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NASCAR Nationwide Series
NNS: Danica Patrick Debate Continues
Danica Patrick is not expected to race in the NASCAR opener at Daytona...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted January 10, 2010   Nashville, TN
Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Right) is Danica Patrick's (Left) boss in the NASCAR Nationwide Series for 2010. (Photo: Getty Images)

The Danica debate rages on: Will she or won’t she succeed in stock cars after a career devoted almost exclusively to open-wheelers?

Patrick’s new boss, Dale Earnhardt Jr., said Saturday that he’s been tremendously impressed by what he’s seen so far of Patrick, who has signed a two-year deal to drive up to 13 NASCAR Nationwide Series races per season for Earnhardt’s JR Motorsports team.

She will make her competition debut in four weeks at Daytona International Speedway, but in the Feb. 6 ARCA race, not the Feb. 13 NNS event. NASCAR officials said she has not entered the Daytona NNS race so far and has shown no interest in doing so. Instead her NASCAR race debut likely will be Feb. 20 at Auto Club Speedway in Southern California.

Earnhardt, speaking at Saturday’s Sprint Sound and Speed Presented by Suntrust event in Nashville, said Patrick has looked extremely good in limited testing so far.

During a brief test in Orlando, Patrick was considerably faster than some other drivers who tested there and competitive with Kelly Bires, the team’s other driver, Earnhardt said.

“We felt good. We put her out on the track with Kelly Bires for a little spell,” Earnhardt said. “He had a hard time really kind of hanging on her bumper there for a while.”

Earnhardt said he received a lot of positive feedback both from her crew chief, Tony Eury Jr., and team competition director Tony Eury Sr.

“I called Tony Sr. first because I knew he would tell me the truth,” Earnhardt said. “He was blown away. So that told me that things were going really, really good if he was happy.”

While several other drivers in Nashville attempted to be diplomatic about Patrick’s chances at success, Kyle Petty wasn’t among them.

“It's going to be tough,” said Carl Edwards. “Honestly, I thought at first there's no way. But then I heard just yesterday, my buddy was telling me testing she was really, really fast. I mean, you never know.”

Petty, however, was having none of it.

“I agree with what Carl says,” Petty said. “Was talking to people that saw her test. She was fast. Going fast and racing are two totally different things. That's like being a fast ball pitcher and pitching. Carl is a driver. He can drive fast, but he can drive, too. There are guys that run Cup right now that are just fast, but they can't drive. That's blunt, sorry.”

And that was just the beginning.


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