Danica Patrick learning as much as she can in Daytona ARCA test

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – IndyCar driver Danica Patrick said she was happy that she could do a full lap without lifting around the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway oval in an Automobile Racing Club of America test Friday.
 
She still, however, faces a little bit of a learning curve about stock cars after spending most of her professional racing career in open-wheel cars.

First was just how to get in the JR Motorsports cars she will drive in ARCA and the NASCAR Nationwide Series.

“I felt most disoriented with how the heck I’m supposed to get my stuff on,” the 27-year-old Patrick said. “I can’t get in the car with all that stuff. I’ve got to buckle my belts, and I can’t do that with my helmet on.

“So I get in the car, and I have got to tuck my hair down the back of my suit. And I can’t do it because I’m strapped in. And I am awfully confused. So I’ve decided I needed to put everything on but my helmet and then get in the car. It sounds silly. It’s logistics, but it’s logistics I’m not used to. I’m used to being fully dressed and then getting in the car.”

The next issue came when she got out on the track. She realized it was a little longer than she expected. She had competed at the track in a sports car, but the sports cars don’t use the whole oval and aren’t at top speed in those corners.

“I knew it was going to be a little bit bumpy, and that was the case,” Patrick said. “I built up speed up high for two laps or something, and then I dropped down low. By the third lap, I was flat out around the bottomish. I could have been lower, but the car has a little bit we need to work on.

“I didn’t realize it was 2 1/2 miles. I guess I’m not a very attentive race-car driver. I thought it was like 2 miles or, I don’t know, I didn’t know how long it was. It definitely is by far the biggest track I’ve ever been on in a stock car.”

Patrick plans to run up to 13 Nationwide events in each of the next two years while also competing full time in the Izod IndyCar Series. She will compete in the ARCA event Feb. 6 at Daytona and make her NASCAR debut in either the Feb. 13 Nationwide Series race at Daytona or the Feb. 20 Nationwide race at Auto Club Speedway in California.

Patrick got four laps (plus one warmup lap) around Daytona on Friday. The first day of the three days of testing was a near washout as drivers only got about 20 minutes of practice time because of rain. Patrick had a half-day test last week at Walt Disney World Speedway, a 1-mile track in Orlando.

“The car moves around quite a bit,” Patrick said after Daytona laps. “The car was definitely getting some action in the rear over the bumps. It was getting a little bit loose. But I kept my foot in it, and I tried not to chase it too much with the steering.

“I didn’t want to have an accident. But I felt all right. It was fun. I trusted the car. I trusted the preparation of it. I trust [crew chief] Tony [Eury Jr.] putting a setup on there that is not going to do anything horrendous. It didn’t. It was fine. But it definitely is a lot more movement than I am used to in the corners. I’ll have to get used to that.”

Twenty-four cars took the track in the abbreviated sessions, and Patrick ranked 12th with a speed of 176.142 mph. She admitted that the speed felt a little slow, considering that she can go more than 200 mph consistently in the IndyCar Series.

“It did feel a little slow,” she said, prefacing her remarks by saying she hoped she wasn’t making anyone mad. “It is 2 1/2 miles, and the only other place we go that’s 2 1/2 miles is Indy, and we do 230-or-so miles an hour, so we’re about 50 miles an hour slower than that.

“You do notice it. You kind of feel the engine dip down in the corners just from the loads and the constant turning, and it just doesn’t pick up as much revs and speed down the straightaways. But then again, with the movement these cars have, I don’t think I would want to be going 230. … I’m sure there will be plenty of moments when I will say, ‘Wow, that felt way too fast.’”

The cars obviously are heavier than what she is used to – ARCA and Nationwide cars weigh approximately 3,400 pounds, while the IndyCar she typically drives weighs 1,565 pounds when raced on ovals. Patrick also said the car is hotter, and she noticed the difference in the steering as the stock cars have power steering.

“I will obviously take how I feel after this test and the last test I did and fine-tune my training so that it accommodates those muscles that are a little bit sore,” Patrick said.

Patrick said she is getting comfortable in the stock car and is most comfortable at speed. The shifters and other equipment is different but she is adapting, she said.

“These cars can run more lanes on the track,” Patrick said. “You’re all the way up to the wall, and the car is good to go there. It’s easier to drive there. An Indy car, you can’t use quite as many lanes.”

About a dozen or so photographers crowded around Patrick as she walked into her garage prior to the test. The total media turnout is smaller than what it was for NASCAR testing. But with a handful of national media outlets as well as locals, it was larger than a typical ARCA test.

“It was a bit of a circus out there,” Patrick said. “I’m not unfamiliar with having people around, although it does seem a little funny when there’s not much else going on. I definitely feel very singled out.

“I’m lucky for that. It’s definitely felt like there’s a lot of interest. I felt the lenses of cameras for sure all morning. I was glad to get out there. It would have been nice to do a few runs and actually make a change or two and feel things out.”