Image by jenniferrt66 via Flickr
Will Indy star Danica Patrick begin making the transition to stock cars in 2010? We know for certain that the interest is there from her reported talks with numerous NASCAR race teams but no concrete plans have been announced.
One of the teams considered to be a frontrunner in these discussions is JR Motorsports. Kelley Earnhardt Elledge, president of JRM, acknowledged that she has been in conversations with Danica Patrick concerning her interest in NASCAR.
“There is a natural fit at JRM with Dale Jr. and Danica both serving as spokespersons for GoDaddy.com,” Elledge said. “As a female managing one of the top Nationwide Series teams in the sport, I would be excited to have Danica within the JR Motorsports fold if she decides to enter the world of NASCAR.”
The speculation continues as some of NASCAR’s top Sprint Cup drivers offer their perspective. Dale Earnhardt Jr. believes Patrick has the passion and determination to succeed.
She’s made it to the top level of motorsports in open wheel in North America,” Earnhardt said. “Any driver in that position has talent. She’s very competitive and has an extremely competitive side to her around the race track and in and around her program.”
Juan Pablo Montoya, however, thinks it might be a mistake to try to run both Indy cars and stock cars in the same season.
I wouldn’t be driving both cars, to be honest,” said Montoya. “I just wouldn’t. I wouldn’t do it because they drive so different. You’re going to get comfortable in one thing and then you’re going to make it to the other thing and every time it’s going to be like night and day.”
Current Sprint Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson thinks the key will be seat time, and a lot of it.
Seat time is everything,” Johnson said. “You’ve got to learn these cars, learn these tracks. She may have raced on these tracks, but not in a closed-body vehicle.”
“Drive everything with a body on it,” Johnson said. “It’s going to be tough because she’s obviously going to have the spotlight on her. But hit walls, tear up equipment, make mistakes, you have to go through that.”
Carl Edwards summed it up by saying, “As far as advice to Danica, I guess the biggest thing would just be patience. The races are very long and the competition is so close that if you go out there and get impatient or try too hard, that’s a surefire way to disaster.”
Related articles by Zemanta
- Dale Earnhardt Jr. says Danica Patrick would excel in NASCAR (sports.espn.go.com)
- Danica Patrick vs. Homegrown NASCAR Talent: Who Is Best for the Sport? (bleacherreport.com)
