NASCAR Capsules: Patrick to make NASCAR debut at Daytona
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Danica Patrick will make her NASCAR debut this weekend at Daytona International Speedway.
The IndyCar star will drive the No. 7 Chevrolet for JR Motorsports in Saturday's second-tier Nationwide Series race.
The decision announced Monday to race at Daytona was made after team officials dissected her stock-car racing debut in the ARCA race at Daytona on Saturday. The team had left the option to race up to Patrick, who wanted to assess her first race before deciding whether to enter one of the most prestigious Nationwide races of the season.
Patrick overcame a midrace spin to finish sixth.
"Racing in the Nationwide Series race was my goal during this entire two-month preparation process, but we wanted to make sure it was the right thing to do," Patrick said in a statement. "The ARCA race was a blast, and I'm not ready for my first Daytona Speedweeks to end just yet. I want more racing."
Patrick had been hesitant to make her debut at Daytona because of the top talent that race attracts. Sprint Cup drivers have won nine of the last 10 Nationwide races here, and the lone exception was Martin Truex Jr., who won in 2005 in JR Motorsports car.
Patrick will be joined in the field by Dale Earnhardt Jr., her car owner. He has five wins and 10 top-10 finishes in 17 Nationwide races at Daytona.
Earnhardt will be driving JRM's flagship No. 88, while Patrick will be in the car she will drive in 13 previously announced races. Her schedule after Daytona includes the Feb. 20 race at California and the Feb. 27 race at Las Vegas.
"I think Danica proved to everyone that she can compete in stock cars at a high level, and right now seat time is extremely important," said Kelley Earnhardt, Earnhardt's sister and the general manager and a part owner of JRM.
"She has worked extremely hard during the past two months for this opportunity. Her dedication and work ethic is infectious."
JR Motorsports acquired the points from CJM Racing to ensure Patrick a spot in the field. CJM Racing finished 15th in the owner standings last season, but has suspended operations.
There's been slight backlash against Patrick for taking the Daytona ride because many believed her decision to race cost Kelly Bires a seat.
"As everyone can see I will not be running Daytona. Very bummed out about it!" he posted on his Twitter account.
But Kelley Earnhardt said Patrick's decision had no bearing on Bires, who is scheduled to drive the No. 88 this season.
A sponsorship agreement had Earnhardt Jr. contractually obligated to race in Daytona's Nationwide event, so he actually replaced Bires for this one event. The second JR Motorsports car, the No. 7, is Patrick's and Earnhardt said Bires would have only gotten that seat had Patrick elected not to race.
There was brief discussion of taking three cars to Daytona so that Bires could race, but Earnhardt said the sponsorship woes JR Motorsports is facing made the extra car unaffordable.
"I think it would have been different if we had sponsorship for the 88 for whole season, but at this moment we only have 12 races out of 35 with (sponsorship) contracts in hand," Earnhardt said. "We are looking to run the balance of the season on our own dime for Kelly, and we just couldn't make that expense to bring a third car.
"If Danica had decided not to race, then Kelly would have been the first choice to go in that car."
Commentary: Patrick signs on for Nationwide race
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Here's something to consider: Maybe Danica Patrick is a pretty good race car driver.
She certainly has her detractors, the ones who have dismissed her as nothing more than a well-marketed, attractive female who has tallied all of one victory in five seasons of IndyCar racing. So she of course was written off long before she ever climbed into a stock car with the intention of giving NASCAR a spin.
Her critics rolled their eyes at her intentions.
And rightfully so. Dario Franchitti couldn't cut it, and Sam Hornish Jr. is still struggling three years after his move. With five IndyCar titles and two Indianapolis 500 wins between them, Franchitti and Hornish have far more accomplished resumes than Patrick.
So what would make anyone think Patrick would do any better? Well, she did.
Patrick bumped and banged her way through the crash-filled ARCA race at Daytona International Speedway, where she successfully dodged one of the sloppiest events in recent memory. She pulled off a masterful save on a slide through the infield grass, fell to the back of the field, and still managed to drive her way to a sixth-place finish.
So it came as no surprise that after taking a day to catch her breath, Patrick decided she should indeed make her NASCAR debut this weekend in the second-tier Nationwide Series race at Daytona.
She'd been previously praised for declaring Daytona not the right place to make her NASCAR debut, but after holding her own in the ARCA race, everyone anticipated the about-face that came Monday.
"Racing in the Nationwide Series race was my goal during this entire two-month preparation process, but we wanted to make sure it was the right thing to do," she said. "The ARCA race was a blast, and I'm not ready for my first Daytona Speedweeks to end just yet. I want more racing."
She'll get it, too. Saturday's race is a big boy race, with 14 full-time Sprint Cup Series drivers among the 53 entries. Among them are Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, and Patrick's boss, Dale Earnhardt Jr.
The Cup drivers have won nine of the last 10 Nationwide races at Daytona, dating back to 2005 when Martin Truex Jr. won it in a JR Motorsports car.
Kelley Earnhardt, general manager and part owner of JRM, doesn't think Patrick will take the team back to Victory Lane on Saturday.
But she doesn't think Patrick, who joins Chrissy Wallace as the only women entered, will stink up the show, either.
"My dream scenario is she would be up there in the top five competing for the win," Earnhardt said Monday. "My reasonable expectation is that she just finishes, and brings the car home and maybe gets a top 15. From a car owner standpoint, she showed Saturday that she can make good decisions and not put other cars in jeopardy.
"Now, going forward, if something catastrophic happens this Saturday, you've still got last week to look back on and say 'We came out of that OK.' I think that takes some of the pressure off and allows her to go into her first NASCAR race not worried about her debut."
Regardless of how she performs, Patrick is guaranteed to have an immense spotlight on her the rest of the week.
She's been the central figure of Speedweeks since her arrival Thursday, and has been constantly swarmed by media and fans everytime she steps into the garage. Her participation brought a whole new level of interest to the typically overlooked ARCA Series, and will undoubtedly do the same for NASCAR at a time when the auto racing series is looking at anyway possible to re-ignite fan interest.
Earnhardt has seen circus-like celebrity before, first with her father, the late Dale Earnhardt, and again with brother Dale Earnhardt Jr.
And even though Dale Jr. is annually named NASCAR's most popular driver, it's been quite some time since his big sister has seen such intense interest at the track.
"I've been in situations with both of them that have seemed very chaotic, but with Danica, it seemed like there were always at least 200 people swamping her," Earnhardt said. "I was really in awe, because I haven't seen something like that in our sport for awhile. You see a crowd moving through the garage, and you know that Dale (Jr.) is coming, but with Danica, this was definitely different."
It's only going to get bigger from here, Earnhardt anticipated. Saturday's race is the first of 13 she's scheduled to run this season in a slate she will intertwine with the IndyCar Series and another run at an Indianapolis 500 victory.
"She's done really well with the attention, and I think she's had a level of this already," Earnhardt said. "But if she's successful here, it's going to be double or triple the attention on our side because our fan base is so much larger and so loyal."
Jenna Fryer covers NASCAR for The Associated Press.
Piquet to enter Trucks race at Daytona
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Former Formula One driver Nelson Piquet Jr. will enter the NASCAR Truck Series race at Daytona International Speedway.
Red Horse Racing announced Monday that Piquet will enter the No. 1 Toyota in Friday's race at Daytona.
"We have closely observed Nelson in our testing and believe he has a great future in NASCAR," said Tom DeLoach, managing partner of Red Horse. "He exhibits excellent car control, gives good feedback, but needs the side-by-side experience. He'll get plenty of that in Daytona."
The Brazilian driver has tested several times with Red Horse and made his stock-car debut in Saturday's ARCA race at Daytona. He started seventh, finished 27th, and bumped fenders with Danica Patrick to trigger her spin through the grass that took Patrick out of race-winning contention.
"The size of the Daytona track is amazing," Piquet said. "I can't wait to reach 200 mph side by side in a tight drafting pack of trucks. I can't wait to get out on track and start my NASCAR career."
Piquet triggered an F1 scandal last year when he revealed he deliberately crashed his car to help teammate Fernando Alonso win the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.
Piquet was fired by Renault in August, and began exploring opportunities in NASCAR shortly afterward.
Red Horse Racing is still searching for a sponsor for Piquet's entry, and there was no immediate word on any future races with the team.
"Nelson has a huge international following, which hopefully will attract a race partner for the team," DeLoach said.
