Danica Patrick is back in NASCAR. Will she be a permanent resident soon?
Patrick still isn’t saying – or even giving any strong hints. Even though garage-area talk has her leaning toward committing to a full-time ride in the Nationwide Series next year and abandoning the Indy-car side of her career, Patrick said Thursday at Daytona International Speedway that there is no news.
“Obviously, I’m racing in NASCAR, and I’ve not made anyone wonder why I like it,” she said while waiting out a rain delay in practice for Friday’s Subway Jalapeno 250. “Other than that, as I’ve said from the beginning of the year, these things are complicated, and they take time. Whether I’m coming here or not has yet to be signed, sealed or delivered.
“Only time will tell. I’m really not sure.”
The decision, she said, will come down to “my gut and my desire and where I feel like I’ll be the happiest and have the most success. From those thoughts, then my team explores the options. But it always starts with where I want to be.”
In Thursday’s opening Nationwide practice, Patrick damaged the right side of her car when she scraped the outside wall while drafting with teammate Aric Almirola.
Patrick has raced in five Nationwide events this year with a top finish of fourth at Las Vegas. Her only other top 10 is a 10th at Chicagoland June 4.
Patrick is 11th in points with no top fives in Indy-car racing this year.
Patrick said she is not aware of the reported possibility that GoDaddy.com, the Internet domain company that sponsors her, could be sold.
“I haven’t heard from him (company chairman Bob Parsons) about it,” she said. “I don’t know if that’s being done, and perhaps they don’t know the answer, either.”
Asked if the sale of the company might impact her sponsor situation, Patrick said, “It might not change anything. It might change everything. Right now, it’s just status quo with them, and I’m trying to do a good job for them.”
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 29 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
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