Danica Patrick will “all but certainly” be in NASCAR in 2010, but won’t give up Indy car racing and will limit next year’s activity to the Nationwide Series and Trucks, according to a source very close to the situation. Tony Stewart is the “star candidate” to be her partner and mentor in NASCAR, the source said, adding that Patrick’s recent visits to Stewart-Haas Racing were much more than social — that she and Stewart were discussing a deal, and are close to one. The plan is for Patrick to run a significant number of Nationwide races, with additional seat time in Trucks and ARCA cars. Stewart took a similar transitional path to NASCAR in 1998, running a full Indy car schedule and also 22 Nationwide (then Busch) races. Patrick’s likeliest first stock car race would be the ARCA event at Daytona during SpeedWeeks next February. There’s no way Patrick would a) plunge immediately into the Cup level next year, or b) give up Indy car racing until she’s sure she can do well in NASCAR, the source said. Because Stewart’s team has neither Nationwide cars nor trucks in its stable, a third partner will be brought into the mix, the source said — possibly Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s JR Motorsports, or, more likely, Kevin Harvick Inc., which fields both Trucks and Nationwide cars. Sponsorship is not considered an issue for America’s top female driver, and the first car manufacturer to sign Patrick to a NASCAR deal would get a big boost in brand exposure.(ESPN.com)(9-5-2009)
UPDATE: Tony Stewart on Thursday said that Stewart-Haas Racing has not made a contract offer to Danica Patrick. “I have not offered her a job,” Stewart said on the Dan Patrick Show. “The one thing I have done is spend some time talking to her about what we think would be a good game plan for her if she decides to come to NASCAR. “She’s talked to us a lot, obviously, because we came from the IRL, like she’s doing. She wants a game plan of what it would take to make the switch — what kind of investment, time-wise, and where should she start? Danica Patrick has been talking with several team owners within NASCAR, gauging what it would take to move to stock-car racing. Reportedly she will drive full time in the Indy Racing League next year. Stewart admitted he would like to have Patrick as part of his racing stable — if the timing was right. “Would I want her on my team? Absolutely. I appreciate who she is as a person and I think she’s the first female that really has a legit shot at doing it right. “It would be cool to be a part of that, giving her the tools to accomplish those goals and do it right. [But] we don’t have a Truck Series or Nationwide Series team, so that’s one of the main reasons why we don’t have anything to offer her right now. We’re not interested in trying to build a Nationwide or Truck series team.”(NASCAR.com)(9-18-2009)
