The Official Danica Patrick Fan Site

Source: Danica near NASCAR deal

from espn website

IndyCar Series and crossover media star Danica Patrick is nearing completion of a two-year contract with JR Motorsports, the NASCAR Nationwide Series operation owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr., and a source close to the negotiations described the talks as being "in the final phase."

A second source close to the situation confirmed the deal is moving forward, saying "talks are moving in a very positive direction and it would probably be a surprise if it didn't happen."

Both the Patrick and Earnhardt camps declined comment.

Before Brad Keselowski signed with Penske Racing South, JR Motorsports had no room for Patrick -- and thus little interest -- sources close to negotiations between the team and driver told ESPN.com's Marty Smith. But when Keselowski jumped to Sprint Cup with Penske, JRM jumped headfirst into the Patrick sweepstakes.

Sources close to negotiations told Smith on Wednesday a deal is expected to be completed within a week or 10 days, but likely won't be formally announced until the offseason. NASCAR's Chase for the Cup playoffs culminate with the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami on Nov. 22.

Sources also told Smith the first race on Patrick's tentative schedule is the ARCA event at Daytona Speedweeks. Depending on whether or not she is approved by NASCAR to run the Daytona Nationwide Series event in February, Patrick plans to run 12 or 13 Nationwide races in 2010, sources said.

If Patrick is not approved by NASCAR, she would likely debut at Auto Club Speedway the following week.

Patrick met with Rick Hendrick, owner of Sprint Cup juggernaut Hendrick Motorsports, which supplies support to JR Motorsports, for the first time just two weeks ago due to scheduling conflicts. Hendrick at the time made a "big commitment" to her that he would continue to support thoroughly the JRM effort, sources told Smith.

Since then, talks have intensified.

Sources told ESPN's David Newton that Patrick is negotiating to drive the No. 7, her number in IndyCar. That would replace the No. 5, the second car at JRM. She would split that ride with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and one or more other drivers.

Sources said GoDaddy.com, which already sponsors Patrick in the IndyCar Series, is expected to be the primary sponsor for the car.

Contrary to reports that Patrick will make $300,000 a race, sources said she would make in line of the typical Nationwide salary -- between $50,000 and $100,000 a race. "She's not in it for the money," a source said. "She's in it for the experience."

Patrick, the 2005 Indy 500 Rookie of the Year and the first woman to win an IndyCar Series race, will continue to race full-time for Andretti Green Racing in IndyCar.

Patrick signed a three-year contract extension with AGR earlier this year, leading many to believe that she had put any NASCAR plans on hold. While the relatively sparse IndyCar schedule -- 17 races spread over seven and a half months -- leaves plenty of room to run a number of other events, calendar conflicts between the two series appear to make running the full Nationwide schedule all but impossible.

"Danica Watch" has been a season-long source of headlines and garage gossip in IndyCar and NASCAR throughout the 2009 season, as the 27-year-old driver made repeated trips to North Carolina to chat with potential stock car suitors, including Tony Stewart's Stewart-Haas Racing, Michael Waltrip Racing and Hendrick Motorsports. A decision to sign with JR Motorsports would establish a direct tie to Hendrick, which supplies engines, cars and technical assistance to Earnhardt's operation -- as well as Stewart's.

Earnhardt and Patrick already have a corporate connection, in current sponsorship deals with GoDaddy.com. The Web site registration service is a sponsor on JR Motorsports' No. 88 Chevrolet, which has earned four Nationwide Series wins this season with Brad Keselowski at the wheel.

GoDaddy.com also recently signed on to sponsor Hendrick's No. 5 Chevy beginning in 2010. That car is currently driven by Mark Martin, who is signed through 2011.

As recently as last weekend, some Sprint Cup stars, most notably open-wheel defector Juan Pablo Montoya, have suggested that Patrick concentrate on running one series only instead of jumping back and forth from IndyCar to stock cars. Patrick herself has openly expressed reservations about diving into NASCAR's notoriously long schedule.

But even those who have advised her to resist the temptation to double dip admit that the potential financial windfall might be worth the grind of logistics and the learning curve of stock car racing.

Patrick made headlines in April 2008 when she won an IndyCar race at Twin Ring Motegi, the first for a woman in a major American non-drag racing series. She was the first woman to lead a lap at the Indianapolis 500, in 2005.

A woman has never won a race in any of NASCAR's top three national series. The last regular female competitor in the NASCAR Nationwide Series was Patty Moise, who started 22 of 26 races in what was then known as the Busch Series in 1995. Shawna Robinson won the pole position for a Busch Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 1994.

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Permalink Reply by Reggie on November 4, 2009 at 10:46pm: Yes, I did; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Kris on November 4, 2009 at 11:33pm: Danica in NASCAR: cool. Danica in a Chevy: not cool :(; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Jeremy on November 5, 2009 at 2:11am: from the foxsports website

LAS VEGAS - Dale Earnhardt Jr. said Wednesday that no deal has been formalized between JR Motorsports and IndyCar Series star driver Danica Patrick.

However, on the heels of an earlier ESPN.com report that a deal was imminent, Earnhardt said there were still ongoing discussions between JRM and Patrick.

"We've been talking to her — we've made that known for quite some time and other teams have talked to her as well," Earnhardt said at an appearance for Quaker State. "She's really serious about coming to NASCAR. A lot of people thought it was just a ruse or her just kind of blowing smoke.

"She's really serious about it and she's going to do it with somebody. So we're working on details and trying to be a part of that puzzle. We'll know more in the future."

Sources at Michael Waltrip Racing and Kevin Harvick Inc., two teams previously linked with Patrick, said Wednesday there hadn't recently been dialogue with her camp.

The timing of the story is curious given that IndyCar is expected to announce IZOD as the series' title sponsor on Thursday; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Jeremy on November 5, 2009 at 12:18pm: from nascar scene website

LAS VEGAS – Dale Earnhardt Jr. said Wednesday night that his JR Motorsports team is still negotiating with IndyCar Series driver Danica Patrick about driving a partial Nationwide Series schedule in 2010 and that he still believes that there’s competition to land Patrick.

“We’ve been talking to her,” Earnhardt Jr. said during an appearance in Las Vegas. “Other teams are talking to her as well. She’s really serious about coming to NASCAR. A lot of people, I guess, thought that it was just a media hoax or her kind of blowing smoke.

“She’s really serious about it, and she’s going to do it with somebody. We’re working on details and trying to be part of that puzzle. We’ll know more in the future.”

JR Motorsports is considered one of the leading candidates to land Patrick because both Earnhardt Jr. and Patrick have had sponsorship agreements with GoDaddy.com, which will sponsor Earnhardt Jr.’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate Mark Martin at the Sprint Cup level next year.

Patrick is expected to run full time for car owner Michael Andretti in the IndyCar Series next year and also to begin testing the waters in NASCAR.

Earnhardt Jr. has said that Patrick would be driving in a part-time role in a car that he would drive in select races as well as possibly other drivers. Patrick has one IndyCar victory in her career, winning in Japan last year. She finished fifth in the IndyCar standings this year.

JR Motorsports will field a car full time for Kelly Bires next season as well.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Jeremy on November 5, 2009 at 1:00pm: from speedtv website

Danica Patrick will start her stock-car career next season in the ARCA Series in 2010, before moving to the NASCAR Nationwide Series part-time later in the year, sources have confirmed to SPEEDtv.com.

There is a chance Patrick could race in next year’s season-opening NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Daytona International Speedway “if everything goes right,” a source close to Patrick told SPEEDtv.com.

Patrick will race for JR Motorsports with backing from GoDaddy.com in a two-year deal that could be finalized in a matter of days, sources said. She will continue to drive full-time in the IndyCar Series, where her three-year contract extension with Andretti-Green Racing is expected to be announced in early December. ESPN first reported the JR Motorsports deal on Wednesday.

The presence of Patrick is expected to be a media bonanza for NASCAR, which in recent years has wrestled with finding an identity for the Nationwide Series. But in terms of having any real on-track impact, the future of Patrick remains to be seen.

In recent years, a host of open-wheel drivers have tried to transition to NASCAR, many of them unsuccessfully. The most successful expatriate open-wheeler is Juan Pablo Montoya, and even he has admitted that it’s taken three years to get the feel of racing stock cars.

Some have been openly skeptical about what Patrick will be able to accomplish in NASCAR.

“She’d like to be able to drive her (Indy Racing League) car and on off weekends come and drive a Nationwide or a Sprint Car, and that’s not going to work,” team owner Jack Roush said recently. “ … This is really, really, really, really hard to do. She may be able to do it or she may not. I hope that she can, but she certainly won’t be able to do it with distractions with a minimized effort.”

For his part, Montoya also said that trying to juggle both a full-time IndyCar ride and a part-time stock-car ride would be difficult, at best.

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 times it’s going to be like night and day. When I drive the (Rolex) 24 hours and I get to Daytona it feels really weird and I’ve been driving stock cars for three years now. I do two test days and the race and come back for the (Daytona) 500 and it feels really weird to drive again. So, I wouldn’t.”

NASCAR Sprint Cup points leader Jimmie Johnson said Patrick will have a steep learning curve as well.

“It boils down to seat time,” said Johnson. “Just not to be in a hurry, drive anything with a body on it ... ARCA, Truck, Nationwide, Cup. Hit some walls. It is tough because she is obviously going to have a big spotlight on her. Hit walls, tear up equipment, make mistakes. You have to go through that. You cannot short cut that aspect. It doesn't matter if you are Juan Pablo who has been an F-1 driver coming in or a guy coming from a local short track. You have to go through those experiences to learn.”; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Damon on November 5, 2009 at 2:51pm: She will continue to drive full-time in the IndyCar Series, where her three-year contract extension with Andretti-Green Racing is expected to be announced in early December

Early December for the official annoucement? Sheesh.......talk about a buzz kill.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Reggie on November 5, 2009 at 5:57pm: There are so many sponsorship issues to work out, they can't just rush to an official announcement then have something happen down the line and have to rework the entire deal. Just need to make sure all the i's are dotted and t's are crossed before anything is made official; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Jeremy on November 5, 2009 at 7:37pm: from espn website

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Texas Motor Speedway president Eddie Gossage believes Danica Patrick needs to take advantage of her entry into NASCAR by doing more to promote her involvement.

"She needs to understand that she has to take an active role in the promotion of the sport," Gossage said Thursday at Texas Motor Speedway. "If I were one of her advisors, I would encourage her to do a lot more."

Patrick is close to reaching an agreement to drive a partial Nationwide Series schedule next season for Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his JR Motorsports team, while she continues to race full time in the IndyCar Series.

Gossage wants to see Patrick make the most of her NASCAR debut by helping track promoters, sponsors and NASCAR take advantage of her mainstream celebrity status.

"That's something that I don't think some people around her in Indy car emphasize to her as much as they should," Gossage said. "I think people in NASCAR will encourage her to take a more active role."

Gossage was asked to give some examples of what she should do.

"For one thing, she needs to do more advance work before events," Gossage said. "She does that at some IndyCar races, but not many. Let's put it this way: I don't think she's tired or anything."

Some might argue Patrick is recognizable because of all the things she does to market herself, from magazine photos shoots to numerous television commercials.

But Gossage isn't talking about personal promotion. He believes Patrick should do more to promote her profession.

"The people who don't want to do that stuff don't make it in this business," Gossage said. "Every driver I know [in NASCAR] is reasonably accessible in promoting our races, and in turn, it's promoting their sponsors. It's good for each other.

"I don't think that is universally understood in IndyCar racing."; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Jeremy on November 5, 2009 at 7:57pm: from the sports illustrated

What's the best way to push criticism out of today's sports news cycle?

Simple: Come up with other news to overshadow the criticism.

Danica Patrick's publicized negotiations with JR Motorsports this week proved curious timing at best, considering the outrage resulting from last Sunday's lackluster race at Talladega. Her flirtation with stock cars was re-elevated to nationwide status by an ESPN story, even though SI.com's Bruce Martin first reported it back in the beginning of October.

Regardless of motive, Patrick's move to NASCAR appears to be all but a done deal. Whether the signing gets announced next week, next month, or early next year, expect her to show up to Daytona in a JR Motorsports Chevrolet. Her first race will likely be in the ARCA Series, after which she'll strap into her No. 5 Chevy for the 300-mile Nationwide race (the sport's equivalent of AAA baseball) on Saturday, Feb. 13. She'll run about a dozen races, dependent largely upon her adjustment to stock cars and the expanded schedule of going above and beyond her 17 scheduled weekends in IndyCar.

But even six or eight Danica sightings will be a great thing for a sport struggling for something new to talk about. As it stands next season, no drivers will compete for Rookie of the Year in Cup for the first time since 1992. Driver development has slowed to a trickle, as both the economy and declining ratings have made the funding for new drivers dry up. Let's face it: We're in a recession and advertisers want a return on their investment, making a 19-year-old kid with nothing on his resume a shaky proposition compared to Carl Edwards or Kyle Busch.

That's where Patrick can turn the tide. Even if she struggles initially, her presence will brings in millions in marketing dollars and new companies will take an interest in the sport. By finalizing the decision, she'll make a statement that says, in essence, "This is the racing series that has the most potential for me to be successful." It takes away the momentum IndyCar had following their CART-IRL merger in 2008, as their Most Popular Driver unfolds an exit strategy right before their eyes, but or the first time in months, NASCAR might have something to point to and say, "Look! We've got a major superstar in auto racing who still believes in our success." It will also help other drivers who are dragged in on her coattails, with NASCAR's main feeder series benefiting from the "up-and-coming" talent label that it's struggled to reattach for years.

But whether Danica will be successful over the long haul is yet to be seen. Open-wheel converts have jumped to NASCAR with mixed results: For every champion (Tony Stewart), there's a dud (Dario Franchitti) who went running back in shame within 12 months. Analyst Rusty Wallace suggests there's a three-year learning curve in the stock car circuit, and recent converts Juan Pablo Montoya, Sam Hornish, Jr., and A.J. Allmendinger are proving him right.

So will Patrick's dozen races a year be enough for her to make a successful transition? Stewart's shown it can be done, after 36 starts, six top fives, and seven top 10s over three years in the Busch Series, before he jumped to Cup full-time in 1999. Patrick's involvement with Hendrick opens the door for Stewart to act as a mentor as she follows a similar path. But Patrick's schedule in open-wheel is far larger than Stewart's ever was, creating the biggest adjustment for someone used to three weeks off DURING the course of an IndyCar season. This time around, she'll be lucky to have a chance to breathe.

While Dale Earnhardt Jr. is more of a figurehead in the deal, he'll still be able to relate to Patrick. Both will enter 2010 with little to no margin for error; one crash, and critics will immediately claim Patrick made the wrong move, while Earnhardt deflects more criticism in a day at Hendrick than most drivers endure an entire season. With the best equipment money can buy, excuses will no longer be an option for Patrick, and she'll be able to vent to someone that understands.

In the end, transitioning to NASCAR gives Danica the best shot at success, which is why the move is a no brainer. If she succeeds, Mark Martin's or Jeff Gordon's retirement would open the door for Danica to drive at the Cup level for Hendrick in 2012. But five or six DNFs in a dozen stock car starts, and chances are that Patrick will run back to IndyCars as fast as Franchitti.

Right now, that's all that the series can pray for, as NASCAR has used one of the few bullets left in its rapidly depleting supply.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Jeremy on November 5, 2009 at 8:23pm: from the motorsports.fanhouse.com website

INDIANAPOLIS -- The timing of the latest round of Danica Patrick-to-NASCAR reports isn't lost on those in the IndyCar world, where Thursday's major announcement that IZOD will be the IndyCar Series' first title sponsor in a decade has been forced to share headlines with its most famous driver's likely part-time foray into stock cars.

Recently crowned 2009 IndyCar Series champion Dario Franchitti -- a former Andretti Green Racing teammate of Patrick's -- said Thursday he's still confident she's staying in IndyCar next season.

"I believe she'll be back in IndyCar next year and that will help her with her goal of winning the Indianapolis 500,'' Franchitti told FanHouse. "If she does drive in NASCAR, I think it will be difficult to do both.''

And like many others in open-wheel circles, he also questioned the suspect timing of this week's reports about Patrick moving to NASCAR.

"There seems to be a certain game being played - not by her or her people - to drip feed these stories to the media,'' Franchitti said.

While Patrick, 27, and her agents at IMG have refused to confirm any news about 2010, multiple IndyCar sources confirmed Thursday that she's already signed a deal to be back in IndyCar full-time at Andretti Green Racing while also making a few stock car starts next season. Sponsorship commitments and leadership changes at AGR have prevented any type of formal announcement yet.

IZOD IndyCar Series officials refused to let recent speculation distract from Thursday's IndyCar news at Indianapolis Motor Speedway - a sponsorship deal IndyCar Series President of Competition Division Brian Barnhart referred to as the most significant development in the sport.

"We're comfortable and happy with where we are as a sport and the momentum we are building,'' Barnhart said. "We're hoping she'll be a big part of it.''

Barnhart's counterpart in the Commercial Division, Terry Angstadt said the constant rumors don't even phase the company.

"I don't think it hurts us one bit if she does some NASCAR races,'' Angstadt said. "It think it may actually raise the interest level, knowing that her full time interest is still being an IndyCar driver.''

For her part, Patrick isn't providing any details - in fact she refused to even take questions about it at the IRL season finale in Homestead last month - but a part-time job for her in NASCAR has been the worst-kept secret in North Carolina.

For more than a month there have been reports that Patrick was negotiating with JR Motorsports. This week, ESPN reported she is close to finalizing a deal with plans to drive a dozen or so NASCAR Nationwide Series races for Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s team after making her stock car debut in the ARCA Series opener at Daytona International Speedway in February.

Over the last few months Patrick has met with several NASCAR teams. Stewart-Haas Racing owner-driver Tony Stewart - himself a former IRL champion - met with her and told reporters he was certain Patrick would compete in NASCAR at some level in 2010, but has repeatedly denied it will be for him.

Owner Michael Waltrip has publicly offered to broker a deal for Patrick too, but the likely scenario seems to involve Hendrick Motorsports equipment - which is what JR Motorsports uses.

Sources told FanHouse two weeks ago that a deal was once nearly completed for Patrick to drive trucks and Nationwide Series cars for Kevin Harvick under the tutelage of Harvick and Stewart, but it fell through over a sponsorship issue.

GoDaddy.com sponsors both Patrick and Earnhardt so it would be a plausible scenario to team up open-wheel's most famous driver with NASCAR's most-famous driver in what would be a marketing nirvana.

Both drivers are winless this year. But Patrick, whose victory in the 2008 IRL race in Japan made her the first woman to win a major professional race, was the top-finishing American in the IndyCar Series championship with a career best fifth place.

Earnhardt, on the other hand, has struggled mightily in his second season with Hendrick Motorsports. He's recorded only five top-10 finishes, had a mid-season crew chief change, and is on pace for his worst ever championship ranking (currently 23rd) while his three teammates are first, second and third in the standings.

While the rumors and non-sourced reports are picking up pace as the season winds down, Patrick has repeatedly insisted she would prefer to make any formal announcements about her plans in the winter off-season - perhaps late November.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Roller Cris on November 5, 2009 at 11:47pm: that was the best part of all my reading!!!

Don't care if it's December or in an hour :) I'm just happy with that ;) hehe; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Erik Nilsen Aamot on November 6, 2009 at 11:50am: I Think Danica should but this on hold, and concentrate on the year 2010, cause it should be much more important to her and AGR, to focus 100% on next year, cause this year we just had podiums and top 5s no wins.
And if we want the championship next year then we should only focusing on that.
And if DP wants Nascar so badley then she should but her mind too that when her contracts ends before 2013, its rubbish, to do concentrate on two championships at the same time, then its impossible to be fully preperaed for the challenge ahed.
Take a break Danica, and come back even stronger for 2010. PLEASE.
All the best; ▶ Reply to This