Danica tells Dad..no to NASCAR BUT.....: Danica Patrick's father clarified his stance today: While he wants the Indy-car driver to switch to NASCAR; she's not so interested even though her contract with Rahal Letterman Racing is set to expire at the end of the season. "I'd be a fool not to want her there, and if you were her father you would, too," T.J. Patrick said after his comments last weekend ignited a media frenzy. "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." Danica Patrick has been unavailable for comment. T.J. Patrick said he spoke to Danica on Monday so she understood what he told a reporter working for the Tribune Co.[Ed Hinton Orlando Sentinel/Chicago Tribune] "She kind of laughed and said, 'What did you do?' " he said. "It's gotten blown out of proportion so much. No one said a thing when I went with her to the NASCAR race in Phoenix (in April). She talked with (NASCAR team owner) Jack Roush and stuck her head inside Kurt Busch's car. No one said a thing."(Indianapolis Star) BUT: A season's worth of setbacks and upcoming free agent status has IRL IndyCar Series driver Danica Patrick thinking about something she never gave that much thought to — NASCAR. "It's important for me to know what's out there and who is interested in me and who will give me the best chance to win," she told USA TODAY in a phone interview from Los Angeles, where she will be presenter at the ESPY Awards being taped tonight. "NASCAR is so big, how can you ignore it?" Patrick, 24, says it's been a "frustrating" and "confusing" season as Rahal Letterman Racing has struggled mightily. A year after capturing three poles and leading the Indy 500, Patrick has struggled along with her team's two other drivers who only have two top-five finishes among them. "My priorities haven't changed," says Patrick, whose contract is up at the end of the season. "I still want to be a winning IndyCar driver. If I'm given an opportunity to drive for an IndyCar team and win races, I'm going to do it." But if the right opportunity isn't there, she has her eye on NASCAR. "I think I'm capable to taking on the challenge, but it would have to be with the right team and with the right deal," she said. "Then I would consider it. Until then, I'm investigating what the interest level is."(USA Today)
and MORE: Danica Patrick might one day drive in NASCAR, but she doesn't expect it will be next year. "I wouldn't say it was that big of a chance (of going) next year, but I'd say it's a fairly larger chance in the future," she said Tuesday from Los Angeles. Patrick also said her father, T.J., was within his right as her manager to investigate options in NASCAR, which was what he did Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill.(Indianapolis Star)(7-12-2006)