After flirting with NASCAR for most of this season, IndyCar driver Danica Patrick announced this week that she had signed a multi year contract with Andretti Autosport and will drive the No. 7 Go Daddy Honda powered Dallara in 2010.
Talk of her continued interest in NASCAR however continues. Tuesday Patrick and her team owner, Michael Andretti met with the media via a teleconference.
Here are the questions and answers from that teleconference concerning Patrick and NASCAR.
The full transcript can be found here.
Q. I noticed yesterday on one of your television appearances, it seemed that one of the hosts basically wanted to keep asking you about NASCAR, and you stopped him and said, "This is an IndyCar, not a NASCAR." How much of that has kind of been boiling up inside of you to kind of let everybody keep things in the perspective that they are?
DANICA PATRICK: I understand the level of curiosity on the NASCAR side of things, so I do understand that. But the primary focus of Monday was to announce our IndyCar (Series) program and our new sponsorship with Go Daddy. It's important that everyone was focusing on that and not things that aren't true.
Q. And where do you stand on any outside activities outside of the IndyCar program?
DANICA PATRICK: As I said, I've made no mystery that I'm curious about NASCAR and I would like to do it. As a driver if I had the chance to be able to run in both series and try it and challenge myself, I would like to do that.
Q. Danica, could you give a little better sense of where the possibilities rank for NASCAR? Not necessarily teams, if you've talked to them, but are you just in casual conversations at this point, or are you really talking about something for 2010?
DANICA PATRICK: We've been working on this and talking to people since the summer. No, we are serious about this, and whether or not things come together or not, we won't know. But there's no contract and there's no deal right now, but as I said, if I could do both, I'd like to do that.
Q. And by serious, I didn't mean your level of interest, I meant closeness to making something happen. I mean, it is December 1st; we're approaching very quickly some deadlines I would think.
DANICA PATRICK: I think we still have time. February is when they start, so there's not as much time as there is for an IndyCar (Series) season, but there's still time. Even if things go until the last minute, there's still a little bit of time left.
Q. Danica, if you're curious about this and if you were to try to take on NASCAR, can you kind of talk about the steps? I mean, you're not going to jump into a Cup car at Daytona I don't imagine. Would you do like a little ARCA, a little Nationwide? How would you like to see the progression?
DANICA PATRICK: In all of the talks over the summer, (and) in meeting with people, there was a lot of emphasis on learning, so I'd be very prepared to start small and grow and really learn the cars. So if it were to happen, I would be open to all suggestions.
Q. Danica, first question for you, your curiosity with NASCAR, is that more a competitive curiosity to see if you can get in and drive a stock car, or is it just sort of a common?sense business move to explore an avenue that could really prove to be quite lucrative for you?
DANICA PATRICK: It's come up in the past to run NASCAR, and I never really was my heart wasn't there. I didn't want to at all. I wasn't really curious. And trust me, there were financial reasons why it would have been a much better idea. So that takes that out of the equation.
I've always thought that the most important thing for me in my career is that I go with my gut and I go with what I want and not worry about the rest. And so now my curiosity is there and I'd like to just try it, and I'd like to see how I get on with the cars. I just think the racing looks fun.
I enjoy IndyCar racing through and through, but I mostly enjoy the oval racing. I think that when you have wheel to wheel racing all day, it's challenging. Don't get me wrong, it's very stressful, but it's a lot of fun at the same time, and they have a lot of that. I think the racing looks fun.
Q. For Michael, is there any concern that she could be going out there and sort of exploring this new venture in conjunction, I guess, for lack of a better term, at the same time as her day job and is going to be outside of your organization and your oversight? Is there any concern having your drivers out there trying something new beyond, I guess, your oversight?
MICHAEL ANDRETTI: Yeah, I guess it's always a concern for sure, but having said that, I also support her, and if she wants to try it, because first and foremost, she is a racecar driver, and I've been there. You always want to challenge yourself. For her to go and give it a try, I don't want to get in her way if she really wants to do that.
But the goal will be we'll have to work the programs to make sure that the IndyCar is still her main focus because still the main goal is to win Indianapolis and the championship with Danica. And I think we have a good shot at it. We want to make sure that it still is going to be the main focus.
DANICA PATRICK: And to back up what Mike just said, that is the main focus. I've been lucky enough to come close a few times to winning the Indy 500, and that is a serious goal of mine. IndyCar is always going to be the focus, if the other series were to happen.
Q. Do you have a certain number of days or events, or are you limited to a certain number of days you can spend or events that you can spend on stock cars and/or are there certain months where you have to solely dedicate yourself to Andretti?
DANICA PATRICK: That was something that we did have to talk about and work out with Michael and Andretti Autosport on the schedule. And yes, we did work that out. As I said, the primary focus is IndyCar and the Indy 500, but in and around that, there's opportunity to drive the car, as well.
Q. Can you say like are you limited to 10 events, 12 events, eight events?
DANICA PATRICK: It's not necessarily an event amount that I'm limited to, but the focus would be to run before and after the IndyCar season. That's the best opportunity.
Q. Danica, I just wondered if maybe you could share with us a little bit of what your thought process was, because as Michael alluded to, I'm sure you also were amused at times reading all the speculation and the rumors and the things where people had you going. In your mind were you always going to be back in an IndyCar this year, or did you really think about maybe doing something else? How did it finally, how did you make that decision?
DANICA PATRICK: I think that all those things are true. We evaluated our options mid-summer as to what was possible and the opportunities, but I really want to win the Indy 500, and I really like driving for Mike, and I like my teammates. I wanted that to happen if it could, so we just had to evaluate. But yeah, it is always funny to read what people are saying. Sometimes they're onto something and sometimes it's completely left field. So it is entertaining.
But like I said, I'm curious about NASCAR, but curious doesn't mean I wanted to jump in with both feet, and I still love IndyCar racing and where I'm at and the team that I'm with.
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Comments
I'd love to see her in NASCAR, I love watching her in Indy car..the girl can race! I've subscribed to you, I'm a nascar fan after all:-) (saw this on twitter)
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