Dannica Patrik <---- Nascar

[rickdohc]

Bueno.. ya q nascar esta que arde con posibilidad de q entre mas pilotos de openwheel entonces abro un tema por cada piloto y postear las ultimas noticias

Danika Patrick No sera tan facil como piensas:




http://www.nascar.com/2006/news/headlin ... index.html



heard that Danica Patrick's father was at Chicagoland Speedway last weekend exploring the possibilities of her moving from the Indy Racing League to NASCAR's Nextel Cup.




I don't blame her for looking. I feel like the best American drivers are in NASCAR. Not taking away from what they're doing in the IRL, but the most competitive racing in the United States is in NASCAR.

When you have a Formula One driver in Juan Pablo Montoya coming to NASCAR as he is next season for Chip Ganassi Racing it just shows the caliber of the sport.

I understand her dad said the Cup cars would be easier to drive than the Indy cars because they have power steering. I've never driven an Indy car, so I don't know.

But stock cars are a lot hotter and they have a lot longer races in Cup, and you have to beat 42 other drivers each week instead of 18. You go to a practice and see how close the times are. It's unbelievable.

It definitely would be a big challenge for her. I'm still totally struggling, and I've been running for a while.

Maybe some things will be easier, but some things may be harder. She's had success in the IRL, so she might be a faster learner than I am or she might go through the learning curve a little easier.

But to jump right into Nextel Cup would be a mistake. Even drivers like Adrian Fernandez and Paul Tracy who have come from other series have run Busch races and struggled.


She'd be better off getting her feet wet in some of the lower series and take it one step at a time.

That she's looking just shows how great NASCAR is and what an awesome job the France family and everybody else involved in NASCAR has done.

A few years ago, when I was running sprint cars, I wanted to go IndyCar racing. I had an engineering background and I thought IndyCars were fascinating.

When you look at a stock car and you've never been to a stock car shop you think they're no different than a street car. IndyCars look like a lot of engineering goes into them. They're cool. They're downforce. They're aero.

It wasn't until I went into a stock-car shops that I realized there is a ton of engineering involved that you don't see on TV.

The biggest thing for me was I tried to get into the Indy program, but every team I went to said, "Yeah! We'd love to have you drive, but you need to put this much money into it.''

I didn't have any money. In NASCAR, you can still get to the top levels without having a lot of money. Of course, being a female helps in the diversity search.

Danica: Not so fast
"I'd be a fool not to want [Danica] there, and if you were her father you would, too," T.J. Patrick was quoted in a story Tuesday in the Indianapolis Star. "But it's not my decision ... and I don't believe she wants to do [NASCAR].

"She wants to stay here [in the IRL], she wants to run Indy, she wants to win the Indy 500. That's her goal."


But you can get a ride without having money. Kasey Kahne made it here without having a parent buying his ride. It's like the "Gong Show'' that Roush Racing uses to find drivers. You can still be a local racer and make it.

I've never talked to Danica about NASCAR. The IRL and NASCAR schedules are just so different our paths have never crossed.

But I don't think she or any woman would be a disadvantage coming to NASCAR just because we're not as big and strong as the men, which you hear a lot. I know she stays in really good shape, so it shouldn't be an issue.

We're still at the same risks men are. I got fitted for a new carbon fiber seat last week. After we saw Jeff Gordon's hard hit at Pocono and Kelly Sutton's big hit at Kansas, we decided to give it a look.

When I was at Hendrick Motorsports doing an initial fitting I sat in the seat of the car Jeff wrecked and there wasn't a scratch on it. And that was one of the hardest hits I'd ever seen.

I took a pretty big hit last weekend at Kentucky in the ARCA race as well. That car was destroyed. It's junk.

Those ARCA races get a little wild. I'm one to take the blame if I do something wrong, but this guy came down way too hard on me after I'd fought back to 10th.

I backed into the fence big-time. The rear windshield was down and everything was shoved into the inside of the car.


I didn't go after the guy after the race, though. I won't say women are more in control of their emotions than men, but I've always been one to control my emotions pretty good.

I was fired up pretty good, though, and said some things on the radio that I probably shouldn't have.

This sport is extremely emotional and sometimes we look foolish. I'm not speaking for women. I'm speaking for guys, too.

Sometimes you watch an interview on TV after a big wreck or something and you're like, "Man, you never should have said that.''

But I was fired up, and at some point being a woman you've got to make sure you say something. You've got to show them you're not going to put up with things like that.

I didn't say anything to this particular driver, but I know others did because I wasn't the only accident he was involved with.

It's a different world in the ARCA Series from what you see in the Truck or Busch Series, just like if Danica comes to NASCAR, it'll be a different world from the IRL.

Erin Crocker is stepping up a program that she hopes will land her in a fulltime Nextel Cup ride by driving in the Busch, Truck and ARCA Series for Evernham Motorsports. The youngest of five children, Crocker has been sharing weekly with NASCAR.com readers the ups and downs of her life on and off the track through staff writer David Newton.