Patrick setting 'realistic' goals in NASCAR return
Danica Patrick did her best to downplay expectations over the winter, repeatedly saying that her transition from IndyCar to NASCAR would be a lengthy and sometimes far from pretty process.
Looking back, the open-wheel star may have set the bar a little too low.
Patrick, who did no better than 31st in three starts on the Nationwide Series in February, returns to her part-time job on Saturday when the NASCAR series visits Loudon, N.H.
Does she plan on winning? No. But she does plan on setting goals, even if they're modest ones.
``I think it's probably better for me to say like, 'I hope this weekend I finish in the top 20 or the top 15 and kind of build myself up,'' Patrick said. ``I didn't really set any expectation levels in the first few races that I did. And I think it would have paid off to do that.''
Not that she would have exceeded them anyway during her initial foray into stock cars. Patrick earned raves for her poise while finishing sixth in the season-opening ARCA race.
Things quickly fell off from there. Patrick only made it to the checkered flag once in three Nationwide starts and while she hardly embarrassed herself, it was obvious the learning curve would be steep.
She's hoping for a modest upswing this weekend following a four-month layoff doing her full-time gig in IndyCar, where she's overcome a rough start that included getting booed by fans at Indianapolis for pointed comments about her Andretti Autosport crew.
Patrick is 11th in the IndyCar standings heading into the race at Watkins Glen on Independence Day and posted her best finish on American soil with a runner-up effort in Texas two weeks ago.
She's not concerned about the abrupt move back to NASCAR robbing her of any momentum.
``My confidence is there,'' she said.
Even if she's barely paid any attention to NASCAR since she pulled herself out of the driver's seat in Las Vegas. Even though she's going to a track she's never raced on at a distance - 1.058-mile oval - she hasn't tackled yet in a race car with doors and bumpers.
Patrick did some testing at Milwaukee recently to get a feel for how the car might set up in New Hampshire. Sliding back through the window, she realized she was already well ahead of where she was in February.
First of all, the seat fit. The seat belts, too.
Now it's just a matter of trying to find a rhythm. It could take awhile. And she's well aware that the lessons could be painful and public.
``The racing is really where you learn,'' she said. ``Unfortunately I'm going to have to learn in front of everybody all year and the year after. But it's the best place to do it.''
Her appearance has led to a spike in ticket sales, which are up 30 percent for the race over last year. That's hardly an issue for Patrick, who is one of the leading draws in IndyCar. People turn out to watch her race. Hey, that's what she's there for, right?
``I do my best to put on a show and hopefully it's something that gives people a reason to smile and cheer,'' she said. ``If I do that, then I'm doing my job.''
Even with just three Nationwide races under her belt, there's constant speculation about when and where Patrick could eventually make the jump to the Sprint Cup level.
She's under contract to drive part-time in the Nationwide Series through the end of 2011 and has two-plus years left on her deal with Andretti Autosport.
The status of Cup driver Kasey Kahne, who has already agreed to drive for Hendrick Motorsports in 2011, could have a trickle down effect on Patrick's long-term NASCAR plans. Maybe.
She isn't overly concerned about that, saying only she may be lucky enough one day to drive for one of NASCAR's top teams.
There are more immediate concerns, like trying to juggle a schedule that will flip-flop between Nationwide and IndyCar over the summer. She'll do it for the next two months before taking another break from NASCAR until the IndyCar season ends in early October.
Between now and then she'd like to get to know her No. 7 JR Motorsports car a little better. She freely admits she is largely a novice when it comes to diagnosing a problem.
There's only one real way to learn, and it's not watching footage or sitting in a simulator or even testing out there all by yourself. She has to race.
And that's not a bad thing. In a life ruled sometimes by photo shoots and autographs, perhaps the best development about running on two circuits at once is that Patrick gets to do what she loves more often.
``I think it's best,'' she said. ``It's good for any race car driver to be in the seat a lot, and that's definitely what I'm doing.''
