Reports: Danica to Stay in IndyCar

Posted Aug 22, 2009 9:05PM By Holly Cain (RSS feed)

Filed Under: IRL

There are multiple reports from Sonoma, Calif., this weekend that Danica Patrick will remain in the IndyCar Series -- re-signing with Andretti Green Racing -- instead of moving to NASCAR next season.

"I think it's looking a bit like I"m returning,'' Patrick told SI.com from Sonoma, where she has qualified 11th for Sunday's race at the California road course.

"I'm not done. We are still working through some things, but it's looking like that. It is moving along very positively.''

An expected restructuring of AGR ownership, plus an apparent sponsorship deal with Motorola should Patrick stay with AGR, helped sway her decision according to the report. It would be a major coup for the series should she stay instead of following through with her NASCAR flirtation.

Many insiders questioned whether Patrick was seriously considering NASCAR even though she's never turned laps in a stock car or whether she was merely using her considerable popularity as leverage. She has had NASCAR circles buzzing for years about the possibility of her suiting up alongside Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Stewart.

Chip Ganassi, who owns teams in both series, confirmed he'd had talks with Patrick. Some figured if she left AGR, she might sign with a team like Ganassi's which would allow her to continue racing open-wheel full time while making a few stock car starts to get her feet wet until an eventual full-time move to NASCAR.

The week of the Indianapolis 500 in May, Patrick said she would prefer starting out in the marquee Sprint Cup Series, but had backed off that mindset, acknowledging she might benefit from starts in the developmental series.

Clearly, however, Patrick is most comfortable in an open-wheel seat and in the IndyCar Series, where she became the first woman to win a major open-wheel race at the circuit's stop in Japan last spring. In 2005 she became the first woman to lead the Indianapolis 500. She is currently fifth in the championship standings and easily the most popular driver in American open-wheel racing.

She is currently the highest ranked of the four AGR drivers, which also include former series champion Tony Kanaan and Marco Andretti.

Andretti's father Michael, a former series champion, is expected to take over full ownership of the AGR racing operation with his partners Kim Green and Kevin Savoree operating the race promotions portion of the company.

Patrick initially said she would wait until the season was over to reveal her plans and new contract, but that time frame may change with these developments.

"Obviously if a deal is struck with the team that I'm with, we will know when it gets done,'' Patrick told SI.com.

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Danica Patrick Racing

SONOMA, CA - AUGUST 22: Danica Patrick drives the #27 Boost Mobile Andretti Green Racing Dallara Honda during practice for the IRL IndyCar Series Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma at the Infineon Raceway on August 22, 2009 in Sonoma, California. (Photo by Darrell Ingham/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Danica Patrick

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Latest Danica Patrick Photos

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IRL driver Danica Patrick takes a pit stop while making practice laps in preparation for the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma auto race Saturday, Aug. 22, 2009, at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. (AP Photo/Russel A. Daniels)

IRL drivers Helio Castroneves of Brazil, left, and Danica Patrick are seen after a practice session in preparation for the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma auto race Saturday, Aug. 22, 2009, at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

LEXINGTON, OH - AUGUST 09: Danica Patrick, driver of the #7 Boost Mobile/Motorola Andretti Green Racing Dallara Honda, during the IRL IndyCar Series The Honda Indy 200 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on August 9, 2009 in Lexington, Ohio. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Danica Patrick

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LEXINGTON, OH - AUGUST 09: Danica Patrick, driver of the #7 Boost Mobile/Motorola Andretti Green Racing Dallara Honda, leads a pack of cars during the IRL IndyCar Series The Honda Indy 200 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on August 9, 2009 in Lexington, Ohio. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Danica Patrick

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LEXINGTON, OH - AUGUST 09: Danica Patrick drives the #7 Boost Mobile Andretti Green Racing Dallara Honda during the IRL IndyCar Series The Honda Indy 200 on August 9, 2009 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. (Photo by Darrell Ingham/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Danica Patrick

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LEXINGTON, OH - AUGUST 08: Danica Patrick, driver of the # 7 Boost Mobile/Motorola Andretti Green Racing Dallara Honda, and team owner Michael Andretti during practice for IRL Indy Car Series The Honda Indy 200 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, August 8, 2009 in Lexington, Ohio. (Photo by Rick Dole/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Danica Patrick;Michael Andretti

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LEXINGTON, OH - AUGUST 08: Danica Patrick driver of the # 7 Boost Mobile/Motorola Andretti Green Racing Dallara Honda, and team owner Michael Andretti during practice for IRL Indy Car Series The Honda Indy 200 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, August 8, 2009 in Lexington, Ohio. (Photo by Rick Dole/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Danica Patrick;Michael Andretti

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LEXINGTON, OH - AUGUST 08: Danica Patrick drives the #7 Boost Mobile Andretti Green Racing Dallara Honda during practice for the IRL IndyCar Series The Honda Indy 200 on August 8, 2009 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. (Photo by Darrell Ingham/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Danica Patrick

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)

8-22-2009 @ 9:19PM

Welcome Dawn said...

Awwwwwwwwww What a shame I was looking forward to the spoiled brat to come over and whine and rant and cry and complain like her counterpart, Danica Bush.

8-22-2009 @ 9:39PM

DACInsp said...

kind of like your doing now.

8-26-2009 @ 10:04AM

kawieboy said...

She goes and pops off to some NASCAR driving country boy like she does to those little European sissies and somebody's gonna' knock the crap out of her 78 lb. ass. I'd be more impressed if she ever won anything.

8-22-2009 @ 9:54PM

cls04linc said...

Who really cares what she does??????????

8-23-2009 @ 1:09AM

jkdstrebe said...

I would rather look at her than some guy

8-23-2009 @ 1:43AM

sdh4194 said...

there are 43 race car drivers in nascar. she wouldnt have stood a chance.

8-23-2009 @ 2:30AM

jmbcorex said...

Her physical stature and cockpit heat would turn her inaugural nascar season into a hell on earth...translation!...she'd stink in stock cars.

8-23-2009 @ 2:44AM

Mark said...

stay there and be a star please

8-23-2009 @ 2:55AM

mrdcr531 said...

She would be the perfect female counterpart for Kyle Busch. Can you imagine the crying, whining, temper trantrums? He can smash guitars, she can burn her bra. Equality would finally come to Nascar!

8-23-2009 @ 4:44AM

David S. said...

Well, if she would just stop doing her mascara while driving....no, seriously --- there are some sports women can compete with men effectively: tennis, swimming, track and field.....but NASCAR and pro football are two where they cannot compete.

8-23-2009 @ 7:45AM

wvnewcastle said...

"IF YOU CAN DO BETTER THEN GOOD IS NOT ENOUGH" GO DANICA. AMEN

8-23-2009 @ 8:49AM

krspas2 said...

Why AGR is holding on to her I'll never know. She
has their best car and can't run with the big boys
andd has not been a factor in any race this season. Why doesn't AGR sign Graham Rahal or one
of a dozen other drivers and put them in her car,
they'd do a hell of a lot better. She looks decent
and that is why they keep her. They feel they can fix a race a year for her to win and try and make
her out to be a star.

8-23-2009 @ 9:01AM

egspec said...

Perhaps, if she went to NASCAR, we might see some excitment in Jr's pants' (I doubt it)
I never saw a girl on the track with ehat LOOOOOOSER

8-23-2009 @ 9:06PM

Brad said...

LMAOROF,,,,,and it's comments like yours that make me understand how an enema can help someone so full of CRAP.

8-23-2009 @ 9:46AM

Roll and Fab said...

She has plenty of time to make her move. As long as they keep paying her decent money, why move on?

8-23-2009 @ 10:00AM

Benjamin said...

Yeah there's like 12 former indy racers in nascar now.... Plus nascar restructures it's rules every 2 or 3 days weeks.

8-23-2009 @ 10:31AM

jmaranch said...

She is smart to stay there she is if she can. The NASCAR COT is a real bear to drive not frendly to novises. I am afraid she would just crash and crash causing a great up roar to get her off the track for being to dangerous. She is pretty but how much that helps to "hold a pretty wheel" remains to be seen

8-23-2009 @ 10:34AM

Sean 252s said...

She wouldnt finish in the top 30 in NASCAR..

Dario Franchitti went back to INDY with a new humbleness, Hornish struggles, Montoya is finally in the top 15?

I mean come on? She wouldnt make it at all, she knows it and any real NASCAR Fan knows it.

INDY is entertaining but come on it is little league compared to NASCAR.

8-23-2009 @ 10:50AM

car4t4 said...

I really like Danica. I think shes hot and kinda find it interesting each race to find out how she finished. Saying that I dont think she is good enough to race in Nascar but would be the story line for a long time to come if she did make the move. Everyone likes the wrecks in the Nascar races (as long as they dont get hurt) and Danica would be in them and probally the cause of most. Nascar is entertainment and thats what I think danica would be in that series, even though it probally would be the wrecking side of the entertainment part of the races.