It’s hard for Danica Patrick to go anywhere unnoticed, but shortly after the start of Saturday’s Nationwide Series race at Phoenix, there was Patrick walking behind the pit area with her father, T.J.
The IndyCar driver lives in nearby Scottsdale and is friends with such NASCAR stars as Stewart and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. But Patrick’s presence at a NASCAR race is sure to set off a flurry of rumors, even though her father was quick to point out the obvious. “She lives here and she’s a race fan,” T.J. said.
Patrick will be in the final year of her contract with Andretti Green Racing in the IndyCar Series next season. Ironically, she used the threat of jumping to NASCAR as leverage in 2006 when she was in the final year of her contract at Rahal Letterman Racing. That earned her a lucrative deal with AGR.
Sources within the IndyCar Series said Patrick will go wherever she can get the biggest check and they would not be surprised if she tried to line up a NASCAR deal. But after watching former Indy Car drivers Hornish Jr. struggle and Dario Franchitti fail in NASCAR, few observers think it would be the wisest move she could make.
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