Danica Patrick makes her move to NASCAR, will drive in select Nationwide races in 2010
Danica Patrick will run a limited NASCAR Nationwide schedule with JR Motorsports in 2010. // Courtesy, GoDaddy.com
Related story: Danica Patrick's journey begins; is Sprint Cup her destination?
IndyCar driver Danica Patrick confirmed today that she will make a foray into NASCAR racing next season, driving for JR Motorsports in select Nationwide Series races in 2010.
Patrick plans to debut with the team in the Automobile Racing Club of America Series at Daytona, and NASCAR says she has approval to drive in all Nationwide and Camping World Truck series races.
Patrick, who competes full time in the Izod IndyCar Series for Andretti Autosport, will be sponsored by GoDaddy.com. The team and driver made the announcement Tuesday in her hometown of Phoenix. She will drive the No. 7 Chevrolet in the Nationwide Series with Tony Eury Jr. as the crew chief. The team has not decided on a set number of 2010 races.
Patrick said at a news conference that she has considered racing in NASCAR before but felt that the timing and everything was right at this point.
"I think when the idea came about a few years ago … to run some NASCAR stuff, it really was a thought, but I wasn't as prepared mentally as I am now," she said. "I've, over the years, had an increasingly busy schedule, and I feel like there probably will be almost be more consistency to this schedule than what I've had in the last year or two. So I'm finally ready. I think that the schedule doesn't intimidate me as much it used to. It's going to be a lot to learn. That's the real key part here is there is a lot to learn.
"But it's about having good people around you as well. I feel like I've really put together a good team of people to manage all the other things that go on around me, both at track and away, and we're ready to go."
The 27-year-old driver plans to participate in an ARCA test Dec. 18-20 at Daytona International Speedway.
"I’m very excited to have you join our team - and the most popular driver in the IndyCar Series and coming over to NASCAR – JR Motorsports is extremely proud to give her this honor," JRM Vice President and general manager Kelley Earnhardt said.
Patrick last drove a stock car in a test at Greenville-Pickens Speedway in South Carolina for what is now known as the Nationwide Series. She says that was probably seven or eight years ago.
"It was good fun," she said. "I remember thinking compared to my open-wheel car, it didn’t stop very well, and I was like, ‘Are these brakes OK?’ But I had a lot of fun. I was definitely smiling that day."
Patrick admits that this will be a difficult transition, but both she and Earnhardt say that the caliber of the JR Motorsports program will help with that.
"She's obviously going to be in a competitive car … I think it's reasonable for her to be in the top 15 of the series when she's running," Earnhardt said. "Obviously, the first few races we'll see what that brings."
Earnhardt pointed out that she hopes people recognize the difficulty of this transition and are understanding when judging Patrick in the coming year.
Patrick said that her focus would remain on her IndyCar schedule and most of her NASCAR events will be before and after the IndyCar season, which runs March 14-Oct. 2. Patrick, who was fifth in the IndyCar standings this year and recorded a victory in 2008 in Japan, has a two-year contract with Andretti that includes a mutual option for a third year.
In five years of IndyCar racing, she has one win, which came last year in Japan, 46 top-10 finishes and 16 top-fives. She has finished in the top 10 in the series standings each of the last four seasons.
Now, while that will remain her focus, she's excited at the prospect of competing in NASCAR.
"I'm going to be racing against some very competitive drivers. …," she said. "My thoughts on that are that that's going to be a good teaching mechanism. Obviously, if ever one day it continued on and I ended up running in [Sprint] Cup one day, I need to learn to race those guys and earn their respect. I'm excited about that actually. It's an opportunity to show what I've got."
Financial terms of the sponsorship were not disclosed.
