Nascar and Racing Nascar Rumors

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.''

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Danica Patrick climbed out of her race car Friday afternoon, all smiles about a solid seventh-place qualifying effort for Saturday's IndyCar season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, and liking her chances about a career-best ranking (fifth) in the standings.

She joked with reporters about missing her public relations spokeswoman and spoke earnestly of her Andretti Green Racing team's pressing need to find more speed.

Just don't ask her about the big elephant on pit road -- her contract status and whether she plans to give NASCAR a go.

When asked simply if she had hoped to be able to announce something by now, Patrick pointed her finger and said, "Why do you gotta end it like that?'' abruptly turned her back on the group of a half-dozen reporters and stormed away.

The interviews were over. The speculation will continue.

Danica Patrick has signed a multi-year deal to stay in the IndyCar Series, according to a pair of published reports on Friday.

According to the Indianapolis Star and SI.com, Patrick signed a three-year contract extension with Andretti Green Racing (AGR). Patrick, nor the team, have confirmed the deal. There is nothing on her personal website addressing the situation.

"I think we'd all welcome her (to NASCAR), but I'm really happy for Michael (cousin Michael Andretti) and for his team,'' said NASCAR driver John Andretti. "That is great for them and maybe Danica can still try some of this stuff too and see what she thinks."

A woman driver's place is in the kitchen of the RV. Except for Danica Patrick, who is allowed to appear silhouetted on the mudflaps of my pickup truck.

If you agree, you should hope Patrick joins NASCAR next season.

If you disagree, you should hope Patrick joins NASCAR next season.

If you saw 59,000 empty seats at Daytona International Speedway last week, you know why.

With the Danica Patrick sweepstakes beginning to gain momentum, at least one potential teammate, Juan Pablo Montoya has some words of advice and caution for the IndyCar driver should she make the move to NASCAR.

"Danica, I think she's got the talent and everything, but I don't think she knows what she's getting into," said Montoya, a former Indy car champ and Formula One winner who now drives for Chip Ganassi in the Sprint Cup Series.

"They're [stock cars] so different to drive. It's not the same feeling. ... If she comes I'm sure she can do it, but it doesn't matter if you come to a winning team or anything, it's going to take time."

The first two weeks of Danica Patrick's free-agency sweepstakes have been low profile and subtle -- a stark contrast to the driver's normal mode of operation since becoming one of the most talked about racers in America.

After saying she'd entertain NASCAR job offers along with any good options to keep her in the IndyCar Series, Patrick said Tuesday she was not sure if any NASCAR teams had contacted her uber-agency IMG with employment offers yet.

"That's not for me to handle," said Patrick, who is in the last year of a contract with Andretti Green Racing.

"That's what I leave up to my agents. And as they tell me -- which is the best thing -- all I have to do is go there and perform and they'll take care of the rest, so that's what I'm going to do."

The ongoing fight between Sprint Cup Series driver Jeremy Mayfield and NASCAR over his drug suspension has spilled into lawsuits from both sides.

Mayfield, you may remember, was suspended May 10 after testing positive for a banned substance during a random screening the prior weekend in Richmond. Since then, Mayfield has launched a public relations campaign in an effort to get reinstated. If the latest news is true, then it becomes crystal clear why Mayfield got in trouble in the first place.

Ryan Newman jumped on the bandwagon Thursday night asking for NASCAR to become a tell-all of Jeremy Mayfield's apparent drug use.

"I think everyone wants a list right now," said Newman of NASCAR's banned substances. "The whole system would be fixed if they just tell us what Jeremy did."

Sadly, Newman couldn't be more wrong because such a list wouldn't 'fix' a problem and the precedent set by both NASCAR and other major sports leagues has said that revealing an accused user's drug of choice is not an option.

Whether you always agree with Bruton Smith or not, you've got to appreciate the way he keeps NASCAR's power brokers honest and on their toes.

This week the outspoken and oft-controversial Smith suggested that NASCAR move the season finale from Homestead-Miami Speedway back to Atlanta Motor Speedway, where the champion was crowned through 2001.

In what has to be one of the more unusual -- or, at least, unexpected -- way to save costs for NASCAR's third-tier Camping World Truck Series, one driver acknowledged competitive pit stops might be gone for 2009.

According to an article over at SceneDaily, NASCAR is expected to announce a few more initiatives this week in a bid to help Truck teams stay solvent among one of the toughest sponsorship climates the sport has ever seen.

Pit stops, three-time Truck Series champ Ron Hornaday Jr., says, might be one of the key elements on NASCAR's cost containment chopping block, though the sanctioning body has yet to acknowledge such a possibility.