NASCAR Cup Series

Danica trouble-free in 1st Nationwide practice

Published Feb. 10, 2010 11:34 p.m. ET

foxsports

Danica Patrick has taken the next step in her stock car racing education, staying out of trouble and learning as much as she can in her first NASCAR Nationwide series practice at Daytona International Speedway.

Patrick's crew chief, Tony Eury Jr., says she was comfortable in the car Wednesday and did a good job handling the jump from ARCA to Nationwide. After finishing sixth in the Daytona ARCA race on Saturday, Patrick is preparing to make her Nationwide race debut Saturday.

Patrick finished 26th on the speed chart. Eury said practice speeds aren't particularly important at Daytona because they don't indicate how fast the car will be in the race.