One of Danica Patrick’s first champions in NASCAR isn’t convinced the popular IndyCar driver’s plan for assimilating into stock cars is sound.
“She’d like to drive her IRL car and on off weekends come drive a Nationwide or Sprint (Cup) car, and that’s not going to work,” Roush said Tuesday at RFR headquarters during an unveiling of the 2009 Mustang that will make its Nationwide debut next season. “Those of us who understand how difficult this business is know that. 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 or a minimized effort.
“If she wants to do this, she’d need to come in with all her heart and soul and commitment and make that determination of what was possible. I’m not sure it’s possible. It’s potentially possible, but I’m stopped short of saying it’s likely that she can do this, based on what she’s done.”
“She’s talked to us a couple of different times, and there was no timetable on getting back to us,” Roush said. “I told her if she wanted to do this, she should do a Nationwide or truck program first with great enthusiasm and then she should reconsider and take stock of things and decide what the timetable should be for a full Cup program.”
Roush isn’t alone in his contention that if Patrick wants to make the jump, she must leave behind the IRL. Before last weekend’s Cup race at Fontana, Calif., Jimmie Johnson and Juan Pablo Montoya both recommended that Patrick would be better suited with a full-time commitment to Cup.
“As long as she’s got an interest in running the IRL with priority in her schedule, she doesn’t have the time for a concerted effort,” Roush said. “And without that, she will not be successful.” USA Today
“You can’t just show up in the Cup Series and go,” three-time reigning champion Jimmie Johnson said. “It’s just two totally different worlds.” Yahoo! Sports
