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NNS: Patrick Coming To NASCAR
Danica Patrick made it official that she will begin racing in NASCAR...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted December 08, 2009   Charlotte, NC
IndyCar driver Danica Patrick stands next to her new NASCAR Nationwide Series car during a press conference announcing her participation in the 2010 NASCAR season. (Photo: Getty Images)
Danica Patrick will race Feb. 6 in the ARCA event at Daytona International Speedway. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Danica Patrick will drive the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet in a limited number of NASCAR Series races in 2010, with sponsorship from GoDaddy.com and Tony Eury Jr. serving as crew chief.

Photos: Danica Patrick Announcement

In a press conference from Phoenix on Tuesday, Patrick said that the exact number of races hasn’t been determined yet, but most of them would be timed to avoid the IndyCar season.

“We’re not 100 percent sure of all the details right now, but the primary focus is going to be before and after the IndyCar season,” said Patrick.

Patrick’s first race will be the Feb. 6 ARCA event at Daytona International Speedway, followed by a series of Nationwide races. The driver said she has no long-term timeframe to move up to the Sprint Cup.

“We’re going to feel it out,” Patrick said. “Initially, it’s going to be a challenge … there’s no necessary time frame on that. We’re just going to hit the ground running and do the best we can.”

“As a female team owner, I’m very excited to have her on board,” said JR Motorsports co-owner Kelley Earnhardt, who added that she hoped Patrick could be a top-15 driver.

Still, there will be a tremendous focus on Patrick, who said she last drove a stock car seven or eight years ago at Greenville-Pickens Speedway in South Carolina.

The 27-year-old Illinois native is arguably the only marketable star the Izod IndyCar Series has at the moment, but her success is owed at least as much to what she’s accomplished off the track as she has on it. For better or worse, Patrick has gained at least as much attention for her racy Sports Illustrated swimsuit layouts and salacious GoDaddy.com commercials as she has on the track.

In 81 IndyCar starts, Patrick has one victory, 16 top-five and 46 top-10 finishes. Her best points finish came this year, when she was fifth.

Last week, Patrick announced that she had signed a new three-year contract to remain at Andretti Autosport in the IndyCar Series. So whatever she does end up doing in stock cars will be a part-time thing, at least through the end of 2012. In last week’s teleconference, she and Andretti both insisted that open-wheel racing would remain her primary job.

“The goal will be we'll have to work the programs to make sure that the IndyCar is still her main focus because still the main goal is to win Indianapolis and the championship with Danica,” said Andretti. “And I think we have a good shot at it. We want to make sure that it still is going to be the main focus.”

“And to back up what Mike just said, that is the main focus,” Patrick added. “I've been lucky enough to come close a few times to winning the Indy 500, and that is a serious goal of mine. IndyCar is always going to be the focus, if the other series were to happen.”

The “other series,” of course, is NASCAR.

“Now my curiosity is there and I'd like to just try it, and I'd like to see how I get on with the cars,” Patrick said of NASCAR. “I just think the racing looks fun. I enjoy IndyCar racing through and through, but I mostly enjoy the oval racing. I think that when you have wheel‑to‑wheel racing all day, it's challenging. Don't get me wrong, it's very stressful, but it's a lot of fun at the same time, and they have a lot of that. I think the racing looks fun.”

Two things remain to be seen, one of which should be resolved today, the other very much an open question. The first is how much stock-car racing will Patrick actually be able to do, given her contractual obligations, and second, how will she adapt to stock cars after spending her entire career racing open-wheel cars?

Patrick should shed some light into her schedule today, but whether or not she can succeed where so many of her peers — Dario Franchitti, Sam Hornish Jr., Jacques Villeneuve, Patrick Carpentier and Scott Speed among them — have failed outright or simply struggled remains the most intriguing part of the saga.

And one that’s a long way from being answered.

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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