Danica Patrick Is Ready For NASCAR Action

By Anne Proffit

Anne Proffit

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Anne Proffit has worked in the automotive field since - well, not telling you that. She's been a car salesperson (before it was popular to hire... More

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It's hard to think of another open wheel racer that will enter NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series as well prepared as Danica Patrick.  Oh wait, there is one and it's Tony Stewart, who will shepherd Patrick through a 10-race season of Cup competition even as she embarks on a full year of NASCAR Nationwide Series racing.

Patrick, who has performed partial seasons with JR Motorsports in the Nationwide Series in 2010-11 as she continued her IZOD IndyCar Series career, has dedicated herself to learning the craft of stock car racing through alliances with some of the best in the business.  This includes Stewart, teammate and engineering ace Ryan Newman, together with the JR Motorsports group of Dale Earnhardt Jr., sister Kelley and Tony Eury Sr and Jr in Nationwide.

Patrick did the same when she joined the IZOD IndyCar Series, initially working with Rahal Letterman Racing, a team that boasts exceptional engineering talent and later with Andretti Autosport (nee Andretti Green Racing).  She listened, she learned and she succeeded.  Now the playing field is larger, and the interest Patrick generates will depend more on what she does on the track than her escapades away from it.

The first woman to win an Indy car race, Patrick is letting Tony Stewart call the shots for her in Sprint Cup competition.  After all, he's been there and done that after graduating from USAC and IndyCar racing.  "I'm not the professional and I'm not the experienced one," Patrick said.  "He is."  

Patrick wanted to start her Cup career on the daunting Daytona International Speedway oval in NASCAR's biggest race of the year, the 54th Daytona 500.  "I feel like it's easier to get up to speed there than some other tracks.  It's really down to keeping your nose clean and picking right lanes and being smooth for the car in front of you or behind you - and just getting a little lucky," she admitted.

The two-car draft will be a challenge for Patrick, as it is for everyone in Cup racing, but one she's ready to accept.  "I feel comfortable in that environment.  It reminds me of Indy car; it reminds me of mile-and-a-half racing because you're flat out and it's about taking care of the car, it's about putting it in the right spot and it's about following the run, so I feel more comfortable in those environments.  Whether it's bump drafting or not, I feel like the bigger tracks are the high speed chess match that I'm familiar with."

While she will be doing some short-track racing (at Bristol Speedway in the fall, night race), Patrick feels the short tracks "have been challenging for me.  I think I've gotten a little bit better this year, but short tracks are definitely something that, my first year, I was not so great at.  The 1.5-mile tracks are something I think I've caught onto a little quicker," she said.

At this time Patrick and husband Paul Hospenthal are not planning a move from their home base in the Phoenix area to North Carolina, where NASCAR teams are based.  When she raced in the Indy cars, she'd often stay at her parents home in Roscoe, IL between races.  "That was pretty functional.  I'm sure we'll figure something out, but if I'm needed in Charlotte, I'll be there."

On Friday in Texas, Patrick was able to see her new Cup car in the flesh for the first time - and was pleased to see NASCAR's Dan Wheldon tribute on it.  "I hadn't seen the car yet and to talk about it being the No. 10 car and just how cool I think that is - I know it sounds silly," she said, "but I've never been able to choose my number in racing other than go-karts.  Pretty cool."

© 2011 Anne Proffit