keeping It Real For Patrick

Sprint Cup

CUP: Stewart Keeping It Real For Patrick

Tony Stewart is managing expectations for new SHR teammate Danica Patrick...

Tom Jensen | Posted January 23, 2012 Concord, NC

Tony Stewart has never been one to shy away from the spotlight, but on Monday Stewart vowed to keep expectations realistic for Danica Patrick, the team’s newest driver at Stewart-Haas Racing.

Stewart, the reigning and three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion driver and co-owner of SHR, opened the four-day Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Tour on Monday. Many of the questions he fielded were about his high-profile new addition.

Patrick will drive 10 Cup races for SHR in 2012, as well as the entire NASCAR Nationwide Series with JR Motorsports. Stewart said he knows Patrick will be under the microscope.

“It’s been that way since she started driving Nationwide,” said Stewart. “I think that’s why I keep trying to emphasize to everybody that we’re not judged her success off where her finishing position is at the end of the day. There’s a lot more to getting ready to being a full-time Cup driver than where your finish is in these 10 races. There’s the knowledge and experience that she’s going to get, hopefully, through those races that matters more to me then her finishing position.”

During Monday’s press session, Patrick said she will race in the Coca-Cola 600 and skip the Indianapolis 500 for the first time. “It’s her decision,” Stewart said. “We didn’t tell her she couldn’t run the 500, it was left up to her. But obviously she’s running the Nationwide car full time and it’s a good weekend to get a lot of laps in a car. ... It just shows how dedicated she is to making this transition.”

Stewart said he’s been impressed so far by Patrick’s work ethic and commitment.

“The effort that she’s put forth has shown everybody that this is where she wants to be,” Stewart said. “We haven’t seen that dedication from some of the other guys that came in, ran a little bit and then left the series. So I think the drivers respect that and I think she’s come in with a great attitude. She’s very humble and realizing that it’s a lot of work and a lot of effort and that it’s not a scenario where you’re going to go in and win right away. We hope she does, obviously, but the reality is, it’s tough to run well right off the bat.

“It’s a big transition that she’s going through and I think she’s been very humble with that and I think that’s what the drivers and teams and crews respect.”

As for Patrick’s fiery temper, Stewart laughed. “She knows how to handle herself in a situation,” he said when asked if he was worried about Patrick clashing with other drivers. “If she starts a fight, she’s going to have to handle it.”

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief of SPEED.com, Senior NASCAR Editor at RACER and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. You can follow him online at twitter.com/tomjensen100.

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