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NASCAR Nationwide Series
NNS: Decision To Run Danica At Daytona Pending
Danica Patrick might be competing in the NASCAR Nationwide Series season opener...
Bob Pockrass  | http://www.scenedaily.com  |  Posted January 20, 2010   Concord, NC
Danica Patrick will compete in the Feb. 7 ARCA RE/MAX series race at Daytona International Speedway. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

JR Motorsports will field two cars in the season-opening Nationwide Series race at Daytona International Speedway, and new driver Danica Patrick could be driving one of them.


Full-time driver Kelly Bires, meanwhile, might not be racing at Daytona.

Because of sponsorship, Dale Earnhardt Jr. will drive the team’s No. 88 Hellmann’s car, which Bires is scheduled to drive for much of the season.

Patrick may drive the No. 7 car, team co-owner Kelley Earnhardt said Wednesday during the Charlotte Motor Speedway media tour.

Patrick and the team will not decide whether she will run the Feb. 13 Nationwide race until after she competes in the Feb. 7 Automobile Racing Club of America event. Bires or Mark Martin would likely drive the car if Patrick does not.

“The 7 car will run at Daytona, so we have to decide who runs in that car,” Kelley Earnhardt said. “We won’t make that decision until the Monday after the ARCA race. … The Nationwide Daytona race is basically a Cup race, and for someone like her, that might not be the best situation to put her in.”

Kelley Earnhardt said Patrick’s schedule has not been finalized and she has only committed to Auto Club Speedway in California and Las Vegas Motor Speedway as two of her 13 events this year.

Patrick’s No. 7 car will be locked in for the first five races as JR Motorsports has formed a partnership with CJM Racing, which ceased operations during the off-season. CJM Racing’s No. 11 points – that car finished 15th in the owner standings in 2009 – will be used by the No. 7.

“My expectations are for her to go out and run in the top 20,” Kelley Earnhardt said. “I don’t see any reason why [not]. We provide her a competitive car, she’s a capable driver, she’s done well at the test.

“The key will be her being around 42 other cars and how she’ll handle that. We’ll see.”


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Bob Pockrass

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