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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
NNS: Danica Patrick Ready For Track
Danica Patrick will take part in an ARCA test this weekend at Daytona International Speedway...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted December 17, 2009   Mooresville, NC
Danica Patrick will be on track this weekend at Daytona International Speedway to prepare herself for the upcoming NASCAR Nationwide Series. (Photo: Getty Images)

Danica Patrick has yet to turn a wheel in competition in a stock car, but already she’s become the biggest story of the stock car off-season as she prepares to make her NASCAR debut.

Patrick, who will race a limited NASCAR Nationwide Series schedule in 2010 for Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s JR Motorsports squad, was at the team’s Mooresville, N.C., shop on Thursday for her first formal session with the NASCAR media.

Later in the day, she will fly to Daytona Beach, Fla., where this weekend she will take part in a three-day open ARCA test to help get her ready for her stock-car debut Feb. 6, 2010 in the season-opening ARCA event at Daytona International Speedway.

Joining Patrick at the event were Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kelley Earnhardt, Tony Eury Jr. and Sr. and Kelly Bires.

Patrick said she will race in as many as 13 NASCAR Nationwide Series races next year, starting Feb. 20 at Auto Club Speedway and then Feb. 27 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Undecided is whether she’ll compete in the season-opening NNS event at Daytona.

“We don’t want to over-commit and under-deliver,” said Patrick, who called the Daytona Nationwide event “basically a Cup race.”

Patrick, who tested last week in Orlando, said she’s ready for the challenge of driving a stock car. “Now it’s time for me to go do my job and do it well,” she said.

“I’m pretty excited about this effort,” added Earnhardt.

Photos: JR Motorsports Team


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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